The Deep House Review (Film, 2021)
content warning: foul language, child death (discussed), blood, violence against women
The Deep House is a conceptual horror film. Writer/director duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury wanted to make a horror film underwater. So, they did it. Once the characters in the film strap on their scuba equipment and go underwater, they are actually performing everything you see underwater. The Deep House is an extremely complex, highly technical production involving drones, action cameras, scuba equipment, the lead actors, professional divers, and professional free divers creating the story underwater while Bustillo, Maury, and much of their crew observed and communicated from above.
The story is simple but effective. Ben and Tina are travel vloggers focused on urban exploring. They go to dangerous and allegedly haunted locations to film for their online video series. Ben gets a tip about an entire French village forever lost to a lake and Tina agrees to explore with him. The initial lead turns out to be urban legend, but a local agrees to take the couple to the one house that was sunk when the manmade lake was created. Ben and Tina have about one hour of oxygen to use while exploring the house lost to the water decades before.
The Deep House is a beautiful horror film. The quality of video footage shot underwater with action cameras is breathtaking. There is a consistent quality of light, color, and clarity in the footage that always gives you something to look at while the story slowly unfolds. Director of Photography Jacques Ballard is himself an accomplished diver with tons of experience filming underwater. Bustillo and Maury specifically wanted him on the production to make their story idea possible.
When the scares finally kick in about halfway through, they are brutal. Remember, Bustillo and Maury’s best known film is À l'intérieur (aka Inside), the New French Extremity film about a home intruder trying to claim a pregnant woman’s unborn child as her own through force. Their films are as beautiful as they are disturbing, and The Deep House is their loveliest looking film to date.
The best comparison I can make is The Deep House feels like a modern horror video game. Every shot, every angle, every possible encounter, story beat, and interaction is planned to perfection. There are open doors that become dead ends and blocked off paths that become key to survival. Ben and Tina learn to navigate the rules of the house through trial and error, occasionally stumbling into a chase or fight sequence that’s a quick time event prompt away from leading to a game over screen in a game.
This is an asset to the visuals and a detriment to the pacing. The Deep House is a slow burn horror film until it’s not, and then it’s careening uncontrollably towards a maze of deadly obstacles that you know can’t end well. Laurie Strode herself couldn’t make it out of this maze of horrors unscathed. The wait is worth it for the action-packed back half of the film, but the wait feels long for a film this short.
The Deep House is a fascinating film to experience for its innovation. It is a technical marvel to watch a haunted house story this complex unfold knowing it was filmed underwater. The design and scares are great and I can safely say I’ve never seen a film quite like it before.
The Deep House is available to rent or buy on all digital platforms.
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