THE DEEP HOUSE is a new horror movie by French horror duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. This one plays out mostly underwater and while there’s potential for something great, it falls a bit flat. Read our full The Deep House movie review here!
THE DEEP HOUSE is a new horror movie, we’ve been pretty excited about since it’s by the French horror duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. They have created some very interesting horror movies in the past. However, unfortunately, their latest productions haven’t been all that amazing
MORE FROM BUSTILLO & MAURY
Read our review of their previous horror movie Kandisha (2020) on Shudder >
For me, this latest production did nothing much to break the “curse” of them now making underwhelming horror movies. It basically plays into all the Scream traps. You know, those horror movie rules explained in the iconic movie; The main protagonists continuously make choices that defy logic. I just get tired and annoyed!
Continue reading our The Deep House movie review below.
Narrating a horror movie
I fully recognize that shooting underwater must be extremely difficult. Still, the filmmakers have created this situation for themselves when they write a screenplay taking place underwater. And yes, the visuals are impressive. Even if it does get very uniform in its expression once we’re underneath the surface.
“But hey, a horror movie with ghosts taking place underwater is innovative!” you might say or think, in an effort to look at the bright side. And sure, a ghost story underwater may be new, but underwater horror movies hardly are. They just usually involve sharks or other underwater predators.
Adding the supernatural dimension by including ghosts doesn’t do much for me. Especially not with a story that evolves as slowly as it’s the case with The Deep House.
Plus, you hardly see the actors since they’re wearing diving gear for the most part. That means we’re just hearing people talk and react without seeing their facial expressions.
The really strange part is that the two main characters are YouTubers still trying to get their break with a viral video. They seek out strange and possibly haunted places and shoot videos for their YouTube channel. In order to make an impact with their potential viewers, a bit more personality (and actually seeing them) would help.
Found footage – of a sort!
We all know that it is actually possible to see people’s faces even if they are underwater. We learned that much from another underwater horror movie if nothing else. This was the shark movie 47 Meters Down. Hell, we even saw this back in 1989 when James Cameron made The Abyss.
My point is simply that there are ways around this. There has been for decades! And if you want the core concept to revolve around the main characters being YouTubers and underwater, it would make sense that you actually see them.
It just isn’t really interesting to have a horror movie “told to you” in this way. Also, James Jagger (yes, son of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall) isn’t that strong an actor – not yet anyway. This results in many lines falling extra flat when you can’t even see his face as he speaks. Voice acting is much harder than many recognize.
Also, The Deep House ends up being a sort of found footage movie since the main characters are filming everything we see. They film for their YouTube channel, so that part makes sense. However, it’s not like we ever get to the point we someone actually finds this footage.
Basically, it’s just “existing footage” that may be found.
Watch The Deep House on Epix or On-Demand
Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are, as mentioned several times already, the horror filmmakers behind The Deep House. We’ve been excited about their productions ever since we saw their 2007 debut À l’intérieur. It was given a US remake in 2016 with the title Inside.
After their 2007 debut, they came out with Livide in 2011 and Among the Living in 2014. The first one wasn’t great, but the second is definitely worth checking out. In general, they’ve been known for being the Euro-slasher filmmakers. Maybe they should focus more on this niche because they do it so damn well!
WATCH THIS INSTEAD
If you want more horror movies taking place underwater, then check out this one >
The latest movies from Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury have been Leatherface (2017) and Kandisha (2020). Leatherface was – as heavily indicated by its title – a movie in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. And origin movie, really. Read our review of Leatherface here >
Kandisha was ultimately disappointing because it had the potential for so much more. Just like The Deep House.
THE DEEP HOUSE will be out on Epix and digitally on November 5, 2021.
Details
Directors: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Writers: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, Hulien David
Stars: Camille Rowe, James Jagger, Eric Savin, Carolina Massey
Plot
A young and modern couple who go to France to explore an underwater house and share their findings on social media undergoes a serious change of plans when the couple enter the interior of a strange house located at the bottom of the sea and their presence awakens a spirit dark that haunts the house.
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