The Deep Dark (Gueules Noires): French horror film set in 1956, a professor wants to go down a mine in northern France supposedly to extract some mineral samples. The audience already know that there's more afoot as we have witnessed strange events and a cave in occurring in that same mine in 1856. The miners are suspicious of the professor but facilitate him in accessing the lowest levels of the mine. Events take a bizarre turn after ancient hieroglyphics/runes are discovered on the walls along with skeletons and a sarcophagus. A life or death struggle ensues after the group come under attack from a monster. The culture of mine workers is important to the development of this narrative, the only thing leading them to ditch their code being the discovery of treasure, The resulting greed is reminiscent of scenes from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and subsequent self-destructive behaviour. The skeletons of warriors and sacrificial victims along with wall inscriptions, tunnels and cages carves by an ancient civilisation who worshiped the creature in the dark are impressive, As are the attacks coming from the darkness before we actually see the monster. Quite a few jump scares and some very gruesome and violent scenes, definitely not a film for the squeamish. The Lovecraftian imagery becomes more pronounced as the tale unfolds and the creature itself is wonderfully portrayed. There is also a particular sequence which pays homage to Aliens. The Deep Dark displays the influences if a few previous works but it is very much it's own film. Written & Directed by Mathieu Turi (Hostile). 8/10.
Review of The Deep Dark
