Genre: Horror

Director: Alexandre Bustillo and Julien David

Cast: James Jagger, Camille Rowe, and Eric Savin

Studio: Blumhouse

Runtime: 84 minutes.

Release Date: On VOD Friday, Nov. 5th, 2021

Rated: Not Rated

Reviewer’s Rating ★★★★★
I imagine the meeting for The Deep House probably went a little like this:

A bunch of tired overworked execs crowded around a white board. On it are the words “haunted house movie.” The suits scratch their heads and wonder how on earth they’re gonna be able to sell this movie. Then one’s eyes brighten. He walks over to the board and writes in big bold letters “UNDERWATER haunted house movie.”

Cheers fill the room, hugs are given, and now here I am writing a review for said film.

To be fair, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien David’s aquatic gimmick on the ghost story ends up being The Deep House’s biggest selling point thus making you want to watch it. At least it succeeded in that regard. Whether the film survives on the nautical schtick alone, well, you have to keep reading to find out.

The film follows travel vloggers Ben (James Jagger) and Tina (Camille Rowe) who are documenting their exploits exploring abandoned locations. Their recent trip to investigate underwater ruins in the lakes of France turns out to be a bust due to vacationing tourists hogging up the water. Desperate to find something to increase their online clout, Ben takes the advice of local resident Pierre (Eric Savin) of traveling into a remote part of the woods where the promise of a fully preserved submerged house lies.

The couple eventually find the aforementioned home which seems to have everything the two need to skyrocket to internet fame. The more they delve into the house, they begin to uncover something evil may have occurred there.  is the malevolent entity may possibly still be lingering and it doesn’t want Ben and Tina to leave.

While this is the first film I’ve seen from Bustillo and David, I’ve known about their work for quite some time having exploded onto the filmmaking scene with their horror film Inside in 2007. That film not only carved its mark in the New Wave of French Horror canon but gained so much notoriety with its levels of violence and gore, that to this day, I still haven’t summoned the courage to watch it.

Knowing these two were at the helm of The Deep House made me curious to see how they would handle the haunting genre. The film  starts off promising with incredible production design utilizing entirely submerged sets and an intriguing mystery unraveling before you. Alas, despite the creative premise and a pretty harrowing first half, The Deep House’s fantastic build-up fizzles to a disappointing end.

Where Bustillo and David succeed the most is in the tension. The film follows the slow-burn formula of having the creeps and scares build, slowly getting under your skin. As the story progresses, the duo play their cards close to the chest, giving you get bits and pieces of what happened in this house. The provide you just enough to get your mind racing but not as to give away everything and ruin the fun.

There’s something ethereal yet unsettling about the underwater setting. The way furniture floats, and how light bounces off the watery shadows, give The Deep House a look of a past that’s buried deep but still rotting in peoples’ minds. Rahpaël Gesqua’s score aids this aesthetic with a soundtrack that’s ambient with a subtlety that really sellis the aquatic nature of the movie. Director of photography Jacques Ballard brings all this together using long floating shots that make the setting, at times, open and alluring yet claustrophobic when it needs to be.

The performances are fine, for the most part. Rowe and Jagger have a convincing chemistry for you to believe they would be a couple butRowe, in particular, has a few stand-out scenes where she delivers the panic and hysteria of being trapped in an underwater haunted house in a compelling way. The two leads are held back by shallow writing as their characters are underutilized stand-ins for the audience to experience the supernatural happenings at play. Granted, the directors and writer know the characters’ back stories aren’t fully fleshed out because they don’t spend too much time boring you with their life stories; however, you can’t help noticing they are one-dimensional characters. Could it have aided the overall story had Ben and Tina had a little more depth? Perhaps, but therein lies the conundrum.

As the The Deep House moves along, and the last act approaches, Bustillo and David decide to go all in on their handforgoing the understated chills of the first two acts instead opting for an in-your-face cheap thrills of a local haunted house attraction. Subtlety is out the window; instead, we get ghosts popping up for cliched jump-scares and exposition being dumped in rapid-fire succession in a bid to make sure the audience knows exactly what happened in the house instead of piecing it together themselves. The camerawork changes from being clear and steady to a dark mess of shaky camera shots that left me confused on what was happening on screen. It results in a maddening finale that nearly tarnishes the preceding acts that came before it.

I’m left unsure of how to recommend watching The Deep House. While I enjoyed the production design and the build of the first two acts; I do think it’s worth checking out on those merits alone. It’s that final act that is so baffling which left me with a bad taste; however,I’ll might be revisiting this film in the future. I’d say give it rental someday, if it catches your eye; but be weary that your interest may vary.

For more on this film visit:
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11686490/  Blumhouse on Twitter (@blumhouse https://twitter.com/blumhouse) #thedeephouse

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