THE DEEP DARK (aka GUEULES NOIRES, 2023)

Available On Demand from Fulltime Studio!
Directed/Written by Mathieu Turi.
Check out the trailer here!!

A crew of French miners are contracted by a researcher to find an underground cavern housing an ancient evil that goes by the name Mok’noroth.

Though it seems to have come out a few years ago, I had never heard of THE DEEP DARK, which is a mix between THE DESCENT and THE EMPTY MAN. But one look at the trailer with its claustrophobic feel and truly horrifying monster, and I knew I had to check it out. There really isn’t a thing going on in THE DEEP DARK that is abnormal through the first half. One would think that would make for a boring watch, but like THE DESCENT, THE DEEP DARK immerses you in the world of the miners so well that I almost forgot there was supposed to be a creature in this creature feature. The closeness the miners must endure, the lack of space and light mass the viewers understand why these miners are such grumpy guys. The film does a great job of tossing you into that dark abyss with these miners as we step through the tunnels inch by inch.

Once the monster shows up, holy mackerel! This is one gnarly creature with multiple arms and all bony everywhere. Categorized as an ancient evil, it’s hard to distinguish if this is a beast from outer space or just sheer earthen nightmare. Either way, it is effective and filmmaker Mathieu Turi can show quite a bit of it and make it scary, even though the budget most likely for this one was lower than most creature features. Still, the use of strobe lights, the cave system, simple darkness and shadow, along with a truly terrifying monster design makes every scene with the creature, named very lovecraftianly as Mok’noroth, a classic movie monster that shouldn’t be missed.

The film has a strange subplot about a new miner who is discriminated and berated by his peers because he is the only Muslim in the group of Frenchmen. The fact that this character can read Arabic ties in with some of the etching in the walls deep in the tunnel, but this subplot felt a little forced, as if the runtime needed to be padded a bit and making this character ostracized in the group was used to add some conflict between the miners. I get it that there needs to be a personal story going on to make one care for the cast, but the way the character suffers from derogatory remarks and outright racism only made me kind of loathe the rest of the cast and hope for their early demises.

THE DEEP DARK also has a very abrupt end. There’s a whole lot of tension and high stakes for these miners, but things happen so quickly towards the end, it sort of undercuts all that has come before. I don’t know what they could have done, but I felt the film ended very quickly and I was left a bit unsatisfied with a more conclusive or even memorable finale. Instead, the action stops and then we get the credits. It’s almost as if there was going to be a bigger ending, but the budget ran out and things were just stopped.

That said, there is a whole lot to like about THE DEEP DARK. It’s one of those monster films that really sets the mood first and then tosses a monster, so terrifying that it makes the wait worth it. See this one for the wonderful atmosphere and especially the creative monster that you won’t forget once you see it.