[Film Review] Deep Web XXX (2018)

The deep web is a level of the internet just below the surface web, yet not quite as subterranean as the dark web. Not accessible through the usual commercial search engines, the deep web is home to private forums, networking, medical records as well as material that is just outside the acceptable norms of society, without falling into questionable legal areas. Deep Web XXX is an anthology that explores the depths of depravity immersed in the deep web, as well as the natural human condition of morbid curiosity.

Directed by prolific extreme horror director Domiziano Cristopharo, the wraparound story of the anthology features a nervous yet inquisitive person looking for some inspiration as they open the internet gates to the deep web using the Queen of Hearts website. As they wade through the deluge of twisted and debauched videos, they stumble into a multitude of footage and sins that explore the fine lines between sex, violence, and death.

The first segment Queens No Hearts directed by Martyna Madej depicts a sordid Eyes Wide Shut -esque situation in which a crowd of masked women partake in the abuse and degradation of men, seemingly subverting the extreme horror tropes of the female taking on the role of horrifically abused victim. The acts carried out on the targets of the crowds’ mistreatment includes the force feeding of a larger bodied person as well as more sexualised abuse. Despite the fatphobic connotations of white slim people abusing a fat body through the use of food, the segment as a whole is an interesting and thought-provoking commentary on the exploitation of women’s bodies in larger society stemming from the misogynistic actions of the patriarchy. 

Exposure by Jason Impey takes the role of the more typical set up of man terrorizing an incapacitated woman, torturing her with an assortment of tools and instruments, whilst professing that he will show her “true horror”. Devoid of any real subtext and with very little shock or horror value, other than the usual misogynistic violence against women subgenre style of extreme horror, this is perhaps the weakest of the segments within Deep Web XXX. 

Cruising by Domiziano Cristopharo opens up on the scene of a BDSM club in session amongst a group of males. Beginning with the standard practice of flagellation, the group begin to descend further and deeper into depravity, and what appears as your average sado-masochistic, run of the mill porno footage, soon becomes a perverse portrayal that brings a whole new meaning to deep throat.

Eucharist directed by Carrera Fumagalli is the shortest of all the pieces in Deep Web XXX, yet is a segment with explicitly more potential. Fixating on a salacious nun, who’s actions wouldn’t be out of place in a 1970s nunsploitation film, who is joined in the surrounding dungeon by a crucified Christ-like female figure. Whether this is a critique on women’s roles in the church or religion in a wider aspect, Eucharist feels like it was just cut short before the real message could be delivered.

Test 424 by Sam Mason Bell plays out like the visual lab recording of medicinal experimentation. Focusing on three test subjects whose side effects from ingesting an experimental drug range from egotistical euphoria to the more horrific and grotesque expelling of bodily fluids, and then inevitably death. The true purpose of the experiments and the intentions of the drug at hand remain questionable until the final reveal. 

Feed Me More directed by Davide Pesca is perhaps the most questionable of all the included segments of Deep Web XXX, once again a larger sized body is being shown to be force fed by slim bodies. Beginning with strawberries and sweets, the food soon becomes laced with thumbtacks and the frenzied feeding devolves into even more depravity. As shots linger on the person’s stomach, we can’t help but wonder if the opinion of the filmmaker is that fat bodies should be punished for merely being fat, or maybe for eating. The piece isn’t shocking, and it has no real intelligible commentary. 

Stalker by Emanuele Marchetto portrays a masked, yet otherwise naked man, as he watches footage of a woman being stalked and eventually beaten and raped. An extreme horror anthology just wouldn’t be an extreme horror anthology without a penis evisceration scene, which proves to be a striking play against the assault carried out by a male attacker on a female body, perhaps representing an abominable action carried out by consent in contrast to a heinous act which is devoid of any sort of consent. 

As the anthology comes to its close, the wraparound comes to its grotesque conclusion with a satisfying payoff. Deep Web XXX certainly attempts to disturb and appall, yet apart from contributions from Domiziano Cristopharo and Martyna Madej, unfortunately falls short, instead collapsing into the expected territory of cheap shocks and empty acts bereft of any sort of real raison d’etre.

You can grab a copy of Deep Web XXX and Dark Web XXX from TetroVideo with the XXX Collection 2 Disc Ultralimited Mediabook edition!

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