[Film Review] The Deep House (2021)

There’s an age-old question that is frequently asked in regards to genre films – “how did this get made?” Sometimes horror cinema is so outlandish, so bizarre, so lutely absurd, that it becomes almost inconceivable as to how it was made in the first place. However, as I sat in the cinema, gazing up in awe at the looming dark edifice before me – the titular ‘Deep House’ in which the majority of the film takes place – a similarly-worded but altogether different question flooded my mind; “what black magic did the filmmakers use to achieve this?”

Those filmmakers in question, directorial duo, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, are no strangers to shocking audiences;  the minds behind notoriously disturbing French home invasion horror Inside (2007), and mansion-set supernatural chiller, the cult favourite Livid (2011). Part conventionally-filmed and part found-footage, The Deep House is their take on a classic haunted house spooker for the YouTube generation, following a young couple, Tina (Camille Rowe) and Ben (James Jagger), two ‘urban explorers’ travelling across Europe in search of reputedly haunted locations for their popular . After their highly-anticipated visit to an abandoned sanitarium in south-west France falls through, a local man provides the duo with directions to a bigger jackpot than they could have possibly dreamt of; a perfectly preserved château, completely submerged beneath a stretch of artificial lake that runs through the nearby forest. Little do our wannabe adventurers know that this extraordinary find comes with a deadly catch; the previous inhabitants of the house still reside within its walls, and let’s just say that they aren’t the friendliest of hosts.

In all of the best haunted house movies, the house itself has just as much of a presence and character as the spirits that call it home – and The Deep House is no exception. I really cannot overstate the pure, spellbinding ‘movie magic’ of this film’s production design – I am not sure I have seen anything quite like it. From the giant, corroded stone steps leading down into a watery abyss, to the labyrinthine rooms within that are decorated with peeling wallpaper and brief flecks of eerie, cold, spectral light – this house has an all-consuming atmosphere that cannot be fought. Whereas we tend to normally associate haunted houses with notions of emptiness and abandonment (hell, why do you think our leads look to abandoned buildings for ghost-hunting opportunities?), the mansion in The Deep House is decidedly full; its fullness is palpable, often claustrophobic – its fullness drowns all within, a place that is full in a way that only the dead can withstand.

Claustrophobia is a big part of what makes The Deep House so genuinely unsettling, with our leads trapped in a twisting, cramped, closed-off space full of water, the levels of oxygen in their diving tanks only getting lower as they struggle further to find an exit; but the most uncomfortable part of the house itself, though, is that despite its abandoned state, and its uninhabitable interior… it feels lived-in. The house is decked out like a family homestead, complete with clutter and casual day-to-day mess, as if it was just frozen in time – and there is a reason for that, but to say any more here would be to spoil a little of the fun. This exploration of the house feels uncomfortable, it feels forbidden, as if trespassing in someone’s home; you await the moment that one of the house’s inhabitants approaches from the darkness, having noticed your presence – and in this house, a frightening encounter with the homeowner is more likely than you would expect for a structure that has been submerged beneath a lake for over 35 years.

Despite only being partially filmed in the found-footage format, our leads are very much our eyes and ears for the duration of The Deep House; everything we see and hear is through their perspective. However, viewers will almost certainly align themselves more with the long-suffering, frightened Tina, than her perpetually annoying partner Ben; whilst his character from the start is intended to frustrate and even infuriate, his persona does occasionally grate to the point that it directly impacts  enjoyability of the film, which is this film’s only major fault. That being said, the dysfunctional dynamic between the couple is an engaging one; Tina clearly does love Ben, but her love for his increasingly dangerous and frightening urbex escapades is far less passionate than Ben would think. At the heart of the horror of The Deep House lies an internet-era tragedy, with Tina continuing to press further and further on into the nightmarish depths of the house, despite her gut feeling and better judgment, because of the way that she lovingly puts Ben’s happiness and needs before her own, no matter how detrimental the effects of that may be to her emotional (and sometimes physical) health – something which Ben never seems to truly appreciate, or even acknowledge.

Equally as interesting as our living leads, or possibly even moreso, are our dead ones – the spirits of the Montégnac family, whose lavish abode in life has now become their watery grave. The ghosts that haunt The Deep House are quite unique in the way that they materialise, with their presence feeling decidedly more corporeal and material than the more abstract and ethereal spooks of other paranormal horror pictures; rather than gliding through walls, the spectres of the Montégnacs float and sway with the water around them, like water-logged corpses guided by an unseen supernatural force – and there’s a good reason for that, albeit one that you’ll have to see for yourselves.

The Deep House is something truly magical in the world of horror; a small-scale ghost story told with the reverence and spectacle of a blockbuster. If you’re looking for your next haunted house jam, look no further than the deepest, darkest house in the land.

The Deep House is currently available to rent on Amazon Prime in the U.S. and U.K.

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