The Deep House
I've always wanted to participate in urban exploration - or urbex, as it's known - which is the exploration of abandoned manmade structures such as old houses, hospitals, and the like. It's fascinating to see how time and nature overtakes what was once beautiful human-created structures and proves once and for all that mother nature is the ultimate power in the world, as she can take over that what was once thought created by man. Of course, these buildings are also known to be haunted and that only piques my interest more, along with the overall danger associated with it, such as rotting floors, squatters, and so on. "The Deep House" is a unique French-created horror film that features two American actors who explore abandoned buildings for their budding YouTube channel, and the film manages to split itself into three distinct sub-features: it's an urbex film, a haunted house story, and an underwater claustrophobic adventure all mixed into an under 90-minute runtime that feels a bit too rushed for my liking.
Young couple Ben (James Jagger) and Tina (Camille Rowe) explore abandoned buildings for Tom's YouTube channel, and he hopes to make it big and draw in a multitude of viewers to make money so they can get married, while Tina seems to be along for the ride. After exploring an abandoned asylum in the Ukraine, they head to France where they get a lead about a destination that's sure to make them Internet famous - a fully intact mansion that lies at the bottom of a local lake that was flooded in the mid-1980s to prevent frequent floods.
Upon arriving at the destination, the two head underwater and find the house with ease, but finds it more difficult to get inside since it seems all the windows and doors are blocked from the inside. After finding an entrance in the attic, they begin their exploration and are surprised to find that most of the house is still intact, with most of the interior decorations, furnishings, and belongings still remaining. Yet that's just the start, as they begin to uncover a darker past to the house - and its inhabitants - resulting in past demons coming to life and threatening to keep the two lovebirds in their own watery tomb forever.
French directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury emerged on the scene in an explosive way, directing the now-iconic New French Extremity horror film "Inside," but has failed to re-capture that same sense of unease, tension and terror since then. While "The Deep House" pales in comparison, it's not really fair to compare the two, since "Inside" is a horror masterpiece in every sense of the word. Taken on its own merit, "The Deep House" is excellent in its unique production design and story, but fails when it comes to the character development and dialogue, which often resembles that of other haunted house tales, especially when it comes to the female role.
The two leads of the film really have no chemistry between the two of them, and you don't really believe they're a loving, loyal couple. James Jagger plays your typical wannabe famous YouTube celebrity and does everything - including freaking out his own girlfriend - in order to garner views. Camille Rowe doesn't do any better, as she's relegated to the traditional "scared girlfriend" type who spends most of the runtime either calling out her boyfriend's name, asking where he is, what's happening, and wanting to leave over and over. Neither one leaves an indelible imprint in my mind, and when your film almost exclusively centers around only two people, it's not a good sign.
If the film was a typical haunted house movie, it would've been easily forgotten, but the allure of this movie is that it's a haunted house tale underwater. This aspect really adds a sense of claustrophobia and suffocation that don't normally come with a haunted house movie, because these explorers are on the clock: they only have a certain amount of air in their tanks, and the dark, murky water around them adds to the sense of terror as they go from room to room and slowly unearths a mystery far beyond a generic haunted house tale. "The Descent" implements these feelings as well, but in a cave setting - this is equally unnerving, in an underwater sense.
Thanks to production designer Hubert Pouille and director of photography Jacques Ballard - who's also an aquatic-photography expert - "The Deep House" gives us an eerie house atmosphere unlike anything seen before. Entirely set underwater, the design of the house is extraordinary in the fact that everything inside is still intact, and the camerawork makes you feel like you're in the trenches with the couple, adding to the unease. You can sense the expertise given to its design, unfortunately the story behind it is rather lacking.
This is the biggest detriment of the film, as it should've been longer than it was. The mystery that Ben and Tina uncover is extreme, and should've been explored more in-depth to add to the sense of tension. More than just a haunted house, this house is haunted for a serious reason that's only glossed over in favor of Tina's repeated lines. As an urbex film, it's exemplary: the ultimate thrill, exploring an abandoned house that's entirely underwater. As an underwater claustrophobic adventure, it also excels: you feel the unease from the moment they find the house and as they explore its secrets. Yet as a haunted house tale, it's somewhat disappointing - abandoning a fascinating story in favor of typical jump scares and boring repeated dialogue given by two characters who are so underdeveloped you don't particularly care about their fate.
The Score: B-
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