Gueules noires

First, maybe a little word on the original French title "Gueules Noires", which is very different from the international title "The Deep Dark" and can roughly be translated as "Black Snouts". It refers to how the hard and devastating work in the mining industry makes every person equal. Regardless of what race you are, or what skin color you have, working underground in the mines makes everyone's face black with dirt.

"The Deep Dark" is a prime example of the type of horror in which the French are specialized. Raw, sinister, unpleasant, and relentless terror with exclusively unsympathetic characters and without the slightest bit of comic relief. Pure and genuine horror, in other words, and I - for one - love it (despite several flaws).

In the 1850s, in Northern France, 27 miners tragically die when the shafts collapse shortly after they made an archeologically groundbreaking but deeply disturbing discovery. 100 years later, in the same mine, a versatile group of miners is forced to accompany an arrogant anthropologist down the shafts, because he's convinced the deep underground layers hide evidence of a previously undiscovered civilization. They find a new civilization, all right, but its deity turns out to be a terrifying and invincible monster.

The script of "The Deep Dark" certainly isn't without holes or massively implausible plot elements, but you simply got to love the grim atmosphere and claustrophobic tension that writer/director Mathieu Turi creates. And the monster, of course! I have seen thousands of horror movies, and I guarantee the monster of this film is one of coolest and most jaw-droppingly astounding ones of the last two or three decades. The creature is also as violent and bloodthirsty as it looks, which results in a handful of excessively gruesome deaths and make-up effects that are not meant for squeamish viewers. Highly recommended to true horror junkies.

I really wanted to love this, but the movie makes it impossible. It's one of these "Can you enjoy the ride?" deals. This would have been absolutely unforgivable if you'd paid cinema money to see it in a theatre, but in your living room it's a different proposition.

I thought I had stumbled upon a hidden indie horror gem for much of the movie. I'm old enough to be willing to forgive some jank in the practical effects (seriously, you feel like you're going to see the strings at any moment), especially when the movie is making up for it in so many other ways. I like the characters, I like the way it's shot and lit, I like the direction (except the framing of the antagonist in almost every shot where it appears) and the environments are great. It even seems like it's building up to something: some intriguing discoveries, some Lovecraftian details, some hints that there might be a clever denouement coming down the pipe. There is not. They really did not know how to end this.

Thematically, the fingerprints of As Above So Below are all over this. If you enjoyed that movie and you're willing to accept that you're getting more of that concept but in a package that is lower budget and mostly not as good, then congratulations: set your sights low, and you'll get more from it than you expect.

On the positive side, there were many points where I was reminded of Season 1 of The Terror, in that you have a bunch of tough men in a dangerous situation, with such daily stresses that you might expect a horror story to see them all tearing each other apart, but instead you get a lot of moments of genuine care and tenderness that make you realise that these men depend on kindness in order to survive. These moments of respect towards each other and even the animals were some of my favourite scenes. Just like The Terror, of course there's one agent of chaos in there and another figure of sufficient power to compel them forwards.

Too many directors look at the circumstances of their plot and think to themselves, "Hey! Darkness! Tight spaces! Stranded people! This is kind of like Alien!" and then barrel towards that idea without any subtlety, and unfortunately this is one of those. So, we're soon torn from the qualities of The Terror towards a box-ticking exercise of What Works (or What's Supposed To Work). Perhaps this is what they needed to do in order to get the film funded and made, but it does suffer for that. There were some ideas in here that could have been great if they'd stuck to the potential of their set-up and developed that. Given the midway reveal of what the miners are dealing with, I would have liked it to get a lot more weird and come to a very different ending.

PLOT: A group of coal miners are offered attractive bonus in return for escorting a scientist deep into an underground cave where the group encounters a terrifying mythical being.

While browsing Prime Video library, I stumbled upon "Gueules Noires" ("Black Faces" in English) and found it to be an engaging horror story that was fairly captivating despite its script flaws. The themes draw from a mix of survival horror, mythology, fantasy, and adventure, and backed with good technical execution, make the film a worthwhile viewing. Standout feature has to be excellent camerawork, given that filming had to be done in confined spaces and low-light environments. This added to the tension and in a claustrophobic environment, enhancing the horror experience. Lensman has made excellent use of clever lighting and shakycam to create tension. Editing is tight and never dilutes the tense atmosphere. There are no comic relief or other filler moments in the entire runtime. Once the dark adventure begins, you only get to see the light after the climax. Screenplay stays relevant throughout the film's length with every sequence contributing to plot's speedy progression. Actors too have delivered commendable performances. The dialogue is succinct and impactful, adding to the film's intensity.

The film obviously suffers from budgetary constraints. With a fatter wallet, better special effects and sets could have been arranged. While the script could have been stronger, the film compensates with other elements. Unlike most horror films, this film has tied up loose ends effectively and viewers won't be left with unanswered questions in the end. The emergence of the mythical being and its purpose are all well-explained in the end. The movie concludes with an ambiguous ending, allowing viewers to interpret it in their own way, which I liked a lot.

I am impressed with French Director Mathieu Turi's ideas and work and look forward to watching his upcoming projects.

RECOMMENDED.

This movie kicked off the evening portion of Day 3 of Nightmares Film Festival. I didn't realize until the end of the movie that this was written/directed by Mathieu Turi. This is a filmmaker that I knew from seeing his film, Meander at a previous year of Nightmares. Other than that, I knew that the person introducing this said it was creepy and that this was its Midwest premiere.

Synopsis: miners are forced to take a professor underground with them, to take samples for his measurements. After a cave-in prevents them from going back up, they discover a crypt from another time, unknowingly waking up a bloodthirsty creature.

This starts in 1856. We have a mining operation in the North of France. They break through a wall and they send in someone to burn out the flammable gases. This creates an issue as there seems to be something else in there with them. The ceiling collapses, trapping this crew. They haven't been found and what happens becomes a local legend.

It then jumps one hundred years to 1956. We are in Morocco where Amir (Amir El Kacem) does everything he can to get a job on a mining team. At first, he is denied for being too smart. He does what he can to change their mind. They're going to give him the hardest assignment though as punishment, which is Mine 5, known as Devil's Island.

We then shift to the guy who runs this mine. He meets with a Professor Berthier (Jean-Hugues Anglade). There is a bribe paid so he can go down into the mines. The foreman isn't happy about it, but it is a lot of money. He takes Roland (Samuel Le Bihan) aside. Roland is the best miner. He works at Devil's Island regularly. He is told what he is to do, much to his disagreement. There is an accident on this day where Roland saved the life of a fellow miner.

Amir ends up joining this team as well. It is comprised of Louis (Thomas Solivérès), Miguel (Diego Martín), Polo (Marc Riso) and Santini (Bruno Sanches). A positive here is that each one of these guys is distinct. Miguel is Spanish and their explosives expert. Polo is a big guy and he brings a horse along to help. Santini isn't his real name, but he is an Italian.

They make their way down into mines and find where they're supposed to detonate charges. It is odd as it is in the floor. They do break through and find a hidden cave. Berthier isn't sharing all the information about what he knows, but this was what he was expecting. They end up finding a crypt down here as well as the mining team from 1856. That isn't the only thing that they find down here as greed gets the better of the men. It is then a fight for survival and to escape.

That is where I'm going to leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this feels like the French version of The Descent. This isn't a rip-off. I don't mean that. We just have a group of guys instead of women, who go down into a cave and get trapped. It is while down there that things take a completely different turn. It just has similar vibe while still doing its own thing with the set up.

The idea of being down in a mine like this and being trapped is terrifying to me. Much like with The Descent, you could just run with that idea and it would make me anxious. I'm not claustrophobic per say. I would have an intense fear of the dark and not knowing if I could find an alternative exit would make me panic. The group searches for a way out. What makes this worse though is Berthier isn't necessarily on their side. He does want to survive, but he also is out for what he's looking for. There is an added element here of that and how it could sabotage their escape.

Now I'm going to tread lightly here. This is a creature feature of sorts. I'll say this monster is in the same vein as something from The Ritual. This monster is older than humanity and there might have been an ancient, pagan cult that worshiped him. There are sacrifices that were made in this pit. There is also Lovecraft references here. An inscription that is read is the quote 'that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die'. When this was read, I sat up in my seat and knew what they were doing. The monster in this is an elder god of sorts and I think he serves the great Cthulhu. I immediately gave points for going cosmic.

There isn't much more that I want to go into for the story so let's go over to the acting. I knew that Le Bihan looked familiar to me but it wasn't until sitting down to write this that I connected that he's the lead from Brotherhood of the Wolf. He has a great build as our hero and I liked him. I believe he's a miner. He shares the screen well with El Kacem, who is new to the team, but pays dividends. Along with them, I like Anglade who isn't necessarily a villain. He does things that hurt their survival so he is a grey character. I'd say that Solivérès, Martín, Riso, Sanches and the rest of the cast also rounded this out for what was needed.

All that is left then is filmmaking. Where I want to start here with creature design. What I could tell, it was practical. It looks like they created a monster and then used strings to help bring it to life. Whatever they did there was creepy. If there is also someone in the suit, they did a great job in helping bring it to life. What also helps here is being set under the ground. It is dark and that helps to hide things. I do believe there was a bit of CGI that didn't necessarily look great. Not enough to ruin this. I'll just say that the cinematography is great. They capture being trapped down here which is good. I'd also say the sound design worked. There is something terrifying to me how sound travels in tunnels and caves like this that makes me uneasy.

In conclusion, I rather enjoyed this creature feature. The basic premise isn't a new one trapping our miners in these tunnels and caves. What makes it worse though is having an ancient monster after you that just builds even more tension. I love the references to Lovecraft, cults and rituals. The acting is good along with the filmmaking. Credit there to the monster itself and the sound design. If you're a Lovecraft fan or just enjoy creature features, I'd give this one a watch. I thought it was rather well done. Turi is a director that is on my radar going forward as I've enjoyed both movies of his that I've seen.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Usually, horror (I think it can be considered horror) movies don't have a big impact on me, but this one did. The plot, unlike most of horror movies, is pretty consistent and I really like it; it doesn't present the usual no-sense scenes typical of this genre.

The actors are really good and well chosen; I think the director did a good job too, also knowing that he's not that experienced (this is just his third big movie).

The only thing that in my opinion he could've made better is the sense of claustrophobia, maybe with some unconventional shots.

Overall, I really suggest it to people who like horror movies and in general I suggest it to everyone.