Deep Fear (2022) User Reviews

Almost

[tony-146-695626 · 4/10 · 18 November 2022]

Almost scary Almost had a good story Almost had a good ending

The actors were really really good. That's the only reason I finished it.

The story has been done better, and in the same catacombs.

The ending is dumb.

Do not recommend.

The first act is ok, sets up the story. Second act was properly claustrophobic. Third act it lost all steam and got silly.

A lot of the reviews here are spoiling the surprise in The moviE with just the title.

Instead watch the 2014 As Above So Below. That's really well made and a much more engrossing tale with an epic ending. Seems todays movies have forgotten story telling.

It's OK, but its missing a little something, something!

[jorgito2001 · 4/10 · 15 November 2022]

It had the right atmosphere, dark, chilling foreboding Catacombs of Paris, it had the mysterious baddie (unfortunately, the trailer gives this away), the acting isn't bad, and yet, it misses the mark. The main actors are just carbon cutouts of every other "victim" list in horror we've seen elsewhere. In the short time we DO get to know them, they're not all that likeable. Once it reaches the final climax it seems it rushes to the finish line and then...end credits! Not a TERRIBLE film, but I strongly recommend watching the similarly themed "As Above, So Below" for a better overall Catacombs horror film!

Watchable

[SyamRawk · 5/10 · 10 August 2022]

This is not a horror movies. Consider thriller movies. Average acting. Average storyline. Good idea but suspense atmospheres not there. However still manage to follow until the end. Not a worst movie but the potential is there.

Catacombs but it's nazi zombies

[borgolarici · 3/10 · 1 September 2022]

Some kids in early '90s attire get into the catacombs for an afternoon of quirky entertainment. Everyone looks like the discount version of the Stranger Things cast. There are sone skinheads too and they play some sort of comic relief. An undead nazi officer is waiting there too with his equally undead dog. Despite having been dead to the world for like 50 years, he's still the only one to possess some modicum of efficiency (must be the meth he keeps huffing and which presumably kept him from killing himself when Berlin fell).

Nothing really makes sense, nothing is explained and there's like 5 subplots that go nowhere. Just dark tunnels, people screaming and a poorly constructed German bunker.

Undead in the sewers

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 30 September 2022]

The night before Henry (Victor Meutelet) starts his mandatory military service, his friends Sonia (Sofia Lesaffre) and Max (Kassim Meesters) take him drinking and then into the catacombs of Paris, discovering tunnels that had been thoughty destroyed during the Second World War. Chased by skinheads deep into the tunnels beneath the streets of the City of Lights, they find the 717 Bunker, an abandoned Nazi fortress that may not be abandoned.

Directed by Grégory Beghin and written by Nicolas Tackian, this film is claustrophoibic -- of course, what do you expect from being in the Paris catacombs? -- and once it gets to the gore, it delivers. It's just not very exciting until it actually gets there. That said, the closing moments are harrowing and make up for how slow going it is in other places.

Movies like this remind me to just stay in my movie room and not do speulunking or urban exploration.

Wished it was better

[spritzkoenig · 5/10 · 4 November 2023]

I expected something like Outpost instead we got this.

The look of the movie is awesome and the actors are doing a great job.

BUT ... what could have be done better is character development and storytelling.

We have a far overstretched first act but do not get to know the characters.

Who is the girl? What does she want and dream of? What were the graduates studying?

I didn't even notice that they graduated.

Racism could have been a big theme. The skinheads were scary.

What I would have done ... Make them all history students instead of drug addicts living in the sewers. Show what they want early on.

One is searching for her brother who disappeared.

The girl-protagonist is in love with two guys and can't decide.

The third guy is secretly in love with her and tries to get her.

There is a racist skin head.

And then there is the history teacher who wants to lure all his female students into his bed.

And then this class is going on the history excursion of their life.

There has to be a sin. All good horror movies need a sin. Greed and lust always work, but there is also pride and too high self esteem a.s.o. Smoking a joint on the other hand is not sin enough.

The students are examining the catacombs and soon they find out, they are not alone and history is quite alive. All of them are killed one by one.

But that is not what we got.

There was an unnescessary bar scene, a toilet scene where she bought drugs, then staying overnight, a dream and then finally our protagonists entered the catacombs, where they were not even close to getting to the point where they encounter the monster.

You could easliy skip the first 30 minutes without losing any vital information.

When they encounter the monster they are not even wondering why there is a nazi zombie in the catacombs. Or a bunker. They accept it like they accept thst they are out of water.

The premise is actually good - a nazi bunker below Paris. But what is the message? Not to go into a nazi bunker below Paris? Every kid can tell you that ...

3 graduates want to do something special together the night before they part. They should have done a threesome and called it a night ...

Sufficient satiation of horror cravings, if nothing special

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 9 July 2023]

A cold open, followed by exposition showing the relationships between chief characters, and the suggestion of wholly repugnant, distinctly antagonistic characters. Generally unimportant dialogue and character background, exploration of a labyrinthine locale that's officially closed to the public, and the promise of something sinister just around the corner. Writing, acting, and direction that's perfectly suitable for the horror genre, if overall common and/or unremarkable; original music that is a primary contributor to the atmosphere that the picture can claim; unbothered pacing, resulting in a film of about eighty minutes in length that's not altogether uneventful in almost the full first five-eighths, but not especially striking or compelling, either.

'Deep fear' is well made such as it is, with excellent filming locations and production design, admirable lighting and cinematography, and otherwise solid craftsmanship. The costume design, hair, and makeup are splendid. Filmmaker Grégory Beghin illustrates strong capability in orchestrating shots and scenes, and though Nicolas Tackian's screenplay might not be anything super noteworthy, I do earnestly enjoy the story that he wrote. Though the heaviest horror content doesn't begin to show up until a full hour has passed, the blood, gore and other effects that we do see look fantastic (provided that, as we've observed elsewhere, the camera doesn't totally linger on it). I actually do like the cast; the performances are nothing special, perhaps, but Victor Meutelet, Joseph Olivennes, Kassim Meesters, Léone François-Janssens, and especially Sofia Lesaffre, among others, all ably bring the story to live with the turbulent, heightened emotions of their characters.

I have no major critiques of this movie. I guess the thing is, I have no major praise to offer, either. If it's a horror flick that you want, it's a horror flick that you'll get. There's some atmosphere, some visceral nastiness, and maybe even some thrills to be had. 'Deep fear' is broadly enjoyable and well done, and all that it needed to be; I'll even go so far as to say that it's better than I expected, for what it's worth. Is it anything that you need to go out of your way to see? No. Will it satisfy basic cravings for the genre? Yes, I think it will. It's dark, grisly fun that doesn't reinvent anything, but very ably serves its purpose, and that's enough in my book to earn a fair recommendation.

Was a 7 till the last 20 minutes

[demonian95 · 2/10 · 16 January 2023]

Maybe not every horror movies needs a monster or villain, maybe sometimes the terror can just be tight tunnels and prevailing racists beliefs. Maybe shoehorning in a monster of creature or whatever doesn't add anything to the overall tension or horror. And this movie does introduce a monster at the beginning, but then that doesn't show back up until the last 20 minutes and it honestly ruins the tension and dread the movie has built up, there's no reason for the movie to have a monster reveal, just be about the fear of dying in a cave and getting assaulted by skinheads, the movie feels like it didn't want a monster anyway.

If You Like Horror, It's Worth a Watch

[hellsing218 · 7/10 · 16 May 2023]

This is your run of the mill horror movie about people poking around in places they really shouldn't be going in. That said, it does have some things working for it:

• Decent cinematography - There are some well shot scenes in the catacombs and sewers that give a very claustrophobic vibe and dark foreboding atmosphere
• Good Gore - There isn't much in the way of this for the first half of the movie, but when it shows up there is plenty of it and done in a way that is believable
• Competent Acting - All of the actors knew what they were doing and conveyed the correct kind of emotions when they needed to

On the other hand, it has some stuff that undercuts it:

• Awkward Music - There are a few times throughout the film where inappropriate music suddenly comes in that really takes you out of the movie and scratch your head wondering what kind of effect they were going for here
• Weak CGI - for the most part the things using it are kept hidden or use POV which negates this, but for example a scene of someone getting blown up uses some clearly CGI'd effects. Not close to the worst I've seen, but far from the best
• Lack of Explanation - I suppose this is more of a personal opinion, but there is never a reason why or how the bad guy survived in a place like this which can be a bit irritating
• Lack of Subtitles - This applies only to the (not-French) dialogue which is never given a translation but only comes up in the very end of the movie. It isn't needed, but it can be irritating to try and figure out what the person is saying when it might illuminate their backstory somewhat
• Generic Ending - I won't go into too much detail, but yeah, this goes the route of so many other horror films, and doesn't even explain how it happened which seems like a cop-out.

Overall though, definitely worth a watch for any horror movie fan.

Descent in Catacombs

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 20 April 2022]

How not to think about those two features. THE DESCENT, one of the most claustrophobic horror films ever made, that makes any audiences dizzy, disturbed, and CATACOMBS, a small horror film released in 2014, made by an American or British director, speaking of the same topic. It's actually a pretty good horror movie, well done, directed and shamefully never released in theaters. Good acting, convicing young actors. Nothing really new though, with an expected ending for this kind of movie.

A generally watchable if somewhat flawed effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 24 December 2022]

After finishing their schooling, a group of friends decides to spend the occasion exploring the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris, but once they realize that their trip has caused them to stumble into an underground Nazi bunker haunted by an undead soldier they have to get out alive.

Overall, this was a decent enough if somewhat problematic outing. As expected, one of the better parts of this one concerns the atmosphere of the underground catacombs which is put to great effect throughout here. The darkness and twisting labyrinth of tunnels underneath the city, heading off into the distance led by failing or even non-existent lighting enhances the long-abandoned feel established throughout here. Combined with the severe state of decay featured in the numerous bunkers and catacombs they stumble into before getting to the main Nazi compound, there's quite an effectively chilling state featured here. As well, the film manages quite effectively to bring about a really interesting finale where they finally realize what they're up against and need to find a way out. With the series of adventures causing them to get stuck and needing a secondary escape route, the means through which they enter the fateful bunker and encounter the mysterious being living there which is wisely kept off-screen for a longer amount of time than expected while still generating some brutal encounters. This leads to a great conclusion here with the surviving members and the undead officer engaging in some spirited encounters that are quite fun, giving this some likable qualities. There are some problems with this one that holds it back. One of the biggest issues is the rather bland running time that takes quite a while before it gets going or provides anything of interest for genre fans. The first half of this one runs through the usual character-building setups and introductions which is all well enough but it then goes through a series of additional meet-ups with the other underground dwellers and their plight with the skinheads that serves no reason for being here other than wasting time. This ends up causing the film to get to the halfway point before any kind of genre activity happens and leaves this feeling quite padded and drab. That also ends up applying to the main villain as well which is a direct result of this one taking so long to get through the other factors here. With the amount of time this spends on the group getting to know each other, meeting their guide and his friends, and the unnecessary exploits traveling through the underground catacombs, there's no time at all to really dive into who he is or what's he's doing in the bunker. Even managing to provide basic information like how he survived undetected for so long and so close to the others is a complete mystery with as much time as this did to build him up, making for the biggest drawbacks to this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Underwritten but enjoyable French horror.

[parry_na · 6/10 · 6 October 2023]

This chatty French horror film has similarities with 2014's 'Up Above, So Below'. I found that film's success surprising for such a lacklustre production, so my enthusiasm for 'Bunker 717' (sometimes known as 'Deep Fear') was muted. The results here are pretty good.

Three students decide to celebrate their graduation by exploring the catacombs underneath Paris. They appear to be followed down there by a couple of skinhead ne'er do wells.

Things start off slowly and it's a pity some of the time wasn't spent allowing us to get to know the characters better; they are all fairly likeable, but sketchy. The main antagonist, who is impressive but used very sparingly, would also have benefited from some semblance of a backstory.

This is low-key, but mainly fun. The claustrophobic setting is well conveyed and there's a real sense of 'things lurking in the shadows'. This, and a convincing level of gore, coupled with an effective ending, makes for a fairly effective 80 minutes. My score is 6 out of 10.