If you are looking for a new exploitation movie version of H.P. Lovecraft’s work, look no further than The Deep Ones. It’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth mashed up with Rosemary’s Baby, Humanoids from the Deep (complete with rape scenes, as in that film; be warned), The Stepford Wives, and tentacle porn, for starters. Lovecraft literary purists will probably shudder at that description, but B-movie aficionados should find plenty to enjoy here.
Starting off with naked bodies galore, the film sees Alex (Gina La Piana) and her husband Petri (Johann Urb) renting a seaside vacation home to try and get their minds off of Alex’s miscarraige and reconnect more. Hosts Russell (Robert Miana) and Ingrid (Silvia Spross) Marsh welcome them in an uncomfortably friendly manner, soon taking Petri out on a boat ride where they hypnotize him while the local doctor (TimothyMuskatell in drag) ingratiates herself with Alex.
Naturally, there is a reason for everyone’s fake friendliness, and if you guessed cult, you know your horror movies. Writer/director Chad Ferrin obviously knows his, too, and he goes all in with bare bodies, blood, and beasts in The Deep Ones. The practical effects Dagon looks cool in a low budget throwback kind of way, but purists may scoff at how small and non-intimidating it is. Never mind the purists, in this case; this is the kind of creature that monster kids like yours truly grew up with and loved.
Ferrin’s script has plenty of intentional humor and a dash of the absurd. From the name checking earlier in this review, potential viewers can guess that many elements feel familiar and even predictable, but it is sheer looniness and outrageousness that make The Deep Ones work.
The Deep Ones will screen as part of the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, which runs online from December 11–27, 2020. For more information about the festival, visit https://www.ahith.com/.
