Spoilers are breaking protocol and telling you to skip this one.

This one has been on the slab for a bit now. I don’t think there’s anything that redeems this feature. I’ve been debating whether or not to dedicate a review to a film that has no perceivable value. The most Lovecraftian thing you will get out of the movie is the poster. In the end, I’ve decided this review needs to exist if at all to counter any positive ones that might fool you into thinking you should sit through this one. This one I’d like to dissect with an eighteen wheeler.

(Credit: 123 Go Films)

The Deep Ones (2020) was written and directed by Chad Ferrin. It’s distantly based in HP Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Married couple Alex (Gina LaPiana) and Petri (Johann Urb) rent a house from Russel Marsh (Robert Miano) and are eerily received with open arms by the community who make no effort from hiding their cultish vibes. It’s a low budget film, it looks very crappy and it doesn’t contain any scares. Making a film based on Lovecraft’s works, or barely inspired by it, means you’re supposed to be going for a very niche subgenre, cosmic horror. That’s one of the hardest subgenres to achieve, but at least half a scare would’ve help.

There’s scarcely any horror visuals. We get a cult, we get one or two tentacles, and a guy in a costume. The cult like behavior of the community gets half a point, if that. There’s a couple of characters that use names from the original story. The couple finds a book and notes that reveal the neighborhood cult are fans of HP Lovecraft, meaning the author and the books exist in the movie’s universe. It feels like a low budget adult movie was recycled with a couple of quotes thrown in.

It doesn’t work. With a zero ambiance and a bare bones production, there’s a lot riding on the performers and the acting leaves a lot to be desired. The dialog itself is cringy, but it’s a lot worse when one of the main cast has to talk to a side character and the delivery is completely flat. Robert Miano who plays cult leader Russel Marsh has decent acting shops but not a lot of to work with. The rest of the cast is completely forgettable. There is no suspense, thrill, mystery or fright in sight.

Not recommended. It’s a no frills, no production and doesn’t contain any scares to qualify as a horror film. Some references to Lovecraft are thrown around, there’s a couple of tentacles that appear and a man in a suit is supposed to be Dagon. The film is dull, the production feels sleazy and the acting is mostly mediocre to poor. Not worth a watch.

That will do for now.