Horror movies like Deep Fear take place underground, and they are often the most effective as far as compelling scares go. They evoke a fear that everyone can understand. Trap someone in a confined, dark space below ground, then have them be pursued by someone (or something) — it’s a simple but winning formula.
SCREAMBOX‘s latest release Deep Fear, as well as the nine other movies below, reinforce feelings of claustrophobia and remind you of what possible evils could be hiding below the surface. As Above, So Below, The Descent, C.H.U.D., Creep and The Midnight Meat Train are all familiar examples of this subgenre, but this list focuses on underseen movies set underground.
Deep Fear (2022)
Grégory Beghin‘s movie Deep Fear follows three friends (Sofia Lesaffre, Victor Meutelet, Kassim Meesters) and their guide (Joseph Olivennes) into the Paris Catacombs. Set in the early ’90s, the main characters have recently graduated from college, and before one member of this tight trio goes off to the army, they all have one last adventure. Traveling in closed-off parts of the Catacombs proves unwise, though, when the group enters a bunker formerly occupied by the Nazis. This movie is a slow burn at first, but once an unimaginable evil shows its face, the movie never lets up. Deep Fear is now streaming only on SCREAMBOX.
Diggers (2016)
This Russian movie isn’t entirely straightforward; two parallel stories, each one set underground, ultimately converge in Tikhon Kornev’s Diggers. This kind of format means there are more characters and situations to follow, as well as more perils to overcome (or succumb to). While a group of stranded subway passengers tries to escape their attackers — the main threat is a pack of mutant and voracious cannibals living in the subway tunnels — several other characters intentionally enter said dangerous territory so they can find the missing passengers. Diggers also gets bonus points for being a Christmas horror movie.
Dead Mine (2012)
Fans of The Raid will surely recognize Joe Taslim in this English-language Indonesian movie. Mercs and explorers looking for the legendary Yamashita’s gold soon find themselves in deep trouble when they’re trapped inside a WWII Japanese bunker. What Dead Mine lacks in character development and plot, it makes up for in action and carnage. The living samurai and the zombie-like creatures are highlights in Steven Sheil’s movie.
Urban Explorer (2011)
Andy Fetscher’s movie Urban Explorer (also known as The Depraved) pairs nicely with Deep Fear. In this German movie, an international group of thrillseekers is brought below Berlin. All is fine until the tour guide is gravely injured, and the other members scramble to find help. They then cross paths with a sadistic man living in the underground tunnels. Fetscher recently returned to the genre with the movie Old People.
Stag Night (2008)
Some familiar faces fill the cast of Stag Night: Breckin Meyer, Kip Pardue, Vinessa Shaw and Scott Adkins are all trapped in the subway tunnels after a bachelor party takes a bad turn. As they delve deeper into their environment, the characters fall prey to the homeless community living in the area. Peter A. Dowling’s movie doesn’t push the envelope enough or feel too novel, but it’s grim, fast-paced and violent.
Catacombs (2007)
Like in Deep Fear, entering the famous Catacombs spells trouble if you wander off a familiar path. Shannyn Sossamon’s character visits her sister (played by Alecia “Pink” Moore) in Paris, and when they attend a party in the limestone labyrinth down below, they become separated. The anxious protagonist wanders the tunnels in search of help, but she instead finds a killer wearing a ghoulish getup. Catacombs‘ dark and cramped story is topped off with a bold and unexpected conclusion.
SL8N8 (2006)
My Bloody Valentine fans might be interested in the Belgian-Dutch slasher movie SL8N8 (Slaughter Night). The terror of this mid-aughts obscurity begins after a teen’s father dies in a car accident. Later, the main character and her friends somehow end up in a mine where prisoners were once used to explode methane. This includes child killer Andries Martíns, who was also the subject of the protagonist’s late father’s research. This slasher has a supernatural angle, and it’s also gory to keep up with the times.
Marebito (2004)
Takashi Shimizu’s Marebito is a unique offering of subway terror. Although he’s dealt with plenty of ghosts in the past, the Ju-On director approaches the uncanny with sustained attention rather than delivering quick and cheap thrills. Here a flawed man, armed with only his camera and an unstoppable curiosity, goes in search of the mythical spirits supposedly haunting Tokyo’s subway system. What he finds is a testament to why some mysteries should remain unsolved.
The Bunker (2001)
The Bunker is one of several period-horror movies set during wartimes. The Keep, Deathwatch, R-Point, The Outpost, Sauna and Overlord are some other notable examples. Horror is an exceptional genre for telling these kinds of severe and desperate stories; literal or metaphorical elements go far when describing both the unique qualities of war and the trials of soldiers. The Bunker uses its own eldritch setting, a haunted bunker circa Germany 1944, to communicate its characters’ anxieties.
Trapped Alive (1988)
This obscure, late-’80s horror movie was filmed in Wisconsin under the title of Forever Mine, then renamed Trapped Alive before its home-video release in the early ’90s. Set at Christmas, two young women and two escaped prisoners become trapped in a mine along with a cannibal resembling Santa Claus. Though uneven and sometimes uneventful, the few hilarious moments of this bizarre slasher make it worth watching.
Deep Fear is now streaming on SCREAMBOX!
The post Screambox’s ‘Deep Fear’ and 9 Underseen Horror Movies Set Below Ground appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.