Superdeep - Twisted Things Lurk Deep Below The Earth
Name: Superdeep (alternatively, The Superdeep)
Directed By: Arseny Syuhin
Subgenre: Creature Feature, Body Horror
Series: Spooktober 2021 entry #22; review #115
Review: I've probably mentioned it before, but John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is my favorite horror movie of all time. In the horror fandom, this also makes me something of a basic bitch. That is to say, it's not a very unique opinion. The Thing is pushing 40 years old at this point but it still remains a genre favorite for generations of horror fans because it managed to blend together so many perfect elements: a research crew is stranded in a hostile environment (the Arctic) when something truly monstrous starts to pick them off one by one; tensions rise and fall throughout the film, and that rollercoaster ride of anxiety is only exacerbated by Carpenter's minimalist score and the absolutely mind-blowing creature designs and effects that still hold up to this day. In the decades since The Thing was released, inspired fans have been trying to recreate that film's magic with their own: Harbinger Down is one of the most notable contenders, especially given how it was funded via Kickstarter; but there's still The Void, The Abyss, Leviathan, Deepstar Six, Splinter, Blood Glacier, Sea Fever, The Color Out of Space, and Underwater all fit a similar niche of creature feature and body horror in an isolated setting. There's also a strong argument that the Alien franchise fits into the same niche.
Superdeep, or rather The Superdeep, is another such horror film, this time provided by Russia via the Shudder streaming service. Superdeep follows our main dame, Anya, as she is sent to a super secret Soviet science station. The station went offline during the Soviet era and is slated for a WHO investigation; fearing for what may have caused the station to go down, the current government sends Anya, a viral specialist, in with the military to preemptively find out what happened. Apparently the Soviet's used the station to bore miles down through the Earth's crust, and so the new team mounts up, gets on the hyper-elevator, and zooms on down below the surface to the station below. There, they begin to unravel what's really going on. Something had infected the scientists and other crew members, and the true extent of the terror will cost Anya everything. The film utilizes a fairly paint-by-numbers template perfected by The Thing: the scientists become isolated in an extreme environment (super deep below the Earth--get it?), begin unraveling a mystery of what happened there (something infected the former crew), while tensions grow and relationships begin to fray (ideologies lead to ill-fated betrayals), all while a horrific monster hunts them down (the various mutations paired with the climactic final confrontation). Superdeep has all the components, and there's nothing particularly new or daring about the formula...but they still manage to do well by the template all the same. The body horror effects are as impressive as they are grotesque, and the final creature's form is truly nightmarish (which is to say, very damn cool)--it's unfortunate that we only got to see it in frantic, dark shots. The characters have enough depth to not be terribly obnoxious, but everyone but Anya is a narrative archetype first and foremost; it's not exactly a bad thing, but the characters aren't terribly sympathetic at the end of the day: they are there to propel the story forward. And given that it's a classic horror story retold with enough unique elements and an extremely unsettling creature, I'd say the film does everything it tries to do. Superdeep won't unseat The Thing, but it fits itself very snugly into the niche carved by that film. I might be biased, but more of a good thing (even if it's formulaic) is a good thing for me.
Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5 Chads fused together, screaming eternally. Did Superdeep scare you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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