FESTIVAL REVIEW

Portland Film Festival Review: ‘DEEP DARK’

By J Simpson · September 6, 2015

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Be Careful What You Wish For

or

How Far Would You Go For Art?

Michael Medaglia’s fantasy/horror/comedy mindscrew Deep Dark updates the classic Monkey’s Paw trope, investigating the source and meaning of real art in the meantime. Have you ever experienced writer’s block? Felt like you had something to say, but just couldn’t quite find the words? Have you ever wanted something so bad you can taste it in the back of your throat?

Hermann (Seth McGrath) is a struggling artist. Struggling, not failed. Hermann believes in himself, in his art. He knows that he has something unique and distinctive to add to the world, if he could just find his angle. At wit’s end, Hermann contacts his Uncle Felix (John Nielsen), at his mother’s request. Uncle Felix has just the thing – a small studio apartment where he lived as a struggling, up-and-coming artist.

After a hilariously botched art show, with Hermann showering the gallery in blood from his performance art installation critiquing the Military-Industrial Complex, Hermann decides to go all in, signing over his life’s savings ($400) for 2 weeks in this squalid squat, after taking a bet with a prominent local art dealer, Devora Klein (Anne Sorce) that if he can’t produce something worthwhile, he’ll quit art for good.

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Hermann locks himself away for weeks, literally beating his head against the wall, unable to produce anything worthwhile. His time is almost up, until a peacock painting falls by the wayside, revealing a yawning hole in the wall. Which begins to speak. The hole in the wall, deliciously voiced by Aeon Flux’s Denise Poirier, has the power to grant wishes, to make dreams come true. She helps Hermann with his art, under one condition: he spends time with her.

Have you ever known a couple where one goes out A LOT more than the other? Maybe one partner is stuck at home with the kids, or is currently unemployed and not able to go out that often. Think of how crazy that stay-at-home partner gets, in how little time. Now imagine that partner is truly a disembodied hole in the wall, and you might begin to foresee the crazy that’s about to come.

The Hole is insecure. She’s got issues. Everyone uses her and then leaves her to rot by herself in the back alley flat. You’d be desperate for company, too, and willing to do nearly anything to keep it. As crazy as this sounds, the events that unfold are even crazier still. At the end, you’ll be left wondering who was the crazy one, and who was sane. You’ll be left wondering: Would I do it? How far would you be willing to go for Art?

Deep Dark Portland Film Festival review — Seth McGrath goes all the way as Hermann, in Michael Medaglia’s horror/fantasy/dark comedy “Deep Dark”

Hermann’s willing to go quite far, obviously, as he essentially strikes up a romantic relationship with The Hole. Yeah, you read that right. One more hint at how crazy, how far down, Deep Dark is willing to go.

As you can see from the amount of descriptors preceding Deep Dark, there’s a lot going on. Fantasy, comedy, horror, a bit of arthouse, even a little romance and drama. This rich medley means, oftentimes, you don’t know how to react. You’ll be howling with laughter, one second, and writhing on the edge of your seat the next. Deep Dark even manages to be somehow sexy at times, which is impressive, as it’s basically one guy and a hole in the wall.

The Hole is oddly sexual, in and of itself, slick with vaginal imagery. It is the Deep Dark from which we all come, and to which we all return. It is The Unknown, the Mysterious, the Imagination. It is also a descent into the world of carnal flesh, as The Hole is weirdly meaty, viscous, juicy. The Hole coughs up this weird gelatinous pod creations, which hatch into breathtaking shapes of sterling and silver. It’s beautiful, weird, unsettling, inspiring, grotesque, and oh-so-surreal, all at once.

This small ensemble cast turns everything you thought you knew about the world you’re living in on its head. Protagonists are revealed to be shallow, money-hungry, fame-chasing wannabes, while the supposed monsters, the losers and freaks, are in it for the love, the expression, the connection, which is what real art is and does.

Fans of David Cronenberg’s vision of Naked Lunch, along with fleshy pulps like Videodrome and Existenz, and devotees of dark comedy need to see this film IMMEDIATELY! But prepare to be disturbed, and have your thoughts and emotions provoked.

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