Verdict
Summary
There’s a weird, palpable tension that carries the movie through, and many bigger budgeted theatrical films have tried and failed to do what this movie does on a shoestring. With good performances, unsettling, off-kilter music, and some very dreadful insight into grief, the movie succeeds in setting its tone and delivering on its goal.
Plot:
A murdered girl haunts her murderer, and her mother hones in on the killer.
Review:
A tarot card reader named Ivy (played by Toby Poser) who has long lost her ability to “see” has been faking it for years, but she still manages to make a meager living at it. She has a daughter named Echo (Zelda Adams) who, at 14, is a sassy kid who is coming into her own as a person. When Echo sneaks out one wintry night to go sledding on her own, she’s accidentally hit by a drunk driver named Kurt (John Adams) who is renovating a remote house in the woods in the middle of winter. Sensing that he should cover up her death, he throws Echo in the back of his truck and drives home, but when he gets there he realizes she’s still alive, and so he finishes the job. Before he has a chance to bury her in the woods, Ivy has already called in a missing person’s report with the police, and since Kurt is the only neighbor to Ivy for many miles, the police stop by to ask him questions. Even though he’s a little itchy and skittish, the police leave, giving him a chance to dig a shallow grave in the woods and toss her body in. It doesn’t take long before Echo begins to haunt him, taunting him to the slow point of madness, and Ivy eventually comes around, looking for her daughter, at first desperate and then later on accepting that her daughter is dead. After a consultation with a medium she trusts, Ivy’s “sight” is reinvigorated and she realizes that Kurt is her daughter’s killer, but she has to get him to open up and finally admit it before she can have her revenge …
A strange, desolate feeling permeates The Deeper You Dig, a wholly independent supernatural horror film from John Adams, who also co-stars in the film. There’s a weird, palpable tension that carries the movie through, and many bigger budgeted theatrical films have tried and failed to do what this movie does on a shoestring. With good performances, unsettling, off-kilter music, and some very dreadful insight into grief, the movie succeeds in setting its tone and delivering on its goal. Its one shortcoming were in its few visual effects which I found to be a little on the amateur side, but that’s just a minor quibble.
Arrow Films recently released a special edition Blu-ray of The Deeper You Dig, and this edition comes with a bonus disc with Adams’ previous film The Hatred on it.
Bonus Materials
- Exclusive two-disc set containing The Deeper You Dig (2019) and The Hatred (2018)
- Reversible sleeve featuring two exclusive choices of artwork
- Double-sided fold-out poster
- Limited edition illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Neil Mitchell
- DISC ONE – THE DEEPER YOU DIG
- High Definition Blu-rayâ„¢ (1080p) presentation
- Original lossless PCM 2.0 stereo soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by writers/directors/stars Toby Poser and John Adams
- At Home with the Adams Family, an exclusive, in-depth interview with the trio of filmmakers responsible for The Deeper You Dig
- It’s in the Blood: The Family in the Horror Genre, an exclusive visual essay by critic Anton Bitel exploring the theme of family in The Deeper You Dig and the Adams Family’s broader filmography
- Special effects breakdown with commentary by Trey Lindsay
- FrightFest TV interview with the Adams Family
- Hellbender music videos
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- DISC TWO – THE HATRED
- High Definition Blu-rayâ„¢ (1080p) presentation
- Original lossless PCM 2.0 stereo soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Kid Kalifornia music videos
