The night before Henry (Victor Meutelet) starts his mandatory military service, his friends Sonia (Sofia Lesaffre) and Max (Kassim Meesters) take him drinking and then into the catacombs of Paris, discovering tunnels that had been thoroughly destroyed during the Second World War. Chased by skinheads deep into the tunnels beneath the streets of the City of Lights, they find the 717 Bunker, an abandoned Nazi fortress that may not be abandoned.

Directed by Grégory Beghin and written by Nicolas Tackian, this film is claustrophobic — of course, what do you expect from being in the Paris catacombs? — and once it gets to the gore, it delivers. It’s just not very exciting until it actually gets there. That said, the closing moments are harrowing and make up for how slow going it is in other places.

Movies like this remind me to just stay in my movie room and not do spelunking or urban exploration.

I watched Deep Fear at Fantastic Fest.

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Deep Fear will be on Screambox on October 11.