[Review] "Deep Murder" gets deep inside your funny bone

Opening with a “warning” that says the film should not be viewed by those under 28 years old, Deep Murder, cleverly titled after the well-known porno, Deep Throat, is a hilarious slasher that will hit your funny bone’s G-spot…

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​…Personally, I’ve never put much thought into what the life of the characters in a soft-core porn might be like when they’re not dry-humping each other silly. Thanks to Deep Murder, I know things now. Things I can never un-know. In Nick Corirossi’s debut feature, written by Quinn Beswick, Josh Margolin, Benjamin Smolen & Nikolai Von Keller, we’re introduced to a cast of eccentric soft-core porn characters, just living another day of PG-13 sex and sexual innuendos. Everything is all sunshine and rainbow-colored dildos, until a mysterious killer decides to fluff one of the cast members from the inside out, turning everyone’s soft day into a hardcore nightmare.
 
Deep Murder quickly pulls you into its world of erotic puns and sheets stained with regret through a captivating porn aesthetic, made up of often too-soft lighting and provocative yellows and oranges that scream afternoon delight. Cinematographer Daniella Nowitz and the production designers arouse us with a set that feels like every soft-core porn you’ve ever seen, taking place inside of an ultra-clean mansion decorated with very few personal affects, including some three-breast-sculpted vases thrown in for that added touch of class.
 
Opening like the beginning of a light porno, but with a lot more dick jokes, Deep Murder introduces us to an orgie’s worth of quirky characters during a prologue that is damn near indescribable insanity. Playing off of porno tropes, we meet a variety of sexy imbeciles, such as virgin nerd, Hugh (Quinn Beswick), sexually confused Jace (Chris Redd), the MILF, Babs (Katie Aselton), the babysitter (Jessica Parker Kennedy), business dad, Richard (Christopher McDonald), his horny step-brother, Doug (Jerry O’Connell), plus the bumbling detective (Josh Margolin). Oh, and let’s not forget cute scientist, Dr. Bunny Van Clit (Stephanie Drake), but don’t call her Van Clit, because that’s Dr. BUNNY Van Clit to you. I have to mention everyone here, because from established actors like O’Connell to those that are lesser known, everyone in Deep Murder is so good at pretending to be terrible actors, you’ll die laughing.
 
Deep Murder is like a game of Clue played with sex-obsessed, adult children, trapped inside with a killer thanks to hurricane Muff (despite nothing but clear skies outside). Seriously, these people are delightful morons. Corirossi keeps the viewer in on the joke, taking every opportunity to remind the audience that all of the characters’ problems could easily be solved, if they weren’t so braindead. And that’s the fun of Deep Murder. With characters who are essentially living in the world of a soft-core porn, the cast is allowed to play them as dumb and over-the-top as possible. Lines are delivered “poorly”. Emotions are either extreme or purely robotic. And with lines like “that’s where blood lives, inside of bodies” taken completely seriously, it’s impossible not to enjoy the pleasure that is Deep Murder. I can’t remember the last time I actually laughed out loud as much as I did during this sexy madhouse of a film. 

​Deep Murder isn’t just a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the porn industry though, it’s also a deadly funny take on the slasher genre. Characters in Deep Murder do literally everything wrong. They split up for no reason. Attempt to bone each other every other minute. And take steamy showers despite just being attacked. There’s even a point where one character runs around the house, chased by the BDSM leather-clad killer, screaming which rooms of the house he’s being attacked in with no one showing up to save him. What will really get horror fans excited though are the tastelessly sexual kills. Forget the golden showers, Corirossi delivers a red shower of blood and guts.
 
Without getting too much into the twist of the film, the characters in Deep Murder are being forced to lift the erotic veil that’s been draped around them, and see the world for the hardcore reality that it really is. Wrapped up in this hilariously immature horror comedy are positive themes of learning to be more than what people say you are, with a “reading is good” message thrown in because reading is good, damnit. Mixing the porn and slasher worlds feels like two sides of a personality colliding and waking these dummies up. This theme, though interesting, isn’t particularly strong, and it’s what keeps Deep Murder from being the complete filmic orgasm you want it to be.  
 
Missing from Deep Murder is that strong thematic punch to tie it all together. The film is great at playing goofy, but is emotionally flat for the most part, with characters who are all pretty interchangeable when it comes to the plot. The cast is phenomenal and never fails to get a laugh, but we only ever get just the tip of who these people really are, when we want to get deep inside them…and their personalities. Deep Murder feels like it has something to say, but between all of the blood and sexual innuendos, the theme gets lost somewhere, leaving us with something highly entertaining, but nothing much beyond that.
 
Deep Murder has to be one of the dumbest movies I’ve ever seen, but I mean that in the best possible way. This film is the definition of a guilty pleasure. Watching Deep Murder is like a one night stand: the act itself is fun, but once the credits roll, you may look at each other, a bit awkward and embarrassed, and agree to never tell anyone you did that. But wow will you never forget it.
 
Deep Murder is now available on VOD from Screen Media Films. 

By Matt Konopka