Deep Fear of OCS: Terrible Survival in the Catacombs of Paris with Victor Moutlet and Cassim Meesters (Coyotes)

Following L’Invitation, which aired late last year starring Guillaume Guy, Margo Bansillon and Allison Paradis, OCS is once again testing its strength in the genre film Deep Fear, a new OCS Signature unit that will be available. This Wednesday, April 20, at 20:40 on OCS Choc and will also be available on request.

Directed by Gregory Begin (Revolution of the Losers) and written by Nico Takiani (Alex Hugo), Deep Fear follows Sonia (Sophia Lesafry), Max (Cassim Meesters) and Henry (Victor Mutlet), three young students who have just graduated. Joseph Oliven) persuaded to go to study the catacombs of Paris.

They are, unfortunately, far from doubting that their expedition will turn into a nightmare. Because Sonia and her comrades will have to try their best to escape from the strange creature hidden in the earth. But will they manage to reach the surface and free themselves from the clutches of hell before it is too late?

Tonight on the first show Deep Fear on OCS Choc, Victor Mettle (Grand Hôtel, Le Bazar de la Charité, Emily in Paris) and Kassim Meesters, revealed by the Netflix series Coyotes, tell the story behind the scenes. In this horrifying and suffocating horror movie.

AlloCiné: Even if works like Titane and La Nuée have just proven that we know how to make genre films more than ever in France, horror films are more rare in French-speaking countries than in the United States or the United Kingdom. When a proposal like Deep Fear arises, does the actor find it difficult to miss the opportunity to try his hand at horror and survival?

Cassim Meesters : I’m a big fan of horror movies, this is a genre that touches me very well. Especially English-language films because, by default, they are much more common in the United States or the United Kingdom. I was always watching a lot, so when I knew I could do it, I said to myself “okay, it will be very cool, I will have a lot of fun”. As a horror lover, it was really hard to refuse.

Victor Mutlet : For my part, I do not really like base horror movies, but I’m sure when you get such an offer, they stand out naturally. There are certain types of projects that can be read on a regular basis, which is less surprising. While a movie like Deep Fear is clearly different.

On the other hand, I watched a few horror films after that because the director, Gregory Begin, had quite a bit of reference in mind that he shared with us. And I wanted to take a look.

What were his credentials?

Victor Mutlet: It was obviously The Descent that definitely made us think a little bit about the side that is “locked in the ground by one or more creatures.” But his main reference was It Follows. And I actually guess this is a bad example because I saw it (laughs).

“This film is very important to me, I want to do something about it,” he told us at the first meeting. And I was ultra hot because the movie was pretty fascinating too. So I watched again before taking on a deeper fear.

A film like Deep Fear, which takes place almost entirely underground, is definitely a bit special to shoot and shoot. How did you experience the filming?

Cassim Meesters: It is obvious that they do not chase under six feet in the corridors every day. But we get used to it pretty quickly. Because I make a lot of horror movies, I always say to myself, “I saw myself doing this.” So there was real excitement and it was almost innate because you want to re-create what you see on the screen. This is super exciting.

And what good is it that we had the opportunity to shoot at real locations. This means that we do not have many things invented to believe. We shot the whole film in Belgium. It was in the cellars, in the castles in the Liege region.

Victor Mutlet: A different part of deep fear is that it is actually something more physical. We run a lot, we are dragged to the ground, we shout a lot. But in the end, our goal, in any film, is to try to make the situation as convincing as possible. So, of course, in such a film some creature chases you and you hear strange sounds, but in the end the acting case is the same as in any other film. All this must seem convincing to the viewer.

And Qasim is right when he says that when you take on real shots, half the work is already done. When you run through huge corridors, after 200 meters of running you really catch your breath (laughs). The game still has to be played thoroughly, you have to be fully immersed in it. The madness of such a project, we are on the wire. And if there is one party that is not thorough, it can quickly become ridiculous.

Wasn’t the shooting too claustrophobic?

Cassim Meesters: Yeah, a little bit (laughs). I remember when the casting director called me, just before he sent me the script, he said, “I wanted to offer you something, but tell me, are you a canvas?” And I had not really measured the scale of this case, I had not invented a monastery before I could do it. But because of this, shooting on the pitch can sometimes be a little tricky (laughs).

Victor Muttlett: Actually, you really had the most stretches in the film. Every time you had to go through a very small cat fin, you were the one who smoked it! So respect. I do not know if I would go (laughs).

Cassie Meesters: It worked well because my character, Max, is afraid of everything, he combines all the fears of the audience, so it was logical that he was the one we followed in these difficult situations. But it was funny, I really liked this experience. There is something quite difficult about this type of shooting.

Victor Mutlet: At the beginning we laughed a lot at the question “Are you closed?”. We really did not understand why the product was asking questions. I was saying, “Relax guys, this is just a movie.”

Finally, the day before the shooting, we were taken to see the footage and entered these Belgian castles of World War II, which are barely falling from the ground. You are in a field and you realize that a huge building is hidden a little below. You climb the stairs for ten minutes, then you enter the corridors, where you get lost very quickly, it is a labyrinth, you can not see anything without a flashlight. That’s a really scary side.

A small budget obliges, the shooting was much faster than the main TV movie or movie?

Victor Mutlet: It went fast, we had 17 days to shoot. Bravo we have to tell Gregory, the director, because if everything was not well thought out in advance, it could quickly get complicated.

Still, there were really busy days. You see how many sequences you have to do, you need an hour to get the tools down, an hour to get everything back, it is barely daylight, you are already down in the dark and you are out, it is already dark. Those days, super intense, were pretty tough. But this kind of economy of means gives the film energy and meaning that we would not otherwise have.

Is there a scene from the movie that made you especially famous during filming?

Victor Muttlett: This is a scene in which people are dragged on their backs. The stuntman tells me “put it right in the back plate?”, I answer “yes, yes”, but it’s hot, so at some point I take it and forget to put it on for the first time. .

So I lean on my back and after 50 cm I say to myself “Ah thin, spine plate”. I even scream like hell and Greg tells me “okay, shout less”. Except that at the time my back was really shattered, it hurt a lot and he thinks I’re doing things just for the sake of the stage (laughs).

Cassim Meesters: There are many wonderful scenes. I can not mention one of them too much that it is not a spoiler. But I especially liked the rat sequence. People will understand when they see the movie. The decor was super impressive, there was water everywhere, real rats, we really lived in a horror movie, it was very cool.

And what made me laugh so much is that Joseph Olivenes, who plays Remy, is so scared of rats, he hates it. And in this story he plays a group guide. So he had to take us down this corridor and throughout the filming we would say, “Soon this scene will be with rats” and he never said anything, he quickly removed the subject.

And finally the day of filming this scene has come, we are at the back of the castle, very far from the exit, and we tell him “this is Joseph, the rats are there” and suddenly it all happens. White. The next day he said almost nothing. His phobia was extreme. We laughed for five minutes, but in reality it was not funny. We quickly realized that it was very difficult for him. Especially since the trainer threw rats at us for stage purposes (laughs). It was a great moment.

Do you think it is possible to continue if successful?

Victor Muttle: Without spoilers we can say that we can imagine a lot about this story and this “creature”. We do not know if the production is considering a sequel or a spin-off, but we are sure that if Deep Fear is successful, it could be a sequel or the nickname “Deep Fear: Origins”. Why not, yes. Anyway, that would be pretty ridiculous.

Can you tell us a few words about your respective projects?

Victor Muttel: In November, I will be showing Jimmy Laporal-Treasure’s feature film Rascals. The film takes place in 1984 and tells the story of a gang war in Paris between neo-Nazi skinheads and young people from homes, third or fourth generation young immigrants. It is quite violent.

I have another film by Philip, directed by Michael Kwiczynski, which I shot in Poland. This is a war film set in Frankfurt in 1943. But we are not at the front, the action is narrated especially from the point of view of hotel waiters.

Cassie Meesters: For my part, I played a small role in the post-Black Swan Tales film, produced by Deep Fear. An English film, it was quite fun to shoot. I have a series of coyotes that are still available on Netflix. This is my news at the moment, but it’s an adventure that has been going on in Belgium for some time, so the release on Netflix at the end of last year around the world was a bit of a blessing.

Can we expect Coyote Season 2?

Cassim Meesters: I do not know at all, I do not have information yet. I just know that the series was watched quite often in England, USA, Brazil. We got a lot of feedback from there. Anyway, I liked shooting this series, so I really wish it was the second season.