500 Days Of Film Reviews Found Footage Horror, As Above, So Below
Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to the bones of countless souls.
When a team of explorers venture into the uncharted maze, searching for the mythical Philosopher’s Stone, they uncover the dark secret within.
As they journey further down into a realm of madness and terror, they are forced to confront their own personal demons.
Is It Any Good?
As Above, So Below starts with an interesting premise.
The search for Nicolas Flamel’s Philosopher's Stone gives the film an adventurous, Indiana Jones-esque feel. As a result, the motivation behind the journey down into the Parisian catacombs seems believable enough.
This location provides the perfect stage for an unsettling, claustrophobic horror movie experience. There were moments when I felt particularly uncomfortable and there are a couple of decent jump scares.
However, I have two problems with As Above, So Below.
The first is the use of found footage. While, unlike many films in this genre, there is good reason for the presence of cameras (to document potential historical discoveries) As Above, So Below feels nauseatingly shaky from start to finish.
The movie is unpleasant to watch at times (but not in a good way) and, by the end, I had a nasty case of eye strain.
I think we are all so over this technique... am I right?
My second problem with this film is that it owes a great debt to one of my favourite horror movies of all time, The Descent.
It would take a pretty special movie to rival the sheer terrifying brilliance of The Descent and, while it does have some effective moments, As Above, So Below just isn't that movie.
Random Observations
Have you seen As Above So Below?
If so, what did you think of this horror movie? Did it scare you? Bore you?
Whatever the case, let me know by leaving a comment in the box below!