As Above So Below

I have long since grown tired of the "Found Footage" horror film format. Granted, it's not as unpleasant as the torture porn trend, but is only a notch or two below it. The entire film is shaky cam, rendering entire parts of the film pretty much incomprehensible. It's supposed to make a film more visceral, but in fact takes me out of the film, making things feel even more fake. It's a shame too, because As Above So Below has an intriguing premise that is ruined by a film format that only gets in the way of creating any sort of mood or dread. 

The film opens with a young Archaeology student, Scarlett (played by Perdita Weeks), sneaking into Iran to examine some caves that are about to be demolished. She finds what she's looking for in the nick of time and escapes with a clue to the location of the Philosopher's Stone. This leads her to Paris, France, where she meets up with Benji (played by Edwin Hodge), who will be documenting this adventure, and her friend George (played by Ben Feldman). She convinces George to help her translate some key items to discern the actual location of the stone. They determine it is hidden in a secret room in a forbidden section of the Paris Catacombs. After recruiting a trio of Parisian hipsters to show them the way into that section of the Catacombs, they set off. So far, so good for me. It was playing out more like contemporary Indiana Jones or The Goonies than a hardcore horror movie. 

As they progress into the Catacombs, they encounter increasingly strange things, including a bunch of pale, creepy, chanting weirdos in a room that is bright red. This is never addressed later in the film and has no payoff whatsoever. I think it's intent was to be foreboding, but instead it was just confusing. The tension does pick up a bit as the group delves deeper and deeper into the Catacombs. Tunnels start looping back on themselves, or reappearing after they go through an opening, only to be reversed. As tunnels collapse behind and around them, they have no choice but to continue deeper and deeper into the Catacombs in order to try and find a way out. 

It's from here that things get progressively stranger and creepier, although not to anyone who has seen the trailers. It's not much of a spoiler to say that things that caused inner turmoil for the characters start materializing in front of them when it's spoiled in every trailer for the film. It's a shame too, because if you're not expecting it, these would have been some of the creepiest moments in the film. Instead, it falls flat because we've seen it all already. 

In the end, As Above So Below, is moderately entertaining with an intriguing plot that was ruined by both a tired concept and an ill-conceived marketing plan. The main characters are likable enough to make the film enjoyable, but what it lacked was a consistent feeling of dread or foreboding to make the film effective as a horror film. The first half of the film worked much better for me than the second. The first half had mystery and a sense of adventure. The second half descended into a half baked paranormal horror flick that created more confusion than tension, made all the worse by shaky camera work that makes things pretty much incomprehensible at times, with an ending leaving the audience perplexed and unsatisfied. It had an intriguing premise that was poorly executed, which is a shame.