“As Above, So Below,” But Really In-Between
“As Above, So Below” is a child of the 2000’s found footage horror genre that became a thing after “The Blair Witch Project”—the latter, a far superior film. This modern take on the genre follows Perdita Weeks as Scarlett Marlowe as she searches through the ancient catacombs of Paris for the legendary Philosopher’s Stone. The stone is an object that is said to turn base metals into gold and is capable of not only healing wounds, but also granting immortality.
On this expedition, she enlists the help of her ex-boyfriend, a cameraman, and three guides who are familiar with the layout of the labyrinthian catacombs. The story follows these six characters as they make their way down narrow and claustrophobic corridors, ripe with dust and menace.
The found footage aspect sneaks its way into the film in the manner of each member wearing a GoPro headset for a documentary that they will compile after their discovery. The found footage viewpoint actually works fairly well in this, particularly as the characters crawl through narrow bone-filled passages and walk down endless dirt-covered corridors. These aspects work well.
In fact, much of the first half of this movie works well. The minor aspects of archeology that Scarlett uses to figure out how she must advance deeper into the catacombs were enough to keep me convinced that this was in fact her profession. And in many ways the pacing of the first three-fourths of the film work very nicely. As we have enough scares that are more so atmospheric than they are eye-rolling jump scares, I was genuinely invested in what would happen to these characters. The characters also had enough personality that I was there with the film. I was along for the ride.
And then the last 20 minutes of the movie begin. These last 20 minutes I would liken to skydiving without a parachute – where you are falling at astronomic speeds, no parachute on your back, and at a certain point you just close your eyes and pray the ground will speed up and end it. This is the thought process that I imagine the director of this film had while shooting the end.
The end of this film just happens. I can’t say anything more. One moment you are watching something pretty decent and engaging and then all of sudden you find yourself watching 20 minutes of shaky cam, while actors run around, chased by visions of their past that have been conjured up by the Philosopher’s Stone. All of what happens will make sense, but it is so rushed and so sped through, that you will probably press play on your remote to make sure it’s not fast forwarding.
My best advice would be to watch the first hour and 10 minutes of this film and then press stop. And then come back and watch the last 30 while wearing a sleep mask—trust me, the end is that bad.
Rating: 4.222/10