Movie Review: As Above, So Below

As Above, So Below (2014)


When a team of explorers ventures into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.  Short synopsis of As Above, So Below taken from IMDb.com

So the first fifteen minutes or so, I was wondering if Perdita Weeks’ right shoulder was going to play a prominent role throughout the whole film. She wears stuff that is consistently showing her right shoulder. A sweater, a shirt… Anyway, it was funny.


As for the rest of the film? I liked it. Mostly. To be specific, I liked the idea of As Above, So Below, and I liked the first two acts worth of execution. The last third, however? Not so much. I don’t wish to spoil the plot for those who wish to watch it, so I won’t give it away (I think for those who like scary movies, this will make a rather satisfying watch, as long as you don’t expect a perfect thrill ride and an ending that works on all levels). But the build-up of getting our gang of plucky characters into the Paris Catacombs, down into the unexplored area, through some scary areas, and through the gates of hell was all pretty fun. And some good jump scares to boot. I knew bad things were gonna happen, but when they do, you still jump.

That's human bones stacked on either side of the path.  If you believe in a literal resurrection of the dead, as mentioned in the Bible, then you gotta shake your head when you look at a place like the Catacombs of Paris. I mean, that's a bureaucratic nightmare of body parts, that is. / Source: trueghosttales.com

For instance, one of our characters approaches a guy we discovered down in the catacombs (long story), and just as she touches him, he goes berserk, grabs her and kills her. It’s brutal and gut-wrenching, even though you know something bad was on the offing, so to speak. Much of the film is like this, up until a certain point. You know bad things are going to happen, but when they do, it is still visceral and unsettling.

Then the last act begins and the film seems to go off its well-set path and gets all crazy. It’s like the filmmakers had a good point-by-point story developing and then said: “to heck with it, let’s just make everything nuts.” People are running around, monsters are appearing, hell’s sound system keeps blurting out off-key bass notes (perhaps hell for some people is only getting a deep “thrum” noise every few moments to make you feel all disturbed and stuff), and we’ve discovered that we don’t actually have the vaunted sorcerer’s stone after all, so we have to go all the way back for it.  I had a major case of the "yeah, rights" at this revelation, I don't mind sayin.

Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist.  You know, I bet he wasn't really trying to come up with a stone that could turn base metals into gold and bring immortality to whoever possessed it.  I'd bet he was just trying to invent a laundry detergent that would really get his whites their whitest and still be safe for bright colors.  It was the fifteenth century, after all.  And then somebody just blew up up the story of what he did  until it was doing all that other stuff too.  "Sorcerer''s Stone Laundry Soap"... now in the detergent aisle at your local grocer! / Source: mugglenet.com

Another thing I don’t like about As Above, So Below is the found footage aspect. The problem is that we have all sorts of different camera angles, conveniently explained by saying that several of our team have helmet cams, and that the main camera is for the documentary of Weeks’ character’s discovery of Nicholas Flemel's sorcerers stone (and you thought that was just a Harry Potter thing - haha!).  So isn’t it nice that all our cameras catch all the important stuff, like the face of the spooky thing that jumps at you, or the perfect shot of some detail you need to move the plot along. As someone who knows from helmet cam use in paintball, I can assure you that it is tough to get consistently good footage of what you are doing. In fact, it is the good filming of the key moments that make you cheer for your good luck, and the bad camera work of moments you hoped to catch that leave you groaning in frustration. But no, this bunch with their helmet cameras catch everything relevant.  We never miss a spooky moment with these guys.

That’s why The Blair Witch Project was so effective, folks. In fact, the end of that movie had me confused until a friend pointed out that what you see in the last ten seconds of Blair Witch is actually something that a character in the film spoke of before as being scary and important. But since the camera work is so sketchy, all I knew up until fairly recently was that things were bad there at the end.

I could make a fortune promoting my line of wearable miniature action cameras by guaranteeing they'll never miss a single spook or specter that you're investigating, I bet. / Source: pintrest.com

The key here is sound. The sound at the end of Blair Witch told you bad things were happening, and this is where, excluding that annoying, non-scary after the fifth or sixth time, thrumming sound that you keep getting from hell’s PA system, As Above, So Below does pretty well. It sounds pretty good all the way through. The sound scares do the trick well.  Unfortunately, this is another issue with the “found footage” type-movie. Sound on helmet cams is crap. Anyone who has tried understanding a conversation caught on helmet cam knows that it is a matter of luck getting good audio.

Now to that ending I spoke of. Let me spoil it just a touch by saying that I stayed until the credits were all done, hoping the film would have a tail-end scene that would confirm my suspicions. It didn’t. I propose that, based on what the audience is given, nobody from our small group of survivors really escapes from the bad place. Perhaps in the home video version, there will be a deleted scene/alternate ending that rectifies this problem. We’ll see. If I feel like renting it, that is. As Above, So Below was worth the three bucks for the cheap seats viewing, but probably not worth a second viewing as a rental. It is better in some ways than The Descent, which it shares some similarities with, but not as good in other ways. And it is not the best scary film I’ve seen this year.


It's a bit dull stuff, sure, but my point is made around the 52 second mark or so.  Look at the size of those cameras we're shooting with!  And they want me to believe this is "found footage."  Yeah, right.

I guess what I’m saying is that if the end had been a bit tighter paced and more cohesive, and especially if we’d avoided a weird deus ex machina moment that I'll skip detailing so as to leave it for you, the reader, to decide upon, I’d have rated As Above, So Below higher. Recommended if you like the idea, like jump scares, don’t mind some off moments, and want to see at least fifteen minutes straight of Perdita Weeks’ shoulder.


The parting comment:

Source: GoodMorningFloridaKeys.com

That's taking honesty to the end and then some, I think.