Thursday 8 January 2015

As Above, So Below (2014)

As Above, So Below

IMDB rate: 6,1
Genre: Found-Footage, Supernatural, Survival
Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge

I came across this movie and when I read the back of the DVD-cover it seemed like a very interesting movie. Playing in the Catacombs of Paris, and made by the same director as the not uninteresting movie Devil, I thought this might be an awesome movie. I was a bit bummed out to see that it was a found-footage movie, not because I hate found footage movies, but because the last couple ones I've seen were terrible. But I must admit that it was a reasonable movie.

Here's what As Above, So Below is about:
Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead. A journey into madness and terror, As Above, So Below reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all.

I thought it was an amazingly interesting setting, the Catacombs of Paris are very spooky and it's a great scenery for a horror movie. It's also very cool that this was the first movie that was actually allowed to film in a small part of the Catacombs. I must admit that the story of the movie wasn't always too original and at times it was just plain weird but the atmosphere was just amazing which is of course very important as well. It was very claustrophobic.

As Above, So Below is in my opinion a mix between Grave Encounters and The Descent, perhaps even a touch of Indiana Jones. Many people didn't like Grave Encounters but I must admit that I thought it was a reasonable movie, although it was weird sometimes. This was even more so the case with Grave Encounters 2, it was weird and just too weird at moments. These weird elements were also in As Above, So Below and sometimes it was a bit too much, going into a room and ending up in the same room you just came from is not logical, I don't like stuff like that. I find demons, hell and stuff like that more logical than ending up in the same room again. On the other hand, it was also a bit like The Descent which is a very good movie in my opinion. The claustrophobic feeling was captured just right, just like they did in The Descent.


The movie is somewhat predictable, the roof collapsing when the last person is going through is of course not very special. The acting was pretty good but I would've liked to see a bit more character development. The characters weren't written very good I think, at some moments the French people spoke English to each other, which is of course a bit unlikely. I thought that the character La Toupe was pretty awesome, he was very creepy and great for the movie. He reminded me of that YouTube video 'Salad Fingers' :D.

I think As Above, So Below is a reasonable movie. It's very weird at moments and sometimes a bit too much Grave Encounters-like but it also has a great and interesting story, the entire trip itself is for a fascinating reason already, but the characters needing to overcome their past was a great addition as well. Great location and good acting. Unfortunately a bit too many plotholes, there were just too many unanswered questions. Overall, a decent movie.

My rate: 6/10

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