AS ABOVE, SO BELOW is Not That Terrible, Guys

Nothing looked appealing about AS ABOVE, SO BELOW when the trailer hits a few months ago. From what I could tell, it looked as if Legendary Pictures was throwing their hand into the found-footage genre a little late in the game to collect whatever money they could. While that statement is still probably true, the final product they made was not as terrible as I imagined.

I think I speak for at least a large handful of people when I say that found-footage is not a bad format, it’s just one saturated with films lacking quality. It’s not the amount coming out that’s eye-rolling, it’s the content. How many cash grabs do we need? It’s a silly question, BUT REALLY?!

Well, the cynic in me was surprised. AS ABOVE is a fun, little face fuck of a film. Now, it’s not perfect and it’s certainly not THE HORROR FILM OF THE YEAR, but it tries. I’ll give a film more credit for trying than just following the easy way out. Then there are the uninspired films like THE DEVIL’S DUE, but that’s another post I’ll never have the energy to write.

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW centers on Scarlett, a young archeologist who is following in the steps of her father to find the resting place of the philosopher’s stone. If you’re at all in tune with fantasy fiction, you’ll already know what that is. It’s a stone that is said to turn anything into gold and heal wounds. A legendary item that you find in fables. HARRY POTTER and the FULL METAL ALCHEMIST have chased this item in their respective worlds. So, it’s a bit of a trope, but a fun one.

Scarlett asks an old friend, George, to accompany her with her documentarian, Benji, to hunt for it in the catacombs in France. Along with a ragtag team of Parisians, the team head into what turns out to be their own hell.

The setting is a nice break from haunted houses, cults, and the woods. The nature of the catacombs creates confusion and nausea for the viewer (in a good way). You have no sense of direction and feel as lost at times as the characters do. It’s effective and does well to keep the tension tight. Moments of true claustrophobia happen, but not to the extent of THE DESCENT.

Plenty of WTF moments occur to peak your interest and help add color to the catacomb combing (HAHA). These moments include brutality, rock zombies, and the utterly supernatural. I won’t explain these moments in detail for obvious reasons, but the context in which they happen are personal to each character. The film asks for you to suspend your disbelief early on, and doesn’t ask for much until the end. The main theme of the film is guilt and that plays into the endgame heavily.

While the script hinges on a few too many jump scares, it makes up for that with its Lovecraftian atmosphere. The descent into madness oozes with the forgotten art of the unexplainable. AS ABOVE gets weird. Like, really weird – and it doesn’t try to explain every little thing. We need that every once and awhile.

Of course, the final part of the film asks a little too much from the viewer and borders on laughable with how the story is resolved. I am happy that it ends without a camera falling to the floor and documenting the last moments of the remaining crew. It ends on a solid note but the moments leading to it are just inexcusably silly.

It’s not at all that scary, either, as it tries to be. There are moments and there is a lot of HOLY FUCK moments, but it never accomplishes all it wants. AS ABOVE will holds your interest, and I give that a high-five in this era of atrocious theatrical horror films.

The Dowdle Brothers have written/directed a film that seeps with quality but so-so execution. I commend them for surprising me. I recommend that people don’t pass this up if they think it’s “another one of those!” I mean, there are rock zombies. Rock zombies. How can you pass that up?

Rating: 3/5