As Above, As Below (2014)
The Awesome:
Set and shot in the Paris Catacombs!!! The first thing that stands out is how crisp the cinematography is for a found footage film. I just always expect grainy found footage in these type of films, but here it's high-def from the first interview to the very end. Found footage film that feels fresh and I think it's because of how clear the footage is compared to other entries into the genre, where they muddy the camera lens making it even harder to make out what you are seeing when the camera is moving around during say a chase scene---none of that shit-on-the-lenses gimmick here and while there are the usual camera disorientation, it isn't jarring or annoying as it's kept to a minimum. We all know that sound design is of the utmost importance in horror and here the sound design is fantastic, it's tremendous!! the sound becomes more haunting as they go deeper and did make me feel uneasy on many occasions. I originally I thought the film was entirely shot in a studio and was going to give massive credit to the set designers but have learned that the film was allowed to shoot in the actual systems of the Paris underground catacombs, that's awesome, so credit to the set design who actually added props around the real catacombs, like the scene where they have to climb over the bones, the real place is a hallway and what the filmmaker did was fill the hallway with the bones and added a wall so it looks like the small tunnel they have to climb over!!!!! As the group continues to go lower and lower down the catacombs, the scenes get more spooky and tense, I mean your senses are instantly heightened as you anticipate the horror and here is where this movie excels, the tension of the location forces you to pay attention. The acting by all the performers was very good and all were very convincing in dialogue and behavior, none of that, "I will walk off and explore on my own and catch up with you later"- nonsense we see in movies of this type; (until it's needed). The Lara Croft meets Blair Witch meets Dante's Inferno meets found footage aspect was interesting and elevates this entry into the found footage genre as more than just ghost hunters with a camera. I LOVE The Divine Comedy/Dante's Inferno, I read random Cantos all the time so when the film enters that sort of descent into the levels of hell, I could not contain myself at one particular death that was certainly inspired by one of the levels in Dante's Inferno. The ending is fantastic, but that is my opinion as the end created more questions of the good kind and also leave a lot to interpret which none of it could be wrong...let your imagination flow. One scene where sound is altered had me believing i was experiencing the technical difficulty IRL. The scene where Benji (Edwin Hodge) gets stuck is fucking amazing and anxiety inducing, that actor did a terrific job convincing me that he was stuck. I don't have a fear of claustrophobia but have found myself having a hard time to breath once on an amusement ride and I seriously panicked and was close to losing my mind and yelling for the ride to stop. Watching Benji in that scene gave me that reaction, although I was telling myself, let's see how convincing he is going to be, I still felt the anxiety of the moment.
The Good:
The pacing is just right as the characters are forced to keep moving and at no time did I find myself saying, "okay just find a way out people, so this movie can end already." Even the slow moments in the beginning serve to show the main character's obsession and like Heather in The Blair Witch Project, you just know she is going to be responsible for bad shit that is going to happen to people that join her on the treasure hunt. You want a film like this to be spooky and suspenseful and you do get both things. Great sense of dread and danger around every corner. At no time do you stop to wonder, "how did they get that camera angle???", because they manage to show us how all the camera shots we will see later make sense. Also, when stuff really starts happening, at no time do you ask yourself, "why are these people still recording?", because again, it's set up intelligently as only one hand-held camera is taken down with them and even when that camera is dropped and as your about to ask yourself, "now how the fug did the footage in that camera make it out of the catacombs?", the filmmakers present a solution. The archaeological puzzles and riddles are all great, especially the astronomy one since they have to take into account the time the riddle was created and the celestial knowledge of the people writing it, so you better know how many planets had been discovered or you probably will fail the test and die. This film led to many debates and discussions when it was released and I probably avoided watching it because I figured it was just another bad low-budget found footage movie with horrible camera work, boring narrative or lame ending, and I was wrong! I love reading about the different theories posed by fans regarding the film and has me digging deeper into so much about this movie. I loved the treasure hunting aspects of it as they were done well, for the most part. The dialogue was okay for most of the movie, there is only one scene where one of the characters asks the stupidest question ever as something is happening. Besides that, I felt the dialogue was realistic for the situations they find themselves in. I enjoyed their trip through the catacombs as there were so many obstacles and dead ends that I really felt how helpless their situation becomes. Kudos to the filmmakers for allowing a character to survive where normally that type of character is always killed. The piano scene was great as it not just sets up an eerie moment but also hints at what is starting to occur. As they are forced to explore the catacombs , we hear the sound of something that should not be down there and while creepy at first it ruins the immersion, but it will all make sense in the end. All the practical effects worked and the injuries sustained by the characters all look genuine, so credit goes to make-up effects team too.
The Bad:
While the film is filled with all out tension, it lacks that powerful gut-punch. We never are truly frightened by the things we see in the third act, we are disturbed by them but never truly afraid or shocked. So the terror or horror isn't overwhelming, the imagery isn't going to give you post-trauma, it will spook you but never revolt you or make you say a prayer to the god. There is one archaeological puzzle involving a poem that when you analyze the scene, doesn't make sense because there is no way something like a poem written in one language remains the same when translated into another, no way say a, rhyming Japanese limerick translated into English would rhyme the same way...or that would be one hell of a poem! So they kind of dropped the ball there and most people won't catch that but I did because the movie had me looking out for symbolism and clues at every corner. I was a little confused when certain things start happening because it borrows from other things I've seen in movies and I wasn't sure if we had entered a different dimension, Hell, Haunted catacombs, or just a collective hallucination. While I consider the ending to be awesome, I also wish there was more of a haunting conclusion before we Fade to black.
The Ugly:
If you hate found footage movies, hate slow burns, and suffer from claustrophobia should skip this because you will not appreciate it. The over-saturation of poorly shot found footage films is what prevented me from watching this back when it was released and many horror fans probably skipped it too and that is probably a shame. We learn early on that the main character, Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), is a professor, she has multiple academic degrees, speaks six languages and two dead languages....yet amazingly and incredulously she doesn't speak the language that seems to be the most important to speak since it's the language the inscriptions are written in!!! How can you tell me she is this incredibly smart and impressive person and then omit from her knowledge the most important language in her profession!!!!! You see, if she spoke Aramaic, then we would not need the character George (Ben Feldman) since his main role was to translate the Aramaic, but then don't tell us she speaks all those languages but needs George cause she doesn't have time to learn it? and speaking of his character, I hated how he tells us he is NOT going to participate in the treasure hunt, but yet there he is at every turn. He tells Scarlett early on that he is not going to help her but then he follows her up to the point where they are going to illegally enter the catacombs, and of course something happens (which was executed poorly for a cheap thrill) and George ends up going with them after telling us he wasn't...I get the light humor in it but I would have rather heard him talk about more interesting facts since these guys are adventurers.
Final Verdict...4/5... As soon as the movie was over I had originally given it a 3/5 but did some research and it elevated the score as I clarified somethings for myself because this movie shifts in tone somewhat and if you go to the bathroom at the wrong time, you may come back and be like, "what the f' is happening?". I really liked what the filmmakers tried to do with the story and the found footage formula. I liked the concept of the entire thing and thought it was told in an interesting way. It is never revealed why we have the found footage (as we usually see in other movies in the genre) but it never comes close to even mattering. The location is fantastic and the Dante's Inferno nods really had me excited and went a long way in making me really enjoy this more than I would have and is why I ended up giving it such a high score. The acting is very good for a found footage film and only wish it was gorier and more "demonic"...like stuff is spooky but nothing that would give me nightmares and that is a shame considering where we are told they are travelling through, a missed opportunity honestly. There are some really good scares but nothing overly frightening visually. I had a fun time watching this and processing everything afterwards and really am enjoying the fan theories out here about the movie. If you like Blair Witch Project and Dante's Inferno like me, don't miss this, so I can have someone to discuss it with, even if you don't end up liking it at all. This is the closest thing to a live version of Virgil's descent into the Inferno and that alone was worth the watch. Just wish it was scarier and I don't mean by using cheap jump scares...I wanted that whatever was down there would be burned into my subconscious, the location and story were, just not the things that were producing the fear of the unknown.
[Review written October 2018]
The Awesome:
Set and shot in the Paris Catacombs!!! The first thing that stands out is how crisp the cinematography is for a found footage film. I just always expect grainy found footage in these type of films, but here it's high-def from the first interview to the very end. Found footage film that feels fresh and I think it's because of how clear the footage is compared to other entries into the genre, where they muddy the camera lens making it even harder to make out what you are seeing when the camera is moving around during say a chase scene---none of that shit-on-the-lenses gimmick here and while there are the usual camera disorientation, it isn't jarring or annoying as it's kept to a minimum. We all know that sound design is of the utmost importance in horror and here the sound design is fantastic, it's tremendous!! the sound becomes more haunting as they go deeper and did make me feel uneasy on many occasions. I originally I thought the film was entirely shot in a studio and was going to give massive credit to the set designers but have learned that the film was allowed to shoot in the actual systems of the Paris underground catacombs, that's awesome, so credit to the set design who actually added props around the real catacombs, like the scene where they have to climb over the bones, the real place is a hallway and what the filmmaker did was fill the hallway with the bones and added a wall so it looks like the small tunnel they have to climb over!!!!! As the group continues to go lower and lower down the catacombs, the scenes get more spooky and tense, I mean your senses are instantly heightened as you anticipate the horror and here is where this movie excels, the tension of the location forces you to pay attention. The acting by all the performers was very good and all were very convincing in dialogue and behavior, none of that, "I will walk off and explore on my own and catch up with you later"- nonsense we see in movies of this type; (until it's needed). The Lara Croft meets Blair Witch meets Dante's Inferno meets found footage aspect was interesting and elevates this entry into the found footage genre as more than just ghost hunters with a camera. I LOVE The Divine Comedy/Dante's Inferno, I read random Cantos all the time so when the film enters that sort of descent into the levels of hell, I could not contain myself at one particular death that was certainly inspired by one of the levels in Dante's Inferno. The ending is fantastic, but that is my opinion as the end created more questions of the good kind and also leave a lot to interpret which none of it could be wrong...let your imagination flow. One scene where sound is altered had me believing i was experiencing the technical difficulty IRL. The scene where Benji (Edwin Hodge) gets stuck is fucking amazing and anxiety inducing, that actor did a terrific job convincing me that he was stuck. I don't have a fear of claustrophobia but have found myself having a hard time to breath once on an amusement ride and I seriously panicked and was close to losing my mind and yelling for the ride to stop. Watching Benji in that scene gave me that reaction, although I was telling myself, let's see how convincing he is going to be, I still felt the anxiety of the moment.
The Good:
The pacing is just right as the characters are forced to keep moving and at no time did I find myself saying, "okay just find a way out people, so this movie can end already." Even the slow moments in the beginning serve to show the main character's obsession and like Heather in The Blair Witch Project, you just know she is going to be responsible for bad shit that is going to happen to people that join her on the treasure hunt. You want a film like this to be spooky and suspenseful and you do get both things. Great sense of dread and danger around every corner. At no time do you stop to wonder, "how did they get that camera angle???", because they manage to show us how all the camera shots we will see later make sense. Also, when stuff really starts happening, at no time do you ask yourself, "why are these people still recording?", because again, it's set up intelligently as only one hand-held camera is taken down with them and even when that camera is dropped and as your about to ask yourself, "now how the fug did the footage in that camera make it out of the catacombs?", the filmmakers present a solution. The archaeological puzzles and riddles are all great, especially the astronomy one since they have to take into account the time the riddle was created and the celestial knowledge of the people writing it, so you better know how many planets had been discovered or you probably will fail the test and die. This film led to many debates and discussions when it was released and I probably avoided watching it because I figured it was just another bad low-budget found footage movie with horrible camera work, boring narrative or lame ending, and I was wrong! I love reading about the different theories posed by fans regarding the film and has me digging deeper into so much about this movie. I loved the treasure hunting aspects of it as they were done well, for the most part. The dialogue was okay for most of the movie, there is only one scene where one of the characters asks the stupidest question ever as something is happening. Besides that, I felt the dialogue was realistic for the situations they find themselves in. I enjoyed their trip through the catacombs as there were so many obstacles and dead ends that I really felt how helpless their situation becomes. Kudos to the filmmakers for allowing a character to survive where normally that type of character is always killed. The piano scene was great as it not just sets up an eerie moment but also hints at what is starting to occur. As they are forced to explore the catacombs , we hear the sound of something that should not be down there and while creepy at first it ruins the immersion, but it will all make sense in the end. All the practical effects worked and the injuries sustained by the characters all look genuine, so credit goes to make-up effects team too.
The Bad:
While the film is filled with all out tension, it lacks that powerful gut-punch. We never are truly frightened by the things we see in the third act, we are disturbed by them but never truly afraid or shocked. So the terror or horror isn't overwhelming, the imagery isn't going to give you post-trauma, it will spook you but never revolt you or make you say a prayer to the god. There is one archaeological puzzle involving a poem that when you analyze the scene, doesn't make sense because there is no way something like a poem written in one language remains the same when translated into another, no way say a, rhyming Japanese limerick translated into English would rhyme the same way...or that would be one hell of a poem! So they kind of dropped the ball there and most people won't catch that but I did because the movie had me looking out for symbolism and clues at every corner. I was a little confused when certain things start happening because it borrows from other things I've seen in movies and I wasn't sure if we had entered a different dimension, Hell, Haunted catacombs, or just a collective hallucination. While I consider the ending to be awesome, I also wish there was more of a haunting conclusion before we Fade to black.
Here is one thing I really disliked early on...the scene where she is helped to enter the museum holding the tablet she needs to read, it's one thing to go to someone's home and take a picture or painting off their walls and inspect it--- it is a whole other thing to remove things on display from a museum!! And not only does Scarlett remove an ancient Tablet from it's display, she then throws chemicals on it and burns them to reveal a hidden message on the back of the Tablet!! You might get away with that in a private museum or a private collection but at a museum in Paris, after hours too???!!! The ease in which they were able to take it, would mean that literally anyone who had been searching for the treasure/stone could have walked into that museum and just took the Tablet years ago.
The Ugly:
If you hate found footage movies, hate slow burns, and suffer from claustrophobia should skip this because you will not appreciate it. The over-saturation of poorly shot found footage films is what prevented me from watching this back when it was released and many horror fans probably skipped it too and that is probably a shame. We learn early on that the main character, Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), is a professor, she has multiple academic degrees, speaks six languages and two dead languages....yet amazingly and incredulously she doesn't speak the language that seems to be the most important to speak since it's the language the inscriptions are written in!!! How can you tell me she is this incredibly smart and impressive person and then omit from her knowledge the most important language in her profession!!!!! You see, if she spoke Aramaic, then we would not need the character George (Ben Feldman) since his main role was to translate the Aramaic, but then don't tell us she speaks all those languages but needs George cause she doesn't have time to learn it? and speaking of his character, I hated how he tells us he is NOT going to participate in the treasure hunt, but yet there he is at every turn. He tells Scarlett early on that he is not going to help her but then he follows her up to the point where they are going to illegally enter the catacombs, and of course something happens (which was executed poorly for a cheap thrill) and George ends up going with them after telling us he wasn't...I get the light humor in it but I would have rather heard him talk about more interesting facts since these guys are adventurers.
Final Verdict...4/5... As soon as the movie was over I had originally given it a 3/5 but did some research and it elevated the score as I clarified somethings for myself because this movie shifts in tone somewhat and if you go to the bathroom at the wrong time, you may come back and be like, "what the f' is happening?". I really liked what the filmmakers tried to do with the story and the found footage formula. I liked the concept of the entire thing and thought it was told in an interesting way. It is never revealed why we have the found footage (as we usually see in other movies in the genre) but it never comes close to even mattering. The location is fantastic and the Dante's Inferno nods really had me excited and went a long way in making me really enjoy this more than I would have and is why I ended up giving it such a high score. The acting is very good for a found footage film and only wish it was gorier and more "demonic"...like stuff is spooky but nothing that would give me nightmares and that is a shame considering where we are told they are travelling through, a missed opportunity honestly. There are some really good scares but nothing overly frightening visually. I had a fun time watching this and processing everything afterwards and really am enjoying the fan theories out here about the movie. If you like Blair Witch Project and Dante's Inferno like me, don't miss this, so I can have someone to discuss it with, even if you don't end up liking it at all. This is the closest thing to a live version of Virgil's descent into the Inferno and that alone was worth the watch. Just wish it was scarier and I don't mean by using cheap jump scares...I wanted that whatever was down there would be burned into my subconscious, the location and story were, just not the things that were producing the fear of the unknown.
What I mean is the ending left me asking, are they back to regular dimension? Paris in an alternate universe? A version of Hell that the title of the movie has been implying the entire time: a version of Hell looks just like where you currently live but things like shadows don't behave the same as they do in a regular dimension. I would have loved for a last shot of us zooming out and seeing that they have escaped but to just a small patch of Paris and nothing but deep crevices or canyons around the small patch of land hinting that they are in Hell and once they get to the edge of the city, they will discover that they aren't on Earth, I just thought that would be more haunting than just the survivors walking away.
I also was not a huge fan of Scarlett running back to where she finds the stone, I appreciated the spooky moments when she does that but I felt it was kind of silly because she remembers exactly the path they took and I understand the whole 'your mind sees what it wants' element and I know it was necessary she go back in order to solve how to get out of that entire place, but that whole scenario didn't work for me as she had the ability to fight the demons or whatever they were but the guys did not have that ability and it felt like it was too easy of a task when you consider that she had to go all the way back from where they came from....a bit ridiculous.
I also was not a huge fan of Scarlett running back to where she finds the stone, I appreciated the spooky moments when she does that but I felt it was kind of silly because she remembers exactly the path they took and I understand the whole 'your mind sees what it wants' element and I know it was necessary she go back in order to solve how to get out of that entire place, but that whole scenario didn't work for me as she had the ability to fight the demons or whatever they were but the guys did not have that ability and it felt like it was too easy of a task when you consider that she had to go all the way back from where they came from....a bit ridiculous.
[Review written October 2018]
