"As Above, So Below" centers on two archaeologists and a group of urban spelunkers who break into the catacombs below Paris. However, unlike most naive tourists, they have quite the reason: they are in search of an arcane philosopher's stone that purportedly holds the powers of eternal life. Unfortunately, the group becomes trapped in a labyrinth of caves that lead them deeper and deeper into the earth... and closer and closer toward the gates of hell.
Directed and co-written by John Erick Dowdle, who was behind "Devil" and the apocryphally unreleased "Poughkeepsie Tapes," "As Above, So Below" is, at its roots, an action-packed adventure flick melded with the makings of found-footage horror, and, although at times ridiculous, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't wildly entertaining. The central crux of the plot hinges on a mystical stone whose existence has been buried (literally and metaphorically) by history, and the protagonist, Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), the daughter of an archaeologist and alchemy student, makes it her life goal to finish her deceased father's work and find it. While this is admittedly fantastical and no doubt requires a slight stretching of the imagination, the historical and mythological aspects of the film still manage to be compelling none the less.
That said, the real hook of the film lies in its setting: les Catacombes de Paris. To date, I only know of one other film that takes place in the ghoulish setting— the slightly underwhelming "Catacombs" (2007). While both films are very different in plot, they both share the same pull due to their unusually extraordinary setting. "As Above, So Below" also admittedly borrows elements from Neil Marshall's "The Descent," but those who call this film a "found footage rip-off" are way off base. Both films take place underground, yes, and "As Above, So Below" does appear to borrow a couple of sequential elements from Marshall's film, but they are complete tonal opposites. There are plenty of wild and fun elements in this film, including secret passages, trapdoors, tunnels circling in on themselves, and ringing telephones 500 feet under the earth, but all of it is done in good taste and manages to evoke some solid scares and an oppressive atmosphere. The hand-held camera-work accentuates the explorers' sense of disorientation, and one gets the increasing sense of desperation as they venture deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast.
The most obvious issue with the film is that it suffers from a half-baked subplot surrounding the individuals' reliving/re-facing demons of their past, which appears to have been an overarching, perhaps even singular theme, but it fails to really ever take hold, crumbling under the film's dynamic subterranean locale; quite literally under the weight of the earth. I felt like this entire subplot(?) could have been completely stripped from the script, and we still would have had a solid, effective film here. I don't want to say that it juggles too many themes as a result, because it really doesn't, but the incorporation of this with the mythology of the film comes off as a little bit harebrained. There is already enough Indiana Jones whimsy to be had here as it is, so these sequences of characters facing past demons are ultimately ineffective among the rest of the film's funhouse attractions.
Even still, I found this to be a wildly entertaining thriller and a good, claustrophobic two hours at the cinema. It is not a great film, but it is a well made film, and is especially a delight for anyone who is as fascinated by the Paris catacombs as I am, or just subterranean depths in general. It's claustrophobic, fast-paced, and at times genuinely spooky; at other times, it's absolutely silly and edges into Indiana Jones territory, but at the end of the day, I thought this was a solid concoction of fantasy, adventure-thriller, and supernatural horror elements. Take it for what it is, and it's rightfully enjoyable. 6/10.
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