BSA 206 W4 : As Above, So Below (2014) Review

I watched the found footage horror movie As Above, So Below. The reason I wanted to watch it at all was because the concept intrigued me, a group of people go down into the catacombs under Paris only to find it's the gateway to hell. I thought this was a really good logline and I was originally under the impression that Hell and it's different rings would take up the majority of the runtime. I was wrong in this assumption and while disappointing the movie did provide something else that was unexpected but admittedly interesting.



Instead of the full on horror experience I expected what I got instead was an odd blend of adventure movies like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider and horror, almost like what the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies could have been - except this is all from a found footage perspective.

It's a very interesting blend and reminded me a lot about the idea I had when watching Tomb Raider - about presenting that type of adventure movie more realistically. I think the film manages to this to a certain extent, it's a very different aesthetic and tone for a movie with this plot, I think the problem here is that the mystery that they're solving just isn't that interesting.

Seeing the characters crack these puzzles isn't very engaging here because it feels like we're just surveying them and not really a part of their adventure, the opposite of what the found footage implementation here is supposed to do. I like the idea of an adventure film from this perspective and I like the idea of going really creepy with the supernatural components present in those films, but it just wasn't executed very well here. The concept of them going through hell according to Dante is also way more intriguing and I couldn't help thinking I'd much rather be watching that film the whole time.

They don't officially enter Hell until the one hour mark, a problem because the film is only and hour and a half long. This was understandably very disappointing.



Once they do enter Hell it isn't nearly as entertaining as it should be and the found footage format starts showing it's weaknesses. Up until this point the film's biggest strength is how big it feels for such a low budget. By not having to show full sets and being able to more easily film without large setups the film ends up feeling quite expansive. In my memory it has a very large scope.

There was one good bit in Hell, when the main character has to go back to return the philosophers stone (yeah its a pretty ridiculous plot), this it is good because even though she's making the opposite of progress (something which would usually halt the plot) she is finally being active and seeing her go through the same challenges the characters have already faced is very entertaining because she returns to them with newfound knowledge and a sense of purpose. This kind of stuff is always entertaining in movies, it was also present in The Hills Have Eyes, when the character fights back and goes on a sprint/massacre type thing it's very entertaining and serves as the ultimate relief of tension. It's like a purge of emotion and is always the high point of any film, here it is unfortunately short lived and has constant halts in the action but it's still the best part of the film.

This wasn't a good movie, I like some of the ideas but I think it falls flat in execution. The writing is especially frustrating, it's the opposite of Saw where the characters always do or address what the audience is thinking. Here they frustratingly ignore problems  we can see  (the mole character being one that none of the characters properly acknowledge) and yet when they do solve riddles and move the plot forward we feel completely removed because they are drawing from a database of knowledge that we have no familiarity with.

It's a weird film to see now because it seems to ignore all the lessons in screenwriting that I've observed recently, not only the aforementioned Saw and Hills Have Eyes examples but also Tomb Raider - here the strong female protagonist is the best at everything and speaks five languages and solves all the problems they run in to. It's a character that was very hard to care for and her high point is deflated because she starts the film off with such a high status.
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I still think that the movie has a really great concept at its heart and would have loved to see a more interesting version of it.

I think an approach similar to Evil Dead II would work really well for this concept, especially towards the latter third of the film when the last survivor has to make his way out of hell.



The scene above from Evil Dead II sees Ash losing his sanity along with the demons in the cabin, it's a scene that I think is a lot of fun to watch but also a very interesting situation to see out protagonist in. When I first saw it I remember thinking it was an interesting idea that Ash belonged more with the supernatural forces than with the rest of humanity and that he may be destined to forever stay in this state of purgatory. It's torture for him but he seems to be able to persist through it much more than any other human being, as if he already is in hell. The demons laughing and not trying to kill him all the time also gives me the sense that they enjoy having him with them.