Claustrophobic and creepy, director John Erick Dowdle gives As Above/So Below a fighting chance amongst genre clichés and forced frights. Using the rudimentary “found footage” style, Dowdle transports a cast of young explorers into the catacombs underneath the streets of Paris. The unsettling location creates some wonderful atmosphere, but the narrative foregoes exploration of some provoking historical elements introduced early on and is overly predictable.
Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) is a single-minded researcher bent on finishing her deceased father’s life work of finding an ancient historical artifact. This leads her initially into a dangerous cavern in Iran that almost kills her. Following the clues from Iran, she is lead to Paris and into the forbidden section of the catacombs below the city. Looking for a secret doorway, Scarlett and her crew are trapped in the mazelike tomb leading them into the supernatural and face to face with their innermost fear.
The story begins as a treasure hunt in the vein of Tomb Raider, though not as action packed. The history mystery has Scarlett investigating artifacts and piecing together a puzzle started by her father. This ultimately serves to accommodate the plot change, which brings a larger group of people to aid Scarlett into the catacombs of Paris. Once below, the group is haunted by apparitions that reflect their own traumas and fears. The film only touches the surface of character development, though it could have offered an interesting inquiry into the secrets of past civilizations and the personal horror hidden inside the individual.
While nothing narratively will be particularly unique for horror fans, Dowdle shrewdly utilizes claustrophobic spaces, the confusion of darkness, and disorienting sound designs to keep things sinister. In one scene the simple design of a chanting chorus, along with a nightmarish situation for one of the characters, really brings the journey into the cavernous unknown to echoing life. Whether a budgetary or production concern, the hand-held approach hurts the frightening potential that the disturbing environment possesses. Every scare becomes telegraphed and the camera shakes away the atmosphere.
As Above, So Below has an effectively creepy mood to work with, and, for a moment, the location hides the weaknesses of the narrative. Perdita Weeks gives a good performance as the brave and ambitious to a fault researcher, but unfortunately the tiresome filmic technique hinders the terrifying experience proposed in the premise.
Movie Score: 3/5
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