Exclusive Interview: John Erick & Drew Dowdle Talk As Above/So Below, The Coup

This Friday, John Erick and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) return with their latest terrifying tale, As Above/So Below, which arrives in theaters this Friday courtesy of Legendary Pictures. The story takes audiences deep inside the Paris catacombs where deadly secrets are revealed, forcing those taking the journey to begin questioning their own sanity and whether or not they’ll survive the expedition.

Daily Dead recently chatted with The Dowdles about their horror/adventure mash-up and heard more from the pair on their experiences working on the film, the challenges of shooting on location in the Parisian catacombs, working with As Above/So Below star Perdita Weeks, and they gave us some details on their next project, The Coup.

I’d love if you guys could start off by discussing what inspired the story for As Above/So Below and setting this story deep inside the catacombs beneath Paris?

Drew Dowdle: Well, we initially had this idea for a story that involved the search for a hidden relic and thought the catacombs was the perfect setting for this kind of story. We didn’t want this to just be about the location though- it is scary down there, but it’s not the focus of the horror we were exploring.  We wanted the story to be about the fact that as you go deeper and deeper into the catacombs with these characters, they all start to experience these horrifying things from their past that want to torment them so it’s more cerebral than anything.

And I think that’s something we can all relate to on some level. We’ve all faced our own personal demons or whatever you want to call them, so we thought this would be a great way to bring these characters into an environment that almost feeds on their fear and also creates a really intense experience for audiences too.

John Erick Dowdle: Plus, all the mythology you see in As Above/So Below is also based on real history. We wanted that to add another level of authenticity to the story so everything we talk about- right down to the story of Nicolas Flamel- is rooted very much in our reality. Everything in the movie is all based on research we did on him and his work. He was from Paris and the story goes that he allegedly discovered the Philosopher’s Stone at some point in his career and when he died, was supposedly buried with it. But when some grave robbers showed up to dig it up, his tomb was empty. We both thought that would be something cool to explore.

Let’s talk a bit about the character of Scarlett Marlowe and the casting of Perdita (Weeks) for the film. I really loved how she felt like this really vibrant character that you instantly liked and wanted to go on this journey with.

John Erick Dowdle: We actually had the idea for Scarlett before we had the idea for As Above/So Below. She was a character we had come up with years ago that we knew audiences wouldn’t be able to help but fall in love with once we could find the right way to introduce her. There’s just something very approachable about her character and I know a lot of that has to do with how we wrote the character, but most of the credit is due to Perdita who did an amazing job of really embodying the character so brilliantly. So much of the film’s exposition comes through her and she does it all so naturally.

Drew Dowdle: Perdita is really one of those rare actors that has this uncanny ability to make you believe in everything that she says. She had such a tough job on this movie- really, everything truly depended on her, so had we not found the right actress for the part of Scarlett, it could have derailed the entire movie. She was such a lightning bolt on this project- she’s really incredible.

And Thomas (Tull) over at Legendary was also a huge fan of the character of Scarlett and was really involved in the inception of the idea behind As Above/So Below. We had this idea for kind of a female Indiana Jones character who was also a driven archaeologist, but we didn’t have the right story for her at the time. So we kept it on the side for a while until we met with Thomas and he brought up the idea of making a movie in catacombs, and that’s when we realized these ideas could really work well together.

Then everything from there moved really fast. We went in and pitched him alchemy backstory with Flamel and Thomas loved everything we wanted to do ultimately. He wanted us on a location scout in a month from that meeting and I don’t think we’ve ever worked on a project that moved as fast as As Above/So Below did. From the first meeting to when we wrapped picture, it was something like six months that had elapsed so we had to be ready to move quickly once we got the ball rolling.

Because As Above/So Below is shot documentary-style, meaning you had to rely on your actors to do most of the filming for you, did that add any challenges to production? Especially considering you guys were filming in a location where you couldn’t really have a 50-person crew or tons of gear with you, I can’t imagine it was the easiest of conditions to be shooting in.

John Erick Dowdle: Yeah, we had to shoot this for real in the catacombs because the one thing we were insistent on was that we didn’t want to make this on a sound stage somewhere. And Legendary was so supportive of that idea too and got behind us to give us all the support we needed in getting everything together in that regard. We were also the first production to ever get permission to shoot in the off-limits areas of the catacombs, which took some doing, but everything went through in the end. We were allowed to go down there as long as we didn’t deface the walls or do anything too crazy with what was already in place inside the catacombs.

So because we shot down there, we knew early on that we were going to be using the actors to essentially light and shoot this thing. That does require a certain level of trust but we worked with them and they were pro’s about the whole thing.

Drew Dowdle: And because we were going to be making a movie about a location like the catacombs, shooting it traditionally would never have worked. Plus, we thought that if you’re in search of a very important relic like Scarlett is here, it makes perfect sense that you would document that on video going in. We don’t want the focus to be on how we shot the film and we never draw attention to the filming style either; it just felt natural to shoot this story this way.

I think it also immerses you inside the catacombs more by shooting it this way; I know there were a few moments where I had to remind myself I wasn’t down there because I’m a big wimp when it comes to claustrophobia and stuff like that.

John Erick Dowdle: I think it does too. What’s funny to me is that the claustrophobia within As Above/So Below seems to get worse the deeper they go down and the more open the catacombs get. You can only do those tight space moments for so long when the audience will be like, “Okay, we get it- it’s really tight inside that tunnel. Let’s move on already.” So really, the claustrophobia is kind of the first level of fear, but as they go deeper, their fears become more and more about the unconscious.

Drew Dowdle: We also wanted to create this environment where you’re getting deeper and when you go that deep, you’ve been birthed into this new supernatural space that has its own rules to it. You can’t fight against it and that’s where the real fear in the story spawns from.

I know you guys also have another movie coming out soon, The Coup. What can you tell us about that project? From what I’ve heard, it’s something very different for you both.

John Erick Dowdle: The Coup is pretty much done now and it’ll be coming out on March 6. We have a really great cast too- Lake Bell, Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan- and the story is all about them trying to survive during a political coup where Americans are being executed if they’re discovered. It’s really intense and there’s a real sense of crisis to the story.

Drew Dowdle: It’s a hyper-intense story. And this is such a different role for Owen (Wilson) too; I think audiences are going to be really surprised by what he does in this film. There’s just something really unnerving about seeing him all panicked, yelling at a small child. Pierce was so great too, he totally disappears into his character to the point he’s almost unrecognizable. In fact, Owen’s mom came to set one day, and she’s a huge fan of Pierce’s, but didn’t realize until hours later that he was in front of her for most of the day. He was incredible.