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Movie Review: As Above, So Below

Matt Santia

As Above, So Below, is a new horror film that arrives during the dog days of summer. It uses the overly tired faux documentary/found footage style without lending anything new to the genre. The film is marketed as straight horror, yet it leaves the audience without a shred of suspense.

Scarlett (played by the one note Perdita Weeks) is on a harrowing mission to find a secret rock her father also sought in his final days. She does so by breaking every rule imaginable, defacing museums and defiling sacred churches. The danger doesn’t seem to faze her; nor does she care who gets hurts in the process. Needless to say, she’s one self-serving character audiences will find nearly impossible to get behind. She’s clearly not the Lara Croft knock off the filmmakers undoubtedly hoped she would be. Apparently, all clues lead to the largest underground tomb below Paris. We know this, because Scarlett gives the weakest history lesson possible. Just trust her, she knows what she’s doing, or at least that’s what we’re led to believe. It’s a shame Scarlett doesn’t find a refund for your ticket while wandering aimlessly through the catacombs.

As Scarlett’s camera crew and money-hungry drones delve deeper into the catacombs red flags appear everywhere begging them to turn back. Passageways collapse, a presumed missing man reappears long enough to bark an ominous warning and people start seeing phantoms from the past. These are all quintessentially overused horror tropes recycled to death, yet it’s possible the filmmakers hoped the audience would not notice.

It’s quite difficult to divulge much more of the plot, because it’s as thin as the walls holding up our fearless crew. Relics begin to appear signifying horrifying events in each of the characters’ lives. A burning car and decrepit piano are just two examples. However, there is one problem: the so-called events are spoken as throwaway lines and never pack the punch they are meant to. Also, just for kicks, the director and co-writer, John Erick Dowdle, throws in a love story. Apparently Scarlett and George (played by the wide-eyed Ben Feldmen) have been in sticky situations before, resulting in his imprisonment in Turkey. George reluctantly helps Scarlett, because his two weeks in Turkey were “the best weeks of his life.” Yes, the dialogue is that laughable the entire way through.

Perdita Weeks and Ben Feldman in “As Above, So Below.” Photo by Bruno Calvo – © 2014 – Legendary Pictures/Universal Pictures.

Two of the biggest problems with the film are the character development and believability quotient. The viewer never spends much time with any certain character (who all talk and act the same) so when they start to meet their demise it is hard to care. Not to mention, the camera work is so overly shaky it is nearly impossible to tell what is happening to whom at any given moment. Also, you never quite trust the cast is in as much peril as they pretend to be. But this could be a result of underworked direction and not just plain bad acting.

It’s a miracle this claustrophobic dreck of a film got a theatrical release. You’ll be thinking the same thing when the film descends into borrowing a scene straight from Sleeping Beauty during the climax. Save your money on a ticket and the cost of a bottle of Dramamine and wait for some of the more intriguing films than As Above, So Below arriving this fall.

Matt Santia

After spending ten years out in the crazy city of Angels, Matt Santia returned to Michigan with a degree in Cinematic Arts from Lucas' and Singer's alma mater: The University of Southern California. After taking a well deserved break from the industry and all its crazy, Matt is ready to jump back into the fray and find some interesting projects in the area.

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