"As Above, So Below" is by no means a perfect movie. In fact, it's probably not even a 7, but more of a 6. However, director John Erick Dowdle gets an extra point for doing what so many other horror directors fail to do: He tries something new, and strikes a chord, even if his movie isn't entirely original. It mixes the claustrophobic setting of "The Descent" (or the cult novel "House Of Leaves"), with an Indiana Jones like treasure hunt and presents it all in found footage fashion – a sub section of horror that unfortunately doesn't seem to go away any time soon.
Still, "As Above, So Below" intrigues, because what the group of young people find, when they go down into the catacombs under Paris aren't the usual horror stereotypes. There are no zombies or vampires waiting down there. No creepy children with black hair. It's something much less defined and never totally explained. Horror movies stick to known patterns and paths way too often, when really it is the one genre, that should know almost no boundaries. John Erick Dowdle plays a little with the possibilities, with ways of manifesting fear. In the end not all of his attempts are successful. The scares aren't as intense as they should be, many plot points are silly, if you think about them.
However, you start to get really uncomfortable as the characters get picked off one by one, and you're locked down there with them. The movie puts you in a deeply uncomfortable place and remains relentless until the very end. Doing so, it tickles a certain existential fear deep within – which is actually the reason why we watch horror movies in the first place: to make ourselves aware of our own mortality and come to terms with that fact that we have no idea what lies beyond this life.
"As Above, So Below" is not a groundbreaking genre movie, and it probably will not stand the test of time. However, in 2014 it's the best and most effective horror film I've seen in many years.
Still, "As Above, So Below" intrigues, because what the group of young people find, when they go down into the catacombs under Paris aren't the usual horror stereotypes. There are no zombies or vampires waiting down there. No creepy children with black hair. It's something much less defined and never totally explained. Horror movies stick to known patterns and paths way too often, when really it is the one genre, that should know almost no boundaries. John Erick Dowdle plays a little with the possibilities, with ways of manifesting fear. In the end not all of his attempts are successful. The scares aren't as intense as they should be, many plot points are silly, if you think about them.
However, you start to get really uncomfortable as the characters get picked off one by one, and you're locked down there with them. The movie puts you in a deeply uncomfortable place and remains relentless until the very end. Doing so, it tickles a certain existential fear deep within – which is actually the reason why we watch horror movies in the first place: to make ourselves aware of our own mortality and come to terms with that fact that we have no idea what lies beyond this life.
"As Above, So Below" is not a groundbreaking genre movie, and it probably will not stand the test of time. However, in 2014 it's the best and most effective horror film I've seen in many years.