Using the Flamel Stone, Scarlett magically heals a wound on Souxie's arm. They find a drawing of a door on the ceiling along with a Gnostic Star of David, symbolizing "As above, so below", which reveals a hidden opening in the floor. Going through, they find a tunnel marked with the phrase "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" in Greek, identical to the script on the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno.
I fucking love this movie. I saw it in the theater with a friend and we were the only ones there except for some dude sitting by himself down towards the front and the movie, along with his presence, just totally freaked us out. Great times!
[Movie] As Above, So Below
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Unfortunately, atmosphere doesn't prove enough to save As Above. Sometimes, a horror movie can get by solely on mood, but that requires careful composition and attention to the build of the film.
Thus, the central problem here might have been to film the movie as a found-footage horror film, purporting to be the footage from a documentary a filmmaker is making about Scarlet's quest to find the stone and rehabilitate her father's reputation. (He was the one who first was obsessed with the stone.) Too much of the film is spent with the characters running from one place to another, their head-mounted cameras joggling along with them, never allowing the audience to get a good sense of the creeping menace at the catacombs' heart. The film's story is one of slow-building dread, but found-footage filmmaking usually works best as a constant series of jolts to the heart. The filmmaking approach and the story are often in direct opposition.
If you're a really big fan of horror, this might be worth a matinee or a rental someday. But despite some cool ideas that suggest Dowdle and company will make a great scary movie someday, this is eminently skippable.
Chances are that the girl is more of an omen (a lost spirit wandering between our plane of existence and the next). On the other hand, cultists are possibly just representations of some of the strangest things in obscure parts of actual catacombs. The truth is that the movie leaves too many plotholes for every single scene to have meaning.
Satan is the main antagonist of the 2014 movie As Above So Below. Hell in this movie is heavily inspired by its depiction in Dante's Inferno. Although he only appears a few times in the film, it's very likely that his origins are the same as in that story and that he is a fallen angel.
He lurks in the Hell, which is connected to the Paris Catacombs, more specifically in the Ninth Circle. In the movie, he sits in a rocking chair and wears a black robe. His face is grey and looks disfigured. He doesn't speak and appears rather calm. Satan is still sadistic and punishes those who have sinned. However he is willing to let those go, who can redeem themselves and rectify their sins.
Parents need to know that As Above/So Below is a "found footage" horror movie about archeologists seeking treasure in the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris. There's some brief but strong gore when characters are injured or attacked in the tunnels. Characters die, plenty of blood is shown, and there are some gory injuries (a smashed skull, a gaping neck wound, etc.). There are also some scary moments -- from cave-ins and claustrophobia to ghosts and creepy creatures. Language is fairly strong, including several "f--k"s and quite a few uses of "s--t." There's some brief female toplessness, and two characters have a kind of bickering-flirty relationship. The movie definitely has its spooky moments, and older teen horror fans will no doubt be interested.
Filmmaker John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) and his co-writer, brother Drew Dowdle, have assembled a collection of terrific ideas for AS ABOVE/SO BELOW. But unfortunately they've also chosen the inexpensive but played out "found footage" approach, which is useful for all kinds of sudden jump-shocks but also makes for a shaky, nausea-inducing viewing experience. Other annoying horror movie cliches turn up, too, including the fate of an African-American character.
Logic isn't always in abundance in horror movies, but in "As Above, So Below," it seems to be completely missing in action. For that matter, so is the concept of suspense and characters that are minimally involving.
Granted, the movie boasts an intriguing setting, by placing most of the events in the creepy catacombs that lie below Paris. Unfortunately, it takes a while to get our six photogenic characters down there, so interest wanes almost immediately.
Directed by John Erick Dowdle, who wrote the script with his brother, Drew, the movie somehow lacks the kind of claustrophobic chills that should come naturally with the setting. Instead, it inspires thoughts of the superior "The Descent," a genre classic that involved a group of women trapped in a cave. Dowdle obviously has seen that movie, even if he didn't learn much from it.
Despite obvious spatial limitations and their location six stories below the streets of Paris, the crew managed to haul down a piano and car, which they later set on fire. As for other props, the goal was to build nothing and draw only from the environment around them. As the tunnels were narrow and filled with bones, this was not too hard.
Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.
My new series is An Archaeologist Reviews, in which I watch terrible (sometimes good) archaeology movies in order to get a better perspective on what the media portrays vs the reality. First up is As Above So Below, starring Perdita Weeks, which was released in 2014.
As a horror movie, there are some genuine scares especially near the end of the movie, when three of the remaining characters are confronted by what is supposedly the devil. The movie uses the jump scare tactic, but also allows for quiet moments where filmmakers leave some points to the imagination. The movie deals with regret and grief much more efficiently than its use of archaeology, allowing the characters to move on physically from their own literal and metaphorical hell.
DREW DOWDLE: We had a lot of parameters, but it helps being a Legendary movie. I think the Parisian city government was a little bit more willing to help out. I think if it was us alone... [laughs].
JOHN ERICK DOWDLE: Yeah, I'd say it's documentary style. It's not technically found footage. But I think people see the two as synonymous. It does fall into the background, it's not the point of the movie - if that makes sense. I feel like often found footage movies get a bad rap when that's the point. When that's why you want to see it. Nobody wants to see it. It's just a style of shooting. With this movie you forget that it's a found footage movie pretty quickly.
DREW DOWDLE: And with a location like this and if you're in search of some very important relic, I think it makes perfect sense that you would document that going in. It's something we spend very little time setting up, the conceit of the cameras, and we really don't draw attention to that too much over the course of the movie. It feels natural.
DREW DOWDLE: We have an alchemical theme going on in the movie too, where Scarlett Marlowe alchemical theme going on in the movie too, where Scarlett Marlowe our lead character is an urban archaeologist, but she has a real deep understanding of alchemy. Her father is one of the world's preeminent alchemists and the idea of purification, purifying one's soul, is a theme that she's very well versed in and as we get deeper that knowledge comes more and more into play.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
Bad/selfish choices that were made in the past must be amended. So the characters learn to conquer their fear by reliving bad moments in their lives differently. It is as though the horror they are witnessing is a test of the emotional and spiritual growth of each character. Can you admit your guilt? Can you make amends to those you have wronged? Can you rectify the bad situation you created? Rectification is a big point in this movie.
Scarlett began the movie as the typical driven woman who can think of nothing but her goal. She ends up coming full circle and growing. Not because of some man, but because of herself. Very cool. I like that she was also inquisitive and used her brain and will to solve problems and save herself.
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