As Above, So Below (AKA Another Found Footage Horror Movie)

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead. A journey into madness and terror, "As Above, So Below" reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all.

As Above, So Below Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Ben Feldman Horror Movie HD - YouTube

Oh, hey look. Another found footage horror movie. Stupid people doing dumb shit. I Haven't seen one of those in a while.

How much you wanna bet that they all die in the end?

Seriously enough with this BS. F**king Paranormal Activity movies. Now it seems anyone with a camera can make one of those movies.

And If there's a thread for this I didn't see it when I did a search for it.

[Chaotic]

Then dont see the freaking movie. Not that hard.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Originally Posted by Chaotic

Then dont see the freaking movie. Not that hard.

I won't. But seeing how the movie doesn't come out until August 15th. It means I'll probably have to see it alot during the summer before each movie I'm sure.

I liked the directors other stuff. Quarantine, Devil and never officially released The Poughkeepsie Tapes.

Just seems like these types of movies are lazy to me. What ever happen to actual real non found footage horror movies? I mean the next Friday The 13th I heard might be found footage. F13 has no place being Found Footage. But since its what seems to be hot lately they will milk it for all its worth. Even though it has no right to be in a F13 movie.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Chaotic

Then dont see the freaking movie. Not that hard.

Exactly. It gets so tiresome when people keep complaining about a poplar trend or genre as if someone would force them to watch them at gunpoint. These films clearly keep getting made while they are popular until they are not anymore. If you don't like it, just watch something else. Remakes, superhero films and found footage movies are like anything else. There are a few that are good and others that are not.

[Holmes]

Ir seems fun. The Paris catacombs are a wonderful place to set a horror story. And I have enjoyed plenty of found-footage films: The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity 3, and others.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Michael Bay Fan

Just seems like these types of movies are lazy to me. What ever happen to actual real non found footage horror movies?

If you would actually bother to look there are plenty of non-found footage horror movies out there. The vast majority of current horror films are not found footage films: The Conjuring, Mama, Proxy, Lords of Salem, Resolution, Under the Skin, Berberian Sound Studio, Maniac, Kiss of the Damned, Aftershock, Bait, American Mary, We Are What We Are, You're Next, Oculus, Sinister, The Possession, Only Lovers Left, The Purge, World War Z, the list goes on and on...

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Well, aren't I the A**hole for saying what I felt? Don't worry, it won't happen again though. Only certain opinions are allowed on here. Gotcha.

Mods either delete this or whatever else you wanna do with it. I don't care really.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Michael Bay Fan

Well, aren't I the A**hole for saying what I felt? Don't worry, it won't happen again though.

Thanks, in this case it's appreciated.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Michael Bay Fan

Well, aren't I the A**hole for saying what I felt? Don't worry, it won't happen again though. Only certain opinions are allowed on here. Gotcha.

Mods either delete this or whatever else you wanna do with it. I don't care really.

Pffft, Internet whiners, always the same.

[malja316]

If I may be so bold...found footage horror movies are garbage! If you support this nonsense, you can take all the horror movies from this genre and (insert any negative or derogatory comment you want right here, it all works for me...)

I am declaring WAR on this genre of horror because of the simple fact of what MBF has brought up...that F13 Part 13 is rumored to be a found footage horror movie....so now, I want this type of horror to be DESTROYED!

That is all...

[assydingo]

Title is neat
Like her voice
Setting is different

[Astro Zombie]

The bad found footage movies outweigh the good ones, but I'll still hold out hope it's good.

[Mr.Terry]

I do not watch any movie done with a hand held camera that bounces around.Very simple rule and prevents unnecessary aggravation.(I dislike those things with a passion so I avoid them at all costs)Easy

[Mahatma]

This actually looks like a fun ride to me.The part where the wall closes behind them in the trailer reminds me of Eye of the beholder game back in the days.Definitely gonna check this out.

[newginafets]

What I like about found footage movies, they all look real.

And shaky camera doesnt bother me at all

So hopefully this one is good (Apollo 18 was bad)

[kopitarrulez]

anybody see this tonight i'm kind of confused as what happened

[Randall Flagg]

So sick of the found footage genre please go away already.

[Hubunkey]

Originally Posted by kopitarrulez

anybody see this tonight i'm kind of confused as what happened

Isn't that the par for course with 99% of the found footage films? You aren't suppose to know what happened your suppose to make up your own mind to what happened, unless it makes money then you get a boring ass sequel that explains everything and then makes it all meh (I'm looking at you The Last Exorcism)

[Kryptonic]

Seeing it this weekend. It looks sick. I love that they filmed it in the real catacombs in France too. Fascinating location.

[Britnasty]

My review follows below, it's a tad spoiler-y.

4 Stars out of 5.

I saw this at the free screening for AMC Stubs members last night and I have to say, I REALLY enjoyed this.

Found footage has become a draining subsect of the Horror genre and this year has given us nothing but duds, I'm looking at you Devils Due and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Now, while this film does contain a lot of the same contrived tropes that have plagued the found footage genre, I feel like this film had a much stronger backstory and thus, worked better to its advantage.

Scarlet Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) is a PHD scholar and Professor at the University of London with 2 PHD's in Archeology and a Masters in Mythology. She is plagued by her father's recent suicide, brought on by rumors of mental illness, but more so, his colleague's criticism of his journey. In the beginning of the film, she travels into Iran to visit a section of cave's that are set to be demolished, because her father believed that there was a key to unlocking the location of the Philosopher's stone. Upon finding a giant statue of a black bull that holds the translation key for turning Aramaic language into Alchemy linguistics, Scarlet is now more determined than ever to find Nicolas Flamel's legendary and revered Philosopher's Stone. This is when she meets up with her friend George (Ben Feldman), who helps her find a hidden message on the back of Nicolas Flamel's tombstone, with the whereabouts to where he may have hidden the infamous Philosopher's Stone. Scarlet knows where she has to go: the Paris catacombs. Upon entering with a camerman in tow and a group of French explorers familiar with the entire innerworkings of the catacombs, what happens next no one expects.

As Above/So Below instantly intrigued me when I saw the first trailer because of its unique story. Unlike 2012's Chernobyl Diaries, the location never feels wasted, instead it becomes intensely fascinating. Where Chernobyl Diaries failed miserably, As Above/So Below excels. The winding tunnels of the catacombs, to the passgeways filled with skeleton bones and rats, it all feels so inherently real, that you become emassed in the scenery. What really amazed me, is the metaphors and parallels from being "rightside up" and then "upside down". It's two different dimensions you are dealing with, but its essentially the same.

Thankfully the Dowdle brothers have faceted a strong enough story, filled with great mythology and character backstory that As Above/So Below never feels dull or as contrived as it's predecessors. The camerawork never really gets too abhorrent in its jumpy nature that 'found footage' tends to have, but it comes off more smooth and reliant, honestly this film didn't need to be found footage but that only makes it feel more real.

This film does feature the usual jump scares, but it also uses its sound design to freak you out too. Noises jumped from speaker to speaker causing me to shift in my seat quite a bit, which I enjoyed because most horror movies don't use their sound design to their advantage.

Perdita Weeks and Ben Feldman really do shine in here, mainly Perdita, whose backstory is full fleshed out that you do feel like you know her personally.

I know critics will malign this film because they're getting sick of the found footage genre and there are some contrivances here, but if you look past it, you might just be surprised.

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Originally Posted by kopitarrulez

anybody see this tonight i'm kind of confused as what happened

What were you confused about?