Scarlett (Perdita PROWL Weeks), a driven university professor, is obsessed with continuing her father's unfinished quest to find the alchemical Philosopher's stone. Crossing illegally into Iran to follow-up on a clue to the location of the stone, she discovers a sealed up chamber in an underground passage about to be destroyed by the Iranian authorities. The clue is the Rose Key in the form of a statue of a bull. Frantically taking photos of all the inscriptions on the Rose Key she barely makes it out alive as the explosives to collapse the tunnel are detonated.
Now in Paris to consult with her friend George (Ben FRIDAY THE 13TH Feldman), as he conveniently studied the dead language used on the Rose Key, documentarian Benji (Edwin THE PURGE: ANARCHY Hodge) tags along to film their quest. Together Scarlett and George work out that the Philosopher's stone is buried underground in the catacombs. They enlist the aide of Papilon (Francois Civil) and his crew to lead them through the catacombs to the hiding place of the stone.
Once underground in the damp and dark passages, the final resting place of millions of dead, weird, unexplainable events occur. The group continues on deeper into the catacombs despite the gloom giving birth to ghosts from their troubled past. Nothing will stop Scarlett from uncovering the stone.
Yes, this is another 'found footage' film and the shaky camera may have some nauseated viewers hitting stop on their remotes. But this film is all about location, Location, LOCATION. The film makers' decision to shoot in the actual Parisian catacombs was a wise one as the location is fresh and easily evokes a claustrophobic dread. I also liked the esoteric / alchemical frosting to what may otherwise have been a film about youngsters wandering around a cave for most of the running time (this is a far better film than GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE). A reference to V.I.T.R.I.O.L is even worked into the plot.
The writer / director team of Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle are no strangers to the found footage genre. QUARANTINE, their remake of the Spanish [REC] is surprisingly entertaining and the team has drawn on their past experience to propel AS ABOVE ahead of the pack. Having the character Benji install cameras on a number of head lamps allowing for multiple viewing angles instead of the now cliche one camera that just happens to always be pointing in the direction of action (or dropped to the ground at just the right angle) was a wise decision. [REC] 2 did something similar by having the police equipped with cameras on their person.
No spoilers ahead but I did want to mention that the ending felt a bit weak. It makes sense within the construct of the story and the Masonic notion of a chamber of reflection but it's an idea we've seen too many times to count. Overall the film builds up a nice bit of tension and is an enjoyable trip.
*** out of ****
No comments:
Post a Comment