The new horror movie As Above So Below has made over ten million dollars during its opening weekend. After earning a 6.2 out of 10 rating on IMDb.com, critics believe the movie is filled with exciting thrills but did not reach its full potential. They are correct.
As Above So Below follows the story of Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) as she attempts to continue the work of her deceased father. However, her search for the Philosopher’s Stone (yes, this is the same Stone as the one in the Harry Potter series) takes some unexpected twists when she enters the catacombs of Paris.
By having the opening scene filmed with a shaky camera, it did not provide its audience with high expectations. The movie went on to also use the shaky camera technique later on, which was appropriate in some instances yet irksome in others.
Weeks is joined by Ben Feldman and François Civil, who play two of her teammates who help her on her exploration. Although their acting was above average, the script left much to be desired. The movie consisted of cheesy moments met with a boring storyline in the end.
The movie had plenty of suspenseful moments. The music would build and the jump-scares were great at keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. However, the ending was a let-down. Nothing is worse than having an intense and exciting movie ruined by a simplistic and anti-climatic ending.
With a range of extra characters whose purpose was not explained to cheesy lines, As Above So Below was lacking in multiple areas.
On the other hand, the lighting and sound effects were better than expected. An appropriate amount of light was used throughout the movie, considering they were underground. Also, the different sound effects utilized matched up with the location of the story at the time. For example, when the team travels into the catacombs, only the lights on their headgear allow any sort of vision. Similarly, the atmosphere is dead silent, being as they are hundreds of feet below any activities that may be producing noise.
Overall, As Above So Below is a great movie when it comes to building suspense and scaring its audience. However, it loses most of its appeal due to scripting and filming situations.
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