plug: As Above, So Below (2014)

"The only way out is down."

Sometimes there’s a movie out there you didn’t know you needed until you see it. I didn’t know I needed a found-footage horror-Indiana Jones until I watched As Above, So Below back in October, and when it delivered exactly that, I was so taken with the prospect it made me wish I’d thought of it first. 

As Above, So Below starts off with an opening action stinger à la Indiana Jones or James Bond before where young archeologist Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) captures footage of the “Rose Key,” an ancient statue with Aramaic engravings, in a historic cave system in Iran. Scarlett is searching for the Philosopher’s Stone, picking up the hunt where her late father left off. The engravings from the Rose Key take her to the catacombs of Paris, where she, her ex-bf, and cameraman enlist the help of locals who know the off-limits areas of the catacombs to find the Philosopher’s Stone. As I’m sure you can already imagine, shit gets hairy. 

Caught As Above, So Below on Netflix when my wife and I were in the mood for some guaranteed scares. Found footage tends to do the trick, ya know? And I don’t know about you guys but I’m an absolute wreck with claustrophobic scenes in horror movies. My senses have been dulled to just about everything else, but if there’s a scene in a found footage movie (or otherwise) that effectively puts you in a tight spot or moment of claustrophobic panic, I’m a fuckin’ puddle on the floor. Needless to say, this one got me. The film oscillates pretty seamlessly between moments of physical danger, dungeon mastery, and supernatural terror. I won’t spoil the details, but as you go deeper and deeper into the underground labyrinth they construct in this thing, you become more and more overwhelmed with dread and disorientation, but you also start to become eerily familiar with the layout and puzzle of it all, which in turn just makes you feel like you’ll never get out of it even when the credits roll. Real rat-trapped-in-a-maze vibes. 

As Above, So Below isn’t, like, the absolute freshest found footage joint, but it does take an idea that could have been executed as a “regular” movie and utilizes found footage tropes to create a pretty original and literal descent into Hell. Next time you’re cooped up at home and antsy and, I dunno, want to feel something for 90 minutes, try this one on for size.