www.nttconsultants.com: As Above So Below movie review Underneath Paris a philosophical mishmash

Explorers search for the Philosopher s Stone in the catacombs beneath Paris in the found footage horror film As Above/So Below. (Universal Pictures)

What horrors lurk beneath the streets of Paris All you could imagine and more in As Above So Below a Gallic accented American thriller that throws everything but the devil s kitchen sink at six attractive young spelunkers.

Purportedly shot by its characters head mounted mini cams the movie is another example of the found footage genre although it doesn t bother to explain how the raw video came to be edited into the finished product. Most of the action takes place in deep shadows or complete darkness and amid booming howling noises all of which attempt to cover for the frequently incoherent story. But writer director John Erick Dowdle and his brother and co writer Drew Dowdle include enough clever touches to prevent the movie from becoming just another Paranormal Archaeology.

The story begins in Iran where Lara Croft y Scarlett (Welsh television actress Perdita Weeks) is taking huge risks in search of something or other. The shakycam is even wobblier here than in subsequent scenes so the sequence is indecipherable. But she later tells American ex boyfriend George ( Mad Men s Ben Feldman) that she found a key that will lead to the Philosopher s Stone.

As Scarlett explains to documentary maker Benji (Edwin Hodge) she knows multiple languages and has several PhDs including one in symbology. That s the specialty of Robert Langdon hero of the The Da Vinci Code the plot of which seems almost plausible compared to As Above. It turns out that Scarlett really believes in the Philosopher s Stone which allegedly turns lead into gold among other magic tricks.

Convinced that this treasure lies in the catacombs under Paris Scarlett rushes to George who can translate Aramaic. (What does Aramaic have to do with alchemy Hard to say but the Dowdles seem to think all dead languages are interchangeably mystical and cool.) Although he s understandably wary of the headstrong Scarlett George ends up joining her and Benji on their underground expedition.

Their native guides are tunnel rat and graffiti tagger Papillon (Fran ois Civil) and his two pals (Marion Lambert and Ali Marhyar). You can t make a horror movie without a couple of dispensable characters.

The remains of some 6 million people rest in the catacombs which makes them plenty creepy. And the Dowdles whose 2010 film Devil was set almost entirely in an elevator know how to make even the least claustrophobic viewer feel the clammy terrors of confinement. They also end the movie with an amusingly playful touch.

But the filmmakers like their heroine can t leave well enough alone. So they splash some Freud into their mishmash of alchemy Egyptology Satanism and Dante. In addition to supernatural evil the main characters must confront their own guilt about catastrophic past failings. It s all too much. As Above So Below is inherently absurd but it would be somewhat less so had it fully committed to just one of its ridiculous premises.

R. At area theaters. Contains bloody violence profanity and partial nudity. 93 minutes.

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customFields published 1409329371/1409329371000/1409329371 tracking authors Mark Jenkins content_category Weekend in_url_headline as above so below movie review underneath paris a philosophical mishmash section section goingoutguide subsection movies show_ads true show_comments true ugc allow_comments true allow_photos false allow_videos false comments_period 14 comments_source washpost.com default_sort default_tab display_comments true is_ugc_gallery false max_items_to_display 15 max_items_to_display_top 3 moderation_required false stream_id allow_comments true published_date Aug 29 2014 4 22 51 PM close date Sep 12 2014 4 22 51 PM SECTION section goingoutguide subsection movies INITIAL commentConfig includereply true canvas_permalink_id washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k allow_comments true commentmaxlength 2000 includeshare true display_comments true canvas_permalink_app_instance m6yzjj840m display_more true moderationrequired false includefeaturenotification true comments_period 14 defaultsort reverseChronological canvas_allcomments_id washpost.com/km4ey0dajm includevoteofftopic false allow_videos false includesorts true markerdisplay post_commenter Post Commenter staff Post Writer top_commenter Post Forum top_local Washingtologist top_sports SuperFan fact_checker Fact Checker post_recommended Post Recommended world_watcher World Watcher cultuer_connoisseur Culture Connoisseur weather_watcher Capital Weather Watcher post_contributor Post Contributor childrenitemsperpage 3 includeheader true includeverifiedcommenters true defaulttab all includerecommend true includereport true maxitemstop 3 source washpost.com allow_photos false maxitems 15 display_ugc_photos false includepause true canvas_allcomments_app_instance 6634zxcgfd includepermalink false

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