Review of As Above, So Below (2014) by Stako — 08 Oct 2014

This movie came out of nowhere. All of a sudden, a lot of people started talking about it. As per usual, the opinions varied between the two sides of the spectrum - the eternal love/hate attitude towards found footage horror (FFH) movies was present and strong with this one. Which meant I had to see it.

It's no secret that I am a sucker for FFH movies, even weak ones. I always find them fun to watch, thus I have seen almost every single one I could get my hands on. This movie, however, managed to elude me for quite the long time. For a moment I thought I was going to miss out on it, however last night, in a flash of instant uprising adrenaline, I found out that it was still screening and I went to see it.

All that was in my head, after I came out of the cinema, was: What an awesome movie!

I can see where the love/hate attitude originates toward this movie, however I can't understand it completely. I can't find any one good reason for myself to dislike this movie if I like FFH, or Horror in general.

John Erick Dowdle, previously famous for "Quarantine" and "Devil" (showcasing his personal ups and downs, in my opinion), directed and worked on the script of this movie. I strongly believe that this movie is his masterpiece (until this point in time). The movie does a great job of introducing the audience into it's philosophy, it's rules which it deems valid throughout it's lenght. Some claim this is a "slow start", but I disagree. It eases in the viewer very nicely, and what many claim to be "build up" I simply see as interesting plot. In fact, this movie is more of a adventurous FF with horror elements, rather than a pure FFH. The plot is nicely intertwined with interesting facts, the whole chain of events leading the characters through it is very intriguing; entangled well enough, yet easy to follow and understand. The one strong downside I found was *SPOILERS* a moment of translation from a dead language, which in english rhymed perfectly. But I forgive the movie for this.

All of the actors do a good job - nothing too notable, but nothing to complain about either. The sound in this movie creates a very spooky atmosphere, as per part. As typical for the works of John Erick Dowdle, there are no overuse of special effects, the movie heavily relies on symbolism and the quiet, deadly ticking of silent premonitions, if you can catch them. It's quite pleasant for a keen mind to comprehend it.

And that about sums up everything one can say about this movie without ruining the plot.

This movie is a mixed bag, but it's a mixed bag of goodies. As previously stated, this is the best I've seen from John Erick Dowdle. "As Above, So Below" is one of the better movies I've seen this season; it's one of the better movies I've seen this year even. I recommend it - it will be worth your watch, because it is refreshing to see a FFH driven by a good narrative, while not loosing any of it's style. Sadly, the DVD/Blu-Ray will not come out since January, so if it is still showing at your local cinema - know that it is a great pick for this season.