Saturday, August 30, 2014

we could be happy underground


Some thoughts went through my head while watching As Above, So Below yesterday.


This is found footage movie.  I didn't know this was a found footage movie.  Ugh.  Found footage does not suit theatrical releases anymore.  Period.  Luckily, the aggressive "found footage" bit and the inevitable nonsense-logic behind it (where are these cameras/how are we watching this footage and for what purpose) is abated about 5 minutes in.


This boy from Mad Men and the Friday the 13th remake is genetically handsome.  He clearly doesn't need to work at having good skin or a fit torso.  Good for him.


Drawing bits from Giallo and Dario Argento along with some Indiana Jones adventure, I almost-like this movie quite a bit.  "Masterful dreck" is how I explained it to one of my friends (and, by one of my friends, I'm of course referring to the parking validation machine at the Century City mall).

Despite being relatively well made, its premise is paper-thin and the movie doesn't know how to end or pay off its story, but the location (deep under the Paris catacombs) and the overall sense of dread it engenders elevates the whole.  It's perfectly fine for a Sunday.


PS: There was a trailer for a Brittany Murphy thriller attached to this movie.  Is this real life?  Am I dreaming?  Did I somehow wind up in the underground Hell dimension when I made that last minute decision not to order the chicken fingers and just got a Coke Zero instead?

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