Naty's Spooky Corner

As above, So below

★★★★★

Sunday, May 30, 2021, 11:11 PM

Are you a person who enjoys treasure hunting? Do you often wish that you could relive the puzzle-solving, action-packed cinematic experience that is National Treasure but without Nicholas Cage? Well look no further for your next Nicholas Cage deprived, spooky viewing experience than this very film.

This film centers around the obsessive alchemy scholar, Scarlett, as she tries to continue her fathers work of discovering the philosopher's stone. After having found the “Rose Key” in a now-collapsed cave in Iran, Scarlett reunites with her former lover in Paris, Benji, to help her in her quest. After realizing that the stone must be kept in a hidden chamber somewhere deep within the catacombs, hundreds of feet below the ground, they contract the help of a local group of catacomb enthusiasts to guide them through the harrowing maze and find the treasure they seek. Things quickly take a strange turn after they encounter a group of possessed looking cult members within the dark tunnels, and somehow keep rounding back to the passageway that their guides insist is inhabited by “evil”. Having no other way to move forward, the group reluctantly enters through the passageway only to find their long-lost friend, Le Taupe, who disappeared two years ago in that very same place. Acting strange, Le Taupe tells them that the only way out is down.

Abandon this next section, ye who hate spoilers!

A big, big warning to anyone who experiences motion sickness cause this movie will make you want to vomit. Or at least, it did for me since I had to keep looking away every five minutes from the extremely shaky camera action. I understand that the whole point of “found footage” films is to make the film seem realistic, but damn did they do all out on the shaky camera shots. I’m sure I would have been a lot more scared of the damn demons in the literal 7 layers of catacomb hell, if I could see them…..

There were a lot of aspects to like about this film, not only was it actually filmed in the spooky-ass catacombs, but there were very few props used for the film itself. The creators did an excellent job at cultivating the naturally scary environment and then build upon it by having it reflect Dante’s inferno. And there was never a point within the film where I felt bored while watching it.

Was the mix of the philosophers stone and tunnel-based hell a bit much? Yeah, the plot was rather cliched, and as I mentioned, an odd mix of horror, national treasure, and alchemy. There were definitely parts of the movie where it felt like the characters were moving too quickly in their quest and were just going from one action scene to the next, especially early on in the film when there is nothing but exposition being thrown at you. And yes, I’ll admit, I definitely rolled my eyes after Scarlett returns the fake philosopher's stone, only to discover that she has had its powers all along…I mean really? What’s next other than not being able to revive all the people that died along the way of her quest. Anyways...What really bugged me the most about the end was the fact that Scarlett had to literally confront the ghostly shadows of her dad after he took his life, but neither George nor Zed had to do anything in order to escape their very own hell.

Overall should you watch this movie? Hell yeah, (pun intended), but only if you’ve got motion sickness medication on hand. Cause it might just be a very painful experience if you don’t…
Maybe it’s because I slightly suffer from claustrophobia, but I highly highly enjoyed this movie. I have seen it twice now, and each time it has been able to terrify the living daylight (pun intended again) out of me.

Nausea Rating: 5/5

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