Year: 2014
Genre: Horror thriller
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Plot: Six individuals explore the catacombs beneath Paris to obtain a mysterious artifact, only to find themselves trapped in the dark and discovering something very sinister down there.
The gist: Found footage flicks have been done to death at this point, with very little variation. But every now and then, one or two rare ones stand out by doing things a tad differently. This year's Unfriended is one example. As Above, So Below is another.
In this film, six individuals led by a girl named Scarlett explore the famed catacombs beneath the streets of Paris, in search of alchemist Nicolas Flamel's legendary philosopher's stone. Scarlett is hoping to finish her late father's work by successfully finding this stone. So with her claustrophobic friend, a cameraman and three French cave explorers, she goes deep into the catacombs with a map and some clues. But as expected in films like this, trouble ensues when the group gets lost in the tunnels and really strange things start happening.
John Erick Dowdle, who directed and co-wrote the film with his brother Drew, does well in keeping the film moving constantly, never letting it stall. He also seems to have done some research in making the mythical and supernatural elements in the story seem plausible.
The good: The cast perform up to mark, especially Perdita Weeks as Scarlett, who is easy on the eye and comes off as very likable. Credit also goes to the camera guys for keeping the shaky cam effects minimal, as well as successfully capturing the claustrophobic feel of the film. I also loved how the film breaks convention by not having a horrific, depressing ending like most found footage stories.
The bad: The film does suffer from lapses of logic at times, and the old "do stupid things when trouble hits" element is still there. There was also the presence of the spooky looking girl following them that was never explained.
Verdict: As Above, So Below is a nice little surprise in the found footage genre. It's not going to rewrite the book on the genre obviously, but it's very watchable for a scare or two. (7/10)
Year: 2014
Genre: Action thriller
Director: Adam Wingard
Plot: A soldier claiming to be a friend of a member of a family who was killed in action during their tour, moves into their home and becomes part of the family. However, he's not quite who he claims to be.
The gist: This film actually had potential, though the plot isn't anything we haven't seen before. The story of a stranger who seems too good to be true has been done countless times before.
The story begins with a man named David, who visits the Peterson home one day and claims to be a friend of the recently deceased Caleb Peterson, and offers to help them any way they can. Soon David becomes real helpful as we'd expect: he helps beat up a gang of bullies picking on Caleb's little brother, he connects with Caleb's rebellious sister and even helps around the house too. But he's not really who they think he is, and bad things start to happen.
I enjoyed Adam Wingard's You're Next but hated A Horrible Way To Die, and for me The Guest is somewhere in between. The action and violence is very welcome but a huge amount of suspension of disbelief is required to survive the second half of the film when things start to unravel.
The good: Dan Stevens is spot on as David, being a really charming guy who seems to know how to handle any situation he gets mixed up in. Maika Monroe is great eye candy and more as Caleb's sister Anna. The scene where David beats up the bullies is my favorite part, even more than the wanton violence that comes later.
The bad: Like I said, suspension of disbelief is required in the second half, when David has to fight back when the truth is exposed. There's a special ops team involved, and God help me, I don't know why they went down the way they did. It's almost comedic in an unintentional way. My other issue is how the family, especially the parents, just trust David so easily. And David himself just keeps blowing people away, and I know they explained this part, but it sounded like a lame excuse for more carnage.
Verdict: It's decent entertainment at best. If you don't mind absence of logic, go right ahead and give The Guest a shot. (6/10)
Year: 2014
Genre: Sc-fi drama
Director: Wally Pfister
Plot: A dying scientist's consciousness is uploaded into a program built as the world's first A.I., but complications ensue when he surpasses expectations and becomes a threat.
The gist: I haven't had the chance to watch Lawnmower Man, which I hear this movie shares plenty of similarities with. But I can tell you that this film is a failure when it comes to keeping viewers' attention on it.
The story is as follows: a scientist who has worked on creating an A.I. program is shot with a radioactive bullet by anti-tech extremists, and he's doomed to die. His wife decides that the only way to save him is to upload his consciousness into his A.I. program. And it works, but he isn't quite who he was before. Soon he becomes omnipotent and dangerous, and damn well unstoppable.
Wally Pfister has long known to be Christopher Nolan's go-to guy for cinematography, and while he does great work behind the camera, he isn't very good here. Despite the A-list cast, Pfister can't seem to rise above the dull script in his hands.
The good: The one bright spark among the cast is Paul Bettany, the only actor who doesn't look like he's on auto-pilot on screen. Some of the visual effects look good, but there's not much else good stuff I can say about this film.
The bad: Most of the cast look so bored, especially Johnny Depp. Morgan Freeman has too little to do, Rebecca Hall tries hard but not good enough, and poor Kate Mara and Cillian Murphy are just out of their element here. Pfister also fails to create a genuine feel of suspense and the climax is almost non-existent.
Verdict: Avoid this film. Every person involved here have made better films. Go look for those. (4/10)
