Delayed Reaction: As Above, So Below

Premise: A group of researchers and explorers go into the Parisian catacombs in search of the Philosopher's Stone and get trapped in a maze of supernatural experiences.

It's unbelievable that this is the first horror movie I've come across that's about the Parisian catacombs. It's old, ancient, dark, mysterious, claustrophobic, off-limits, and literally decorated with bones. The fact that there isn't a classic Catacombs horror movie from 1979 with 6 increasingly bad sequels, an attempt at a reboot in the mid-2000s, and an iconic Minotaur-masked villain is an historical error I can never forgive. It does make a little sense though. Horror is normally cheap, especially first movies. It's easy to shoot in a neighborhood, spooky forest, abandoned camp, graveyard, or church. It's a bit tougher to recreate massive catacombs. I assume it would be even harder to get a permit to shoot in the real deal location.

My weakness for the found-footage style is well documented. So, unsurprisingly, this movie really worked for me. I like the setting. Enough of the cast is talented without being overly familiar. It uses all the scare tricks of found footage (shifting camera focus, creepy things happening on the corner, crazy shit happening in uninterrupted takes) and mostly stays true to the found-footage principles (they explain why everyone has cameras, shaky cam, no/few impossible camera shots). I appreciate the attempt to mix in magic/alchemy although they made it more of a central ingredient that I cared for. This isn't moving into my found footage top tier with V/H/S or Paranormal Activity, but it fits nicely with Quarantine and The Den.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend