“As Above/So Below” is the latest release in the “found footage” genre, a film with a conceit that what we are watching is real footage from home movies/found videos. The camera, then, is a character in and of itself, usually operated by a character in the movie.
The best-known found footage film is 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project,” . A story about a group of student filmmakers who venture into the woods to make a documentary about a legendary witch, the film is known for its spooky atmosphere, gimmicky ending and low-tech camerawork. “Blair Witch” is considered to be the forebearer of the modern found-footage film, but it’s definitely not the first
It may be “Cannibal Holocaust” (1980), an infamous exploitation film directed by Ruggero Deodaddo, whose film was so graphic and believable (much like “Blair Witch; many viewers believed the footage they were watching was real) he faced charges in his home country of Italy for murder after the film premiered. “Holocaust” chronicles the fate of (obviously) fictional news reporters who travel to a remote South American jungle to research a primitive tribe, and desecrate their homeland in the process. The tribe eventually catches up to them, and they are savagely, gruesomely disemboweled and eaten by the locals.
“Holocaust” remains a cult curiosity, a savage film that includes very real footage of people killing and dismembering a tortise and a small rodent. The result is a film infamously banned in many countries, watched mostly by hardcore horror fans.
There were a few other films, just enough to keep the genre alive: “The Last Broadcast” was released in 1998, just a year before the Blair Witch sparked the imagination of horror fans around the globe.
The genre became mostly confined to the horror genre, mostly low-budget affairs that tended to not get much traction, perhaps in part by the fears they would be labelled Blair Witch knockoffs.
It really wasn’t until 2007, when “Paranormal Activity” became a major studio production, that the genre returned. It of course sparked several sequels and a spin-off film. Other films, like “REC” and “V/H/S” got smaller releases but have enjoyed relatively large followings.
The genre spread out into monster movies in 2008 with “Cloverfield,” a film so cloaked in secrecy that after the first trailer hit some speculated that Paramount was making an adaptation of the 80s cartoon “Voltron.” Instead, “Cloverfield” was a movie about a giant monster who emerges from the sea and ragaves New York, told through the lens of a group of 20-somethings.
“As Above/So Below” is the latest of these films. About a group of people exploring the underground catacombs of Paris and finding somethign awful, it has not been met with a large amount of critical acclaim, but will the genre will likely live on as filmmakers continue to take advantage of the smaller budgets the genre affords. Horror films traditionally have a built-in audience and are profitable, so they are likely to continue to be a horror staple.
