As Above So Below

***As Above, So Below*** is a 2014 American horror film written and directed by John Erick Dowdle and co-written by his brother Drew. It is presented as found footage of a documentary crew's experience exploring the Catacombs of Paris. The film was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures, making it the first film in Legendary's deal with Universal. The film was released August 29, 2014, and stars Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, and Ali Marhyar.

## Plot:

Scarlett Marlowe, a young alchemy scholar, is searching for the philosopher's stone,
 a legendary substance capable of turning base metals into gold and
granting eternal life. After finding the Rose Key and narrowly escaping a
 cave collapse in Iran, she travels to Paris, where she enlists the help
 of her ex-boyfriend, George, and cameraman Benji. They use the Rose Key
 to translate the headstone of Nicholas Flamel,
 who wrote about the philosopher's stone. The headstone contains a
riddle that leads them to believe that the philosopher's stone is hidden
 370 feet underneath the streets of Paris. Scarlett also enlists the
help of a guide named Papillion, his girlfriend Souxie, and their friend
 Zed, who are familiar with the layout of the Catacombs of Paris.
 George refuses to follow the group into the catacombs, but is driven
underground with the rest when a policeman spots them trespassing. After
 crawling through a narrow tunnel which collapses behind them, they
encounter female cultists who appear to be performing mysterious ritual.
 The group then find themselves in a blocked tunnel that Papillion is
reluctant to enter, as people who have entered have never been seen
again.

After venturing deeper into the catacombs, the group encounters La
Taupe, a friend of Papillion who disappeared into the catacombs years
earlier. He agrees to guide them out, explaining that the only way out
is down. They eventually find a tomb filled with treasure, as well as
the philosopher's stone. Removing the stone, Scarlett realizes that the
treasure is a trap, and the chamber collapses. With the philosophers'
stone, Scarlett is able to heal injuries that Souxie sustained in the
fall. La Taupe is lost under the rubble, and the group decides to leave
him behind.

The group finds a Gnostic
 Star of David, which symbolizes the notion "As above, so below." Seeing
 that a door has been drawn onto the ceiling above, Scarlett finds a
real door in the floor below. Beyond the door, the group finds the
entrance to a tunnel that is marked with the phrase "Abandon all hope,
ye who enter here" in Greek, identical to the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno.

Passing through, they find a reflection of the room they left behind.
 There, they discover La Taupe, who kills Souxie before disappearing.
The remaining members of the group realize that they must continue
deeper into the catacombs in order to escape, and they climb down a
hole. However, Benji is pushed to his death by the lead female cultist.
Leaving his body behind, the rest encounter a man sitting in a burning
car, which recalls an incident in which Papillon was forced to leave
someone to die in a car crash; the man pulls Papillon into the burning
car before it disappears and Papillon is left buried upside down. The
rest of the group is unable to pull Papillon from the ground, and they
decide to continue into the catacombs. Visions of demons follow the
group through dark tunnels, and one attacks George. After the
philosopher's stone fails to heal his injuries, George murmurs,
"Vitriol." Remembering the word from a riddle, Scarlett realizes that
the stone itself is yet another trap. Only by returning it will she find
 the real philosopher's stone.

As she races back to the tomb, she finds a hanged man, whom she
recognizes as her father. She apologizes to him for not answering the
phone the night that he killed himself. She then returns to the tomb,
where she finds a polished mirror that makes her realize that she
possesses the magical abilities of the philosopher's stone. Scarlett
returns to George and heals him with a kiss. She then explains to George
 and Zed that the only way to escape is to admit to their torments, just
 as she admitted that she feels responsible for her father's suicide.
George admits that he accidentally allowed his brother to drown when the
 pair were kids. As the demons continue to chase them, the group jumps
down a deep hole. At the bottom, the hole above them closes and a
manhole appears on the ground below. Jumping through, the group finds
themselves right side up on a street overlooking the Notre Dame. Scarlett and George hold each other, realizing that they are safe, while a dazed Zed walks away into the night.