As Above/So Below - C-

Rated R, 93 minutes

Found footage goes under the Earth in the pointless "As Above/So Below"

When the poster for your movie is the best thing about it, you're in trouble. "As Above/So Below" is the latest found footage horror film that's both aimless and not so scary: call it a cross between "Blair Witch" and "Indiana Jones" (one reviewer even called it "Indiana Bones"). Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers (led by Ben Feldman of "Cloverfield" and Welsh actress Perdita Weeks) ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the secret of what this city of the dead was meant to contain. Directed and written by horror film director John Erick Dowdle of "Devil" and "Quarantine," the dullness factor makes this one to skip - if you find people traipsing through some bones and dust just to find some ancient writings very scary - then this might be for you. Silly, contrived and mostly pointless, the jumpy camera movements and stupid decisions (let's keep going!) in "As Above/So Below" don't help its cause, and you'll be waiting the first hour for something even mildly interesting to happen as the crew meanders beneath Paris looking for something - anything - that might be scary. There are some serviceably tense and jumpy/creepy/bloody moments in the last 30 minutes, but it seems to take an eternity to get there, and by then you're not completely sure what's truly happening. Director Dowdle has done better before: his 2010 horror film "Devil" has become a minor cult hit and an enjoyable film for me in my least favorite genre. I didn't care much for "As Above/So Below" not because it's a horror film, but the fact it's a horror film that just isn't that scary. For what it's worth, lovely Welsh actress Weeks seems to resemble Katherine Heigl in some scenes. Yea, I don't like Heigl much either, and similar to the annoying Heigl, the found footage genre has quickly outgrown its welcome. Skip it and find something more satisfying to do this weekend.

Wes's Grade: C-