Tomb Raider - As Above So Below.

A sexy archaeologist lady runs around Paris solving cryptic clues that might lead to the infamous alchemist Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone which is  buried in a secret tomb somewhere in the catacombs beneath the city. So far so 'Lara Jones and The Philosopher's Stone Code'. It's great stuff, very enjoyable hokum but not much of a horror movie until we actually do go below the streets and into the labyrinth of tunnels laden with bones and skulls. The film exploits this setting to the max and becomes as nightmarishly claustrophobic and intense as 'The Descent'. I swear there were times when I forgot to breathe.

"Sous les pavés, la plage!" ("Under the cobblestones, the beach!") said the graffiti of the May '68 protests. 'Beneath the pavements - the horror!' could be the slogan for this film. Repressed memories, secrets and fears work against the characters in this film as much as physical confinement and time running out. 

The only way is down for these fools and the further they descend the more surreal it all becomes. Shifting geometries, impossible occurrences and madness seek to confound and torture them more.

It builds and builds, gets weirder and weirder and reaches a fever pitch. The ending when it comes is too abrupt. It's disorientating but strangely underwhelming. Worse still, there's an unnecessary epilogue which just dissipates any remaining feelings of horror. The ride stops too early and the climax is allowed to fizzle out but even so, there is still much to commend this film.

There's a proactive female lead who doesn't scream, doesn't need rescuing and she can keep her head when all about her are losing theirs. Unfortunately it goes for movie cliche #1 by having the black guy die first.

The found footage format is used well and is less distracting than normal for this type of film. It helps that all the characters legitimately have cameras fixed to their helmets. It gives us a good array of angles and points of view. The sound design gets a big thumbs up too as it was a big part of why it worked so well. Hearing distant rockfalls, boulders grinding against each other, whispers and eerie winds was a big part of placing you in situ.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a low budget horror with a weak ending that still manages to trump the big budget releases with an interesting premise, great location and a variety of scares and thrills.