Perdita Weeks in the role of Scarlett is a historian following in the footsteps of her deceased father, who spent his life in search of the Philosopher’s Stone; by following clues left by noted alchemist Nicolas Flamel (This should ring a bell to Harry Potter fans).
After finding the key to translating his notes in an area of Iran forbidden to trespassers, and punishable by death, she enlists her claustrophobic friend George (played by Ben Feldman) and a group Paris natives to help her retrieve the stone from the true resting place of the alchemist.
They are led deep beneath the Paris catacombs, where they not only find what they are looking for, they also find the gate to hell.
The premise of this film sounded exciting and extremely promising, like a mixture of Indiana Jones and of the 2005 flick Descent, but within 10 minutes of viewing, I realized the true horror or this fright flick — 2 hours of an extreme shaky cam.
Not apparent in the trailer, you instantly feel nauseous and mildly deceived. Relying solely upon the technique, or lack there of, to build suspense, and further the plot. There are many instances where for a moment something visually intriguing would catch your eye, but before you could appreciate any scenery or props, they were jarringly ripped from your view.
Leaving the theater disappointed in all the lost potential, and a splitting headache, I cursed that day shaky cam was introduced and further cursed the director of this film for using for the entirety of the movie.
If you decide to drop the dough on a ticket, I highly suggest downing some Dramamine before hand.
