The Pyramid (2014)

Taking it's cues from other "found footage" films, the film follows a group of archaeologists and a camera crew as they set out to explore a pyramid. What is unique about this one compared to the rest in the world is that it only has three sides. After being told that the civil unrest in Egypt will prevent them from continuing their research, the team decides to forego all caution and enter the pyramid themselves. As you can imagine with films such as these, things do not go well for them, and they find themselves trying to fend off an ancient evil and fight to stay alive.

While the film starts out with an engaging exposition, it quickly falls flat 5 minutes into it.  The characters are extremely unlikable save for Nora played by Ashley Hinshaw (True Blood), and, I was actually cheering a bit as each character got picked off one by one. Since the format for this type of film lends itself to have most of the weight of the film carried on the actors, it is a shame the cast of the film gave such abysmal performances.  I didn't find it a bit scary and ended up laughing at times which is never good for a horror genre movie.

I am not sure what first time director Grégory Levasseur was thinking when he made this film. The overall tone of the film wasn't really horrific and a lot of the scenes just felt like anyone could have put them together.  Could it possibly have been the shoe string budget of 6.5 million that hampered his directing? Who knows. If Levasseur does get another directing job, and his sophomore effort is like this one, he has little chance of success in this industry.

While only available on Ultraviolet and not iTunes, The Pyramid does not have any extras that come with the digital release, so most of this format stands on the picture and sound quality, which, for this film was not wonderful, but it was not expected to be since it was trying to portray that look as if  it was filmed through the lens of a documentary camera. The blacks are all over the place, and the soundtrack is a bit muffled. Since the plot and acting were so bad, the film's only hope was in the video and audio quality, which didn't deliver either.

The Pyramid is an unfortunate film that should not have been made. If it had a higher Hollywood budget, a non "found footage" filming, and Michael Bay as a director at least it may have been entertaining; but, as it stands, The Pyramid should be put inside one and never be discovered again. However, if you are looking for background noise on the television while you are attempting to do other things at home, this might be right up your alley. D-