The Pyramid

In the tail end of 2014, the found-footage horror genre was gasping for its last breath of relevance. We had been through the woods with witches, haunted by suburban ghosts, and chased by trolls in Norway. So, when Grégory Levasseur—the long-time writing partner of French extremity maestro Alexandre Aja (High Tension, Crawl)—stepped into the director's chair for The Pyramid, the cinematic world mostly responded with a collective, exhausted shrug. It arrived quietly, stayed in theaters for a heartbeat, and then vanished into the digital sands of streaming services.

I watched this recently on a laptop with a dying battery while my cat sat on my feet, which added a layer of physical heat I didn't exactly need for a movie set in the scorching Sahara, but it certainly helped the "stuck in a hole" atmosphere. Looking back, The Pyramid is a fascinating relic of that specific 2010s transition period where filmmakers were starting to realize that pure found-footage was too restrictive, leading to a weird, hybrid visual style that doesn't always make sense but definitely keeps things moving.

A Three-Sided Death Trap

The setup is classic B-movie gold. An archaeological team led by a father-daughter duo (Denis O'Hare and Ashley Hinshaw) discovers a unique, three-sided pyramid buried deep in the Egyptian desert. Because this is a horror movie, they decide to send a high-tech rover (nicknamed "Shorty") inside right as the Egyptian authorities order them to evacuate due to the political unrest of the Arab Spring. When the rover goes missing, they do the only logical thing: they go in after it.

The film does a decent job of establishing the claustrophobia. I’ve always had a soft spot for "tomb" horror—there's something inherently terrifying about billions of tons of rock sitting over your head. Grégory Levasseur uses his experience with Alexandre Aja to ensure the environment feels heavy and oppressive. However, the script is where things get a bit sandy. The dialogue often feels like it was written by someone who once read a Wikipedia page about Egyptology and then got distracted by a shiny object.

Buckley, Beards, and Big Bad Gods

The casting is an odd highlight. Seeing James Buckley—forever immortalized as the foul-mouthed Jay from The Inbetweeners—playing a cameraman in a serious American horror film is a trip. He provides a much-needed grounded energy, even if you keep expecting him to call a mummy a "bus wanker." Meanwhile, Denis O'Hare (a veteran of American Horror Story) brings a level of gravitas to Dr. Holden that the movie probably doesn't deserve. He treats the hunt for ancient secrets with such sincerity that you almost forget he’s standing in a set that occasionally looks like it was raided from a Spirit Halloween clearance aisle.

As they descend deeper, the film pivots from a survival thriller into a full-blown creature feature. This is where The Pyramid earns its "obscure curiosity" badge. Without spoiling too much, the threat isn't just a disgruntled mummy or a bunch of traps. The filmmakers decided to go big on Egyptian mythology, bringing in a legendary figure that looks quite impressive in the shadows but suffers slightly when the lights come up. The CGI in 2014 was in that awkward puberty stage; the creature's design is genuinely cool and intimidating, but the execution sometimes feels a bit "video game boss" rather than "ancient deity."

The "Why Did This Vanish?" Factor

So, why did this movie disappear from the cultural conversation? It wasn't just the found-footage fatigue, though that played a huge part. The Pyramid suffered from a bit of an identity crisis. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a gritty, realistic documentary-style horror or a flashy, CGI-heavy monster movie. By trying to be both, it lost the purists of both subgenres.

Interestingly, the film was shot in Morocco on a relatively lean budget of $6.5 million. It’s actually quite an achievement that they managed to make the scale feel as large as it does. There are some practical effects—specifically involving some very nasty, hairless "sphynx" cats—that are genuinely unsettling. Apparently, the production had to deal with the actual political climate of the time, which added a layer of real-world tension to the shoot that mirrors the "get out now" vibe of the film's first act.

In retrospect, The Pyramid is better than its reputation suggests, provided you go in with the right mindset. It’s a fast-paced, 89-minute "popcorn" flick that doesn't overstay its welcome. It captures that 2014 moment where digital cameras were becoming the norm and directors were experimenting with how much "shaky cam" an audience could actually stomach.

The Pyramid is the cinematic equivalent of a mass-market paperback you find at an airport—you know it’s not literature, but it’ll keep you entertained until you land. It’s got a solid sense of dread, a few "how did they think that was a good idea?" character choices, and a third act that goes much harder on the mythology than you’d expect. If you’re a fan of claustrophobic horror or just want to see James Buckley try not to be Jay for an hour and a half, it’s a journey worth taking into the dark. Just don’t expect to come back out with any profound life lessons, other than maybe "don't touch the glowing ancient stuff."