The Pyramid
Stalk Like An Egyptian
Release Date: 13 April 2014 | 15 | Blu- ray/ DVD Director: Grégory Levasseur Cast: Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O'Hare, James Buckley, Daniel Amerman, Amir K
another mummy film? No, actually. Though formulaic, The Pyramid is slightly more original than that, instead spinning scares from the ancient Egyptians’ pantheon of gods.
Set inside a pyramid buried hundreds of feet underground, it has more in common with spelunking shocker The Descent than Stephen Sommers’ bandaged franchise. A father/ daughter archaeologist team, their tech guy and a documentary crew are picked off by two different threats: small, scurrying somethings, and a bigger beast that yanks people into crawl- spaces like it’s been watching Alien and taking notes.
The found- footage format is used intermittently, regularly set aside in favour of an omniscient POV. That’s
Not
perhaps for the best, as the guy behind the camera, The Inbetweeners’ James Buckley, is one of the film’s strong points. Serving as the audience’s proxy, he talks a lot of common sense, although the role does steer so close to TV persona Jay that you worry he might start cracking gags about “clunge”.
Unfortunately, the script never manages to make sense of its enclosed eco- system, certain plot details go nowhere, and while the CGI monster effects might have passed muster a decade ago, they look pretty ropey in 2015. There are a couple of decent jolts, but you won’t be left crying for mummy.
Extras: Four brief promo pieces ( six minutes); an extended ending; a gallery. Ian Berriman James Buckley’s dad let him watch An American Werewolf In London when he was four. “My Mum went mental.”