When a horror film is called The Pyramid, I think it's a generally safe to assume the plot of the film will involve people going into a pyramid, and things not going as planned. Like yesterday's The Pyramid, for example. But today's The Pyramid, despite suspiciously similar title artwork, is not about that. (Although in The Pyramid's defense, I think you are pretty much obligated to highlight the "A" if you are designing that title.) The actual pyramid here is a little knickknack. It's like a crappy version of the little puzzle thing from Hellraiser. And it unleashes pure evil, which is obviously problematic for whoever has it in their possession.
But this The Pyramid uses this framework to sort of have a connected anthology. It's four stories are about how this little knickknack affects the people who have it... how it magically uses them to do it's evil bidding. And maybe even take over the world! As much as a semi-sentient little toyshop pyramid can, anyways.
A quick summary of the four stories... (1) the guy who buys the pyramid from a mysterious vendor unleashes its evil in a motel room, (2) the pyramid grows stronger when a maid steals it and gives it to her boyfriend as a gift, (3) the pyramid basically turning people into zombies, and (4) a look into the post apocalyptic future after the pyramid has done its thing. So really, it's kind of a unique set up. Normally, I'm not too big on anthologies, but there was enough of a through-line in The Pyramid that it kept me interested. While no characters really carry over from one segment to the next, it was cool to see how each filmmaker (each story has a different writer/director) would interpret the evil of the pyramid. It runs the gamut from driving you mad, to making you float like you're in a haunting, to turning you into a deadite-like zombie.
The first thing most people would notice about this The Pyramid is that it looks cheap. (OK, either that or it's in Italian, if you hate reading subtitles.) And yeah, it definitely falls into the indie-horror category. It's particularly noticeable as the pyramid gains strength as the film moves on. The first two stories are pretty self-contained, but once the Evil is out the low-budget seams start to show a bit... it's maybe a little too ambitious for its own good. So you have to cut it a *little* slack to enjoy it. But it's hard not to give it the benefit of the doubt when it ends on such a charming little note: "We want to thank all of the magazines, websites, and people that support us during the realization of this wild indie flick. Thanks you guys!" How sweet. But as far as indie horror goes, The Pyramid is good on a technical level. Something seems a little off about the look of the film (it's a little drab color-wise), but overall it's got decent effects and is nicely shot and edited.
It's got its fair share of gore and nastiness, but it's a little artsy at times too. The episodic nature of the film keeps things moving at a quick pace, so you never end up feeling bored or anything. Again, if you're not used to indie stuff it might seem a little dull, just because there isn't anything slick or flashy here, but it works more often than it doesn't.
I'll stop here. I don't want to get into critiquing each individual part of the film. On the whole it works all right. Particularly if you can get behind a little indie-cheesiness. And it's definitely better than yesterday's The Pyramid.
I would recommend this film
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