In times of turbulence and confusion in Egypt, an American team of archaeologists is digging a three-side pyramid in the desert. The engineer Zahir (Amir K) sends his robot to explore the interior while the archaeologists Nora (Ashley Hinshaw) and her father Holden (Denis O'Hare); the video producer Sunni (Christa Nicola); and the cameraman Fitzie (James Buckley) record and analyze the image. However they have to leave the site due to the political instability but out of blue, the expensive robot vanishes inside the pyramid. Amir K convinces Corporal Shadid (Faycal Attougui) to give two hours for them to seek out the robot. When they are in the interior, the floor collapses and they fall 30 m down. Soon they learn that the place is a maze full of traps and a creature is hunting them down. Will they succeed to escape?

"The Pyramid" is a disappointing horror movie. The story is silly and unoriginal and does not hold the attention of the viewer. The performances are not convincing but acceptable, but the plot fails since the characters are not well developed and non-likable. The lighting and camera are very poor. The special effects are reasonable for a low- budget movie. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "A Pirâmide" ("The Pyramid")

This is not quite a found footage movie. However it would had been worthwhile if it remain buried.

The Pyramid makes good use of the news footage of the Egyptian uprisings from a decade ago.

An archaeological team goes in to examine a newly discovered pyramid beneath the Egyptian desert. The floor collapses and they seemed to be chased by creatures.

One of them looks like the Egyptian god Anubis.

A low budget supernatural horror which lacks thrills, mainly because you cannot see much as it's too dark.

I caught this film last night on HBO for the first time, having wanted to see it for some time but never got the chance. I've heard that most reviewers panned the film, but I still wanted to see it and judge for myself. My consensus is that, while I'm glad I didn't pay to see it in theaters, I'm still glad I saw it nonetheless.

The movie involves a father-daughter team of archaeologists who have discovered a unique-looking pyramid in the Egyptian desert, and have invited a film crew to document it. Long story short, they all end up exploring the pyramid and find themselves trapped inside, only to discover that they aren't exactly alone in the pyramid and that something is picking them off one by one. There's really not a whole lot to say about the characters themselves as they do their job well enough but are still basic horror movie tropes. You've got the headstrong leader, the cocky nerd who's clear monster-bait, the arrogant woman who's kind of a bitch, the submissive, cowardly guy who grows a pair by the end, and of course, the pretty-yet-smart "last girl". If you've seen any horror movie ever, you can probably guess in what order these people are going to die, nevertheless, the movie never gets stale and keeps you tense the whole time.

Now let's move on to the interesting stuff: the threats. Perhaps the greatest threat in this movie is not the monster but the pyramid itself. I love the way it's designed, with its ominous hieroglyphics, twisting, winding passages and "Saw"-esque death traps. The room with the rising sand honestly made me feel claustrophobic. There's also this mysterious pack of carnivorous sphinx cats living in the pyramid too. Their presence didn't make a lot of sense, but they were still fun to watch.

Now on to the monster itself. The movie does a pretty good job of keeping its main villain hidden for the majority of the time, always keeping you guessing as to what it is. The final reveal of the monster's identity in the film's climax may disappoint some hardcore horror fans, but I was willing to buy it, mainly because it was different. This particular creature had not really been seen in a horror film yet, and so it was nice to see a rather unique villain rather than some faceless ghost or human killer.

So the main thing this movie has going for it is its uniqueness. It gives us a different setting, different threats, and a different monster than most horror movies provide. And while the identity of the monster may make the film less scary, it is still no less tense, and it keeps you watching until the end. Now of course, the movie still does have problems. The CGI does look a bit dated; it's not enough to kill the movie, but it is noticeable, especially on the sphinx cats. Also as I said before, the human characters are really nothing special, just the same cookie-cutter horror protagonists you've seen before. Yet, I could still sympathize and root for them.

In closing, "The Pyramid" is an interesting, if flawed, film that gets more flack than it really deserves. It may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but it's a fun way to kill 90 minutes if you're looking for something fresh with a monster you haven't really seen before in a horror movie. The movie does still preserve a few clichés, but you can tell it's at least trying to do something different. So if you're curious about the movie, give it a watch. You may not be scared out of your mind by it, but you'll have fun!