# The Pyramid (film)
**The Pyramid** is a 2014 horror film directed by Grégory Levasseur, in his feature directorial debut, about father-daughter archaeologists who uncover a three-sided pyramid buried beneath the Egyptian desert and become trapped inside with an ancient evil. It was produced by [Alexandre Aja](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandre-aja), Mark Canton, Chady Eli Mattar, and Scott C. Silver, written by Daniel Meersand and Nick Simon, and released by 20th Century Fox on December 5, 2014.[1](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-pyramid)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Grégory Levasseur, longtime co-writer and producer for Alexandre Aja; his first feature as director[1](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-pyramid) |
| Release | December 5, 2014, wide, distributed by 20th Century Fox; rated R; runtime 1h 28min[1](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-pyramid) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014) |
| Cast | Ashley Hinshaw as Nora Holden, Denis O'Hare as Miles Holden, James Buckley as Fitzie, Christa-Marie Nicola as Sunni, Amir K as Michael Zahir[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014) |
| Premise | A three-sided pyramid, buried for 5,000 years, is uncovered in the Egyptian desert; the exploration team becomes trapped and hunted[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014) |
| Filming location | Morocco, chosen for Aja and Levasseur's prior shoots there (Furia, The Hills Have Eyes) and local crews[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956) |
| Reception | 13% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 45 reviews; 21% audience score from more than 10,000 ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
The story follows Egyptologists Miles and Nora Holden ([Denis O'Hare](https://www.edgepedia.org/denis-ohare) and [Ashley Hinshaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashley-hinshaw)), who discover a triangular-based pyramid in the Egyptian desert that predates the square-based pyramids above ground.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pyramid-movie-review-story.html) With only hours before they must leave the site, they send a robot probe into the structure; when it is lost, a hurried expedition including the TV journalist Sunni (Christa-Marie Nicola) and her British cameraman Fitzie (James Buckley) enters to retrieve it.[5](https://www.screendaily.com/the-pyramid/5080593.article) The group becomes trapped in the pyramid's labyrinthine interior and faces collapsing floors, booby traps, mutated feral cats, and a creature associated with the jackal-headed god Anubis.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014) • [6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-pyramid-2014)
The setting is placed in 2013, shortly after the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, and civil unrest in Egypt forms part of the backdrop.[7](https://nilescribes.org/2017/10/28/the-pyramid-horror-film-review/) • [5](https://www.screendaily.com/the-pyramid/5080593.article)
## Production
**Origin.** The initial idea came from producer Scott Silver, an [Egyptology](https://www.edgepedia.org/egyptology) enthusiast.[8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-230345/secrets-tournage/) When Mark Canton joined and the project was brought to Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, who had worked with Canton on [Piranha 3D](https://www.edgepedia.org/piranha-3d), the film grew in scope.[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956) Aja and Levasseur worked with screenwriters Daniel Meersand and Nick Simon to strengthen the characters and mythology; the pyramid was conceived as a temple to the god Osiris and then a prison to Anubis.[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956) The project was then brought to Fox International Productions.[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956)
**Direction.** The Pyramid was Levasseur's first feature as director after years as writer, producer, art director, and second-unit director on Aja's films, including [High Tension](https://www.edgepedia.org/high-tension) (2003), The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors, and P2.[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956) • [8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-230345/secrets-tournage/) Aja remained involved in preparation and watched the daily rushes, but was not present on set because his own film Horns, an adaptation of [Joe Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-hill)'s novel starring [Daniel Radcliffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-radcliffe), went into production at the same time.[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956) • [8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-230345/secrets-tournage/)
**Location.** The film was shot in Morocco, a choice made largely because Aja and Levasseur had filmed Furia and The Hills Have Eyes there and could draw on experienced local crews.[3](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956)
## Found footage style
The film uses a partial found-footage approach. Several characters carry cameras, but the footage does not always come from any character's point of view, and reviewers noted that the motif is invoked and abandoned inconsistently.[9](https://www.fangoria.com/review-the-pyramid/) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/07/the-pyramid-review-horror-gregory-levasseur-james-buckley) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) described the film as seeming designed to answer yes, no, or maybe to the question of its found-footage credentials depending on the scene.[11](https://avclub.com/the-pyramid-isn-t-a-found-footage-fright-flick-but-it-1798182127) In interviews, Levasseur and Aja said the film revisits found footage while deliberately not giving it the dominant role.[12](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D18641564.html)
## Reception
Critical response was negative. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus called it "poorly lit and thinly writ," with "clunky dialogue, amateurish acting, and dusty found-footage scares"; the Tomatometer stood at 13% from 45 reviews and the audience score at 21%.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014) Reviewers compared it unfavorably to the similar 2014 film As Above, So Below.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-pyramid-2014) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pyramid-movie-review-story.html) Common criticisms included the thin characters, murky photography, and rote jump scares; Kim Newman in Screen Daily wrote that the few scares were "rote jumps copied from a dozen other films."[5](https://www.screendaily.com/the-pyramid/5080593.article) The Independent called the storyline "silly in the extreme" while noting that some shock tactics, such as deaths by crushing stones, impalement, and heart removal, were effective.[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-pyramid-film-review-murky-foundfootage-horror-film-is-silly-in-the-extreme-9904555.html)
Egyptological accuracy was also criticized. The Nile Scribes review noted that the hieroglyphs inside the pyramid are nonsense and that the decor mixes styles from different periods of Egyptian history.[7](https://nilescribes.org/2017/10/28/the-pyramid-horror-film-review/)
## Place in Egyptian-themed horror
Egyptology-themed horror, initially inspired by tabloid tales of the curse of King Tut, began with [The Mummy](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-mummy-1932-film) in 1932 and has remained an occasional subgenre.[5](https://www.screendaily.com/the-pyramid/5080593.article) The Pyramid belongs to the strand of that tradition in which explorers enter a sealed structure and awaken an ancient curse, and it is frequently mentioned alongside As Above, So Below as a 2014 underground found-footage horror film.[4](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pyramid-movie-review-story.html)
## References
1. [The Pyramid, 20th Century Studios](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-pyramid)
2. [The Pyramid (2014), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_pyramid_2014)
3. [The Pyramid Production Notes, SAMDB](https://www.samdb.co.za/titleproductionnotes/1956)
4. [Review: 'The Pyramid' without a point, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pyramid-movie-review-story.html)
5. [The Pyramid review by Kim Newman, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/the-pyramid/5080593.article)
6. [The Pyramid movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-pyramid-2014)
7. [Hallowe'en Film Recommendation: 'The Pyramid', Nile Scribes](https://nilescribes.org/2017/10/28/the-pyramid-horror-film-review/)
8. [Anecdotes du film Pyramide, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-230345/secrets-tournage/)
9. [Review: THE PYRAMID, Fangoria](https://www.fangoria.com/review-the-pyramid/)
10. [The Pyramid review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/07/the-pyramid-review-horror-gregory-levasseur-james-buckley)
11. [The Pyramid isn't a found-footage fright flick, The A.V. Club](https://avclub.com/the-pyramid-isn-t-a-found-footage-fright-flick-but-it-1798182127)
12. [Alexandre Aja et Gregory Levasseur : "Pyramide brise les règles du found footage", AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D18641564.html)
13. [The Pyramid, film review, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-pyramid-film-review-murky-foundfootage-horror-film-is-silly-in-the-extreme-9904555.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Found footage horror films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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