We have been following The Pyramid since writer and director Alex Visani got in touch with us earlier this year. Instantly our spidey senses were tingling with a promise of an epic new anthology that was set to breathe new life into the Italian horror scene.
Divided into four stories and created by five independent Italian directors Alex Visani, Antonio Zannone, Luca Alessandro and duo directors Simone Chiesa and Roberto Albanesi, The Pyramid focuses on a bizarre little pyramid, which over the centuries has been the catalyst for wide-spread death and destruction.
Each of the four stories indirectly follows on from the last. Alex Visani himself directs the opening story Ritual, which, after showing the creation of the pyramid, follows the story of an unfortunate young man who buys it off of a gypsy. That night, he falls to sleep in his hotel, only to find himself becoming possessed by the object, much to his friend’s confusion and terror.
Dream Door follows directly on from the opening story, with a hotel maid finding the pyramid in the room of the man from Ritual. She takes the pyramid home to her artist boyfriend and we watch as it begins to invade his dreams and take its toll. This particular story is particularly unsettling and lurid.
In the third story, Pestilence, we watch with terror as the effect of the pyramid become contagious and a horrible pestilence begins to spread. Tense and action-packed this episode allows for some gripping chase scenes and shows those ‘infected’ by the pyramid vomiting black gunk into the mouths of others to spread their plight.
Unsurprisingly, the final installment Apocalypse depicts a world whereby the pestilence from the previous episode has ravaged the Earth and the human race is nigh to extinction, but there is hope – two men have been tasked with finding and destroying the evil pyramid once and for all, but will they be able to escape its terrible thrall?
The Pyramid is a delightful smörgåsbord of all manner of horror subgenres. There’s action, blood, gore and an abundance of subtle nods to some of the best and biggest cult movies from the 80s. Essentially what we have here is homage to ‘old school’ Italian horror and a genuinely intriguing approach to an anthology. Whilst each story could in theory be a standalone short film, they all weave into each other to create one complete feature film and give us the ability to follow the latest tome of the pyramid’s ‘life’ in full. All in all a solid film and a must see for fans of 80s horror.
Score: 444/666
To find out more information take a look at The Pyramid‘s website and follow Alex on Twitter at @Alex_Visani
Make sure you check out our interview with writer and director Alex Visani here, read the preview here and watch the trailer here.
The Horror Hothouse 