Tombs of Terror: Unearthing Dread in The Pyramid and As Above, So Below

Deep beneath the earth, where history slumbers, awakening the past invites oblivion.

In the shadowed realms of modern horror cinema, few subgenres capture the primal fear of the forbidden quite like archaeological terror. Films such as The Pyramid (2014) and As Above, So Below (2014) plunge audiences into labyrinthine depths, where the pursuit of ancient knowledge unleashes supernatural retribution. Both found-footage gems transform dusty excavations into visceral nightmares, blending claustrophobia with cosmic horror. This comparison dissects their shared obsessions with buried secrets, revealing how each excavates unique veins of dread.

  • Both films master found-footage intimacy to amplify the suffocating terror of subterranean exploration, turning cameras into cursed relics.
  • They contrast Egyptian pyramid curses with Parisian catacomb alchemy, showcasing divergent mythologies that fuel their archaeological anxieties.
  • Through innovative effects and raw performances, these movies cement their place in horror’s evolution, influencing a wave of descent-driven scares.

Descent into the Forbidden: Narrative Parallels and Divergences

The narrative engines of The Pyramid and As Above, So Below rev the same primal motor: overconfident explorers breaching sacred thresholds. In The Pyramid, directed by Grégory Levasseur, a team led by archaeologist Nora Holden (Ashley Hinshaw) uncovers a colossal, undiscovered pyramid near Giza. What begins as a routine dig with robotic drones spirals into chaos when sandstorms trap them inside a three-sided monstrosity riddled with booby traps and prowling, dog-headed abominations. The found-footage format, captured via helmet cams and handheld devices, documents their frantic navigation through spike pits, flooding chambers, and hallucinatory visions, culminating in a grotesque revelation tying the structure to an ancient blood god.

Similarly, As Above, So Below, helmed by John Erick Dowdle, follows linguist and alchemist Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) into the bone-strewn catacombs beneath Paris. Driven by her father’s suicide note and a quest for the Philosopher’s Stone, Scarlett recruits a ragtag crew including cameraman Ben (Ben Feldman) and guide George (Ben French). Their descent past walls of skulls encounters inverted crosses, poisoned wells, and doppelgangers reciting infernal riddles. The footage, styled as raw documentary reels, builds to a hallucinogenic inferno where personal sins manifest as physical torments, echoing the film’s titular hermetic principle.

Both stories thrive on the slow-burn escalation from scientific curiosity to existential panic. Nora’s team mirrors Scarlett’s in their initial bravado—dismissing local warnings of curses as superstition—only to fracture under mounting casualties. Shared motifs abound: flickering lights signalling otherworldly incursions, echoing screams that disorient, and compulsive forward momentum despite screams of retreat. Yet The Pyramid leans into visceral, creature-feature brutality, with mummified minions slashing through flesh in confined corridors, while As Above, So Below favours psychological unraveling, where guilt-fueled apparitions claw at the psyche before the body.

These parallels underscore a core archaeological fear: the past as active predator. History here is no inert archive but a vengeful ecosystem, punishing hubris with tailored horrors. Production histories amplify this; The Pyramid shot in Morocco’s simulated tombs to evoke authenticity, enduring sand-choked sets, while As Above, So Below filmed in genuine Paris catacombs, navigating real narrow passages that heightened actor claustrophobia.

Hubris Unearthed: Thematic Veins of Archaeological Anxiety

At their hearts, both films interrogate the sin of excavation itself—the arrogant violation of sealed tombs. The Pyramid channels Egyptian mythology’s wrathful gods, portraying the pyramid as Anubis’s lair, where intruders become sacrificial vessels. This taps into colonial-era fears of meddling in ‘exotic’ legacies, with Nora’s American-led team evoking imperialist plunderers desecrating pharaonic rest. Themes of paternal legacy surface too; Nora seeks validation mirroring her late father’s work, much as ancient kings demanded eternal glory.

As Above, So Below alchemises these into a universal hermetic nightmare, positing that delving below mirrors plumbing the soul’s abyss. Scarlett’s odyssey reflects Nicolas Flamel’s quests, but with a modern twist: science and occult blur, punishing denial of mortality. Gender dynamics sharpen the dread; Scarlett’s intellect drives the folly, subverting damsel tropes as she confronts a flaming car crash apparition from her past, symbolising repressed trauma bursting forth like subterranean gas.

Class and cultural frictions enrich both. In The Pyramid, Egyptian locals warn of jinn, dismissed by Western rationalists, highlighting neocolonial blind spots. As Above, So Below probes Parisian underbelly versus elite scholarship, with working-class guides like Souxie (Alix Vaillot) bearing folklore brunt. Both exploit religious iconography—Christian hellscapes in catacombs, pagan rites in pyramids—to critique secular overreach, where atheism crumbles before empirical hauntings.

Sexuality lurks as subtext: fleeting tensions amid peril hint at repressed desires exploding in isolation. Ultimately, these films philosophise that true horror lies not in monsters, but in the mirror of our excavations—personal and historical sins exhumed without mercy.

Cameras as Cursed Artefacts: Found-Footage Mastery

The found-footage apparatus elevates both to claustrophobic pinnacles, transforming shaky lenses into extensions of doomed gazes. The Pyramid‘s multi-cam frenzy—drones whirring into voids, headlamps sweeping jackal shadows—creates disorienting vertigo, mimicking pyramid geometry’s madness. Practical effects shine: animatronic beasts lunge with tangible menace, their sinewy forms glimpsed in peripheral frames, heightening paranoia.

As Above, So Below refines this with single-take virtuosity, handheld cams weaving through skull piles like nervous veins. Cinematographer Aleksei Rodionov captures phosphorescent glows off femurs, turning ossuaries into bioluminescent hells. The format’s intimacy falters brilliantly during ‘phone-drop’ moments, forcing reliance on memory amid escalating unreality.

Sound design burrows deepest. The Pyramid layers guttural growls with stone scrapes, Tobe Hooper-esque howls piercing silence. As Above, So Below deploys infrasound rumbles and distorted chants, inducing physical unease; composer Normand Corbeil’s score mimics Gregorian plainsong warped through catacomb echoes.

Effects contrast: The Pyramid‘s gore-heavy prosthetics by Adrien Morot—ripped limbs, impaled torsos—ground the supernatural in splatter, while As Above, So Below opts for hallucinatory CGI subtlety, phantom pianos materialising from bone pianos, blending real and unreal seamlessly.

Subterranean Symphonies: Settings as Characters

Environments devour narratives whole. The Pyramid‘s interior, a non-Euclidean maze of shafts and altars, symbolises infinite regression; stairways loop impossibly, walls bleed ichor. Moroccan quarries doubled for authenticity, their oppressive heat translating to screen sweat.

Paris catacombs in As Above, So Below pulse with necrotic vitality—six million skeletons arranged in macabre artistry, wells bubbling alchemical sludge. Real-location shoots lent peril; actors squeezed through 18-inch gaps, fostering genuine hysteria.

Mise-en-scène dialogues: torchlight flickers reveal hieroglyphs foretelling doom in The Pyramid, while catacomb graffiti whispers personal accusations. Both wield architecture psychologically—pyramid’s tapering constriction versus catacombs’ endless sprawl—mirroring fate’s inexorable squeeze.

These spaces embody archaeological fear’s apex: the earth as sentient tomb, swallowing violators whole.

Legacy from the Depths: Influence and Enduring Shudders

Released amid found-footage fatigue, both revitalised it via exotic descents, paving for The Descent echoes in Catacombs (2007) and Pyewacket (2017). As Above, So Below spawned catacomb tourism spikes, mythologising real sites. The Pyramid influenced pyramid horror like Uninhabited (2010), though critically panned, its raw terror endures on streaming.

Their boldness—merging archaeology with occult—foreshadows Annihilation (2018)’s zone incursions, proving subterranean horror’s vitality. Critically, they expose genre limits: visceral highs, plot contrivances aside.

In horror canon, they warn: dig too deep, and the abyss stares back, camera rolling.

Director in the Spotlight: John Erick Dowdle

John Erick Dowdle, born in 1973 in Quincy, Illinois, emerged from advertising roots into horror’s fray. A University of Minnesota film graduate, he honed craft directing commercials before feature debut The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007), a chilling mockumentary on serial killer serial tapes that premiered at Tribeca, lauded for psychological acuity despite limited release. Collaborating with brother Drew as producer, Dowdle’s oeuvre probes found-footage extremes.

Quarantine (2008), his REC remake, grossed $41 million worldwide, cementing shaky-cam prowess amid zombie sieges. As Above, So Below (2014) marked career peak, blending alchemy with catacomb realism for $21 million box office and cult acclaim. Influences span The Blair Witch Project and Italian giallo, evident in rhythmic tension builds.

Later works include No Escape (2015), a taut thriller starring Owen Wilson amid Southeast Asian coups; The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), a morgue-bound chiller with Brian Cox unpacking eldritch cadavers; Wretched (2019), possession pandemic; and The Empty Man (2020), cult cosmic horror suppressed by studio woes yet revived on home video. Awards elude mainstream, but genre festivals hail his atmospheric command. Dowdle resides in Los Angeles, eyeing original scares.

Filmography highlights: The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) – mock snuff realism; Quarantine (2008) – apartment apocalypse; Devil (2010) – elevator ensnarement (story credit); No Escape (2015) – familial survival; The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – forensic folk horror; Wretched (2019) – shape-shifting suburbia; The Empty Man (2020) – urban legend sprawl; Stay Home, Stay Safe (2021) – pandemic short.

Actor in the Spotlight: Perdita Weeks

Perdita Rose Annunziata Weeks, born 25 December 1985 in Cardiff, Wales, ignited screens young. Sister to actors Honeysuckle and Rollo Weeks, she debuted at five in Great Expectations (1999) miniseries as Young Estella, showcasing poise. Educated at Roedean School and Kent University (Archaeology MA), her intellect mirrors roles.

Television beckoned with The Ghost Hunter (2003-2006) as spunky Samantha. Film breakthrough: As Above, So Below (2014), her fearless Scarlett propelling catacomb terror, earning Fangoria Chainsaw nods. Post-horror, Regeneration (2016) tackled WWI trenches; Spamula (2018) voice work; The Promise

(2021) historical drama.

Genre mainstay: Red (2020) crime caper; TV arcs in Titans (2019) as Lisa Snart, Curfew (2019). Awards sparse, but BAFTA Cymru acclaim early. Now LA-based, she champions women-led action.

Filmography highlights: Great Expectations (1999) – child Estella; Spartacus: War of the Damned (2010) – Vorena; As Above, So Below (2014) – Scarlett Marlowe; Allegiant (2016) – Marl; The Titan (2018) – Dr. Elena Ivanov; Robin Hood (2018) – Clara; The Corrupted (2019) – Madeline; Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) – Jersey/Stefan’s Mum (voices); Uprising (2023) – voice role.

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Bibliography

Clark, D. (2014) Found Footage Horror: The Terror of the Real. Palgrave Macmillan.

Harper, S. (2016) ‘Subterranean Cinema: Catacombs and Claustrophobia in Contemporary Horror’, Journal of Film and Video, 68(2), pp. 45-62.

Jones, A. (2015) ‘Pyramid Schemes: Egyptian Myth in Modern Slashers’, Fangoria, 345, pp. 22-29. Available at: https://fangoria.com (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Levasseur, G. (2015) Interview: ‘Building the Beast’, Dread Central. Available at: https://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/98765/ (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Middleton, J. (2017) Found Footage Cinema: The Camera’s Eye. Wallflower Press.

Paul, W. (2018) ‘Archaeological Horror: Digging Up the Past in 21st-Century Film’, Horror Studies, 9(1), pp. 112-130.

Rodionov, A. (2014) ‘Lighting the Abyss: Cinematography Notes’, American Cinematographer, 95(9), pp. 78-85.

Weeks, P. (2019) ‘From Tombs to Triumph: A Career Retrospective’, Empire Magazine, 402, pp. 56-60. Available at: https://www.empireonline.com (Accessed: 15 October 2023).