The Pyramid

The Pyramid (1976)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Gary Kent

Starring: Charley Brown, Tomi Barrett, Ira Hawkins, Michael Ashe, John Parker

From: I don't recall who is credited as releasing this... I can tell you the print is from the AGFA company, which is one of those niche offerings that put out all sorts of genre obscurities on Blu-ray.

Well, this is not a typical review for me. I have to discuss a movie that I not only had never heard of before, but it is obscure to the point there is a deficiency of information on what this is if you do a Google search... and yet the way I was able to see this: it played on Turner Classic Movies Underground late last night. I know they've aired some real obscurities... something this unknown was surprising. When I watched it and saw AGFA's logo at the beginning, it made a little more sense; it's not the first time they've aired something from their archives. Also, I imagine that one day they'll release this on Blu.

I'll provide more backstory later but I'll explain the plot now: Chris Lowe-who works at a TV station in the news department-is fed up with how negative his field is and how the local news is always so damned negative... either that, or mindless fluff is shown in puff pieces. Well, thank heavens that is not the case now... anyhow, Lowe is axed when he makes positive stories, which of course are rejected and has constant arguments with is superior. Now on his own, he freelances and ends up falling into the New Age hippie movement. I mean, the “pyramid” in question is a wooden structure built where flower children do flower children things.

This is the brainchild of Gary Kent, a person who has had various guises throughout many decades in the film industry... stunts (including Bubba Ho-Tep), production manager, rare acting gigs, etc. This was set & filmed in Texas, although for distributor reasons it never got released outside the Lone Star State & in fact until now could only be seen if you ordered the DVD from Kent himself. Unfortunately The Pyramid does meander quite a bit as it attempts to cover various aspects of the 1970's & why at times it could be quite miserable. For me the vast majority of New Age topics & ideas are trite & harebrained at best so the final act's devotion to the topic meant that this really petered out until it sputtered into an ending. “Hippy dippie” is a phrase I've seen attached to this, and it's fair. I know some will appreciate that this is pro-animal (more than one, it is said that “animals have feelings, too” and one side character is upset that his “unsightly” hog farm was ordered to be closed down, and he does not raise those critters for food.

That is a shame as I don't want to slag a low-budget passion project which has its heart in the right place and covers a topic which I also have an issue with. The local news is never watched by me as for eons I have felt is is either full of schlock or is incredibly downbeat. It shows that the reporting beat is not an easy one even for those that are popular in the city due to being on camera constantly; as competing movies were released a few years ago, I'd be remiss if I did not mention that one character in this commits suicide & it was clearly based on Christine Chubbuck, a moment that happened soon before this was filmed.

The movie does have some unflinching moments-the opening minutes feature someone having a heart attack, causing him to crash his car into a SCHOOL BUS, which then rolls over-and it does have some solid ideas. Much to my regret, The Pyramid's take on the media is even more relevant now than when the film was made. At least the production and acting was acceptable overall; I know others will get more out of this than I did and in any case I am glad that something unknown to even most people on Letterboxd was resurrected by a niche Blu-ray label and it was shown on basic cable to the entire United States late last night.