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RED SANDS is a good Horror movie, dragged down by small fail

Saint Thomas | Kent, Ohio | 04/27/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know about you guys but I'm a pretty big fan of Alex Turner's first film DEAD BIRDS. I remember being pleasantly surprised with the movie and it's become some what of a cult hit since it's release. It's not hard to see why. The acting, pacing and atmosphere were some of the best aspects of the film. All key ingredients to making a successful Horror movie. The movie RED SANDS continues Alex Turner's creative artistic vision more or less with some divided results.

Before I get into the movie at hand here, I just want to say that I wanted to like this movie. Even before I saw it. I was already a fan of Turner's work with DEAD BIRDS and following up from that movie, I thought the premise of his next film (RED SANDS) sounded pretty good. The idea, story and setting interested me. Naturally I went online and read about it before actually getting my own copy and what I saw was not good. Half the reviews on this site alone are negative and if the price I paid for this movie (below five bucks!!!) says anything, most people would avoid this movie like the plague! Still, I wanted to be the judge of that for myself.

Right off the bat I knew the special effects (more so, the CGI moments) were going to be horrible. So before actually watching the movie, I guess I was already prepared for disappointment in those regards. Still, I just wanted to watch it anyways. After finally seeing the movie, I would have to agree with some of the reviews on this site. The CGI effects during some moments are totally unacceptable. With that being said, everything else about this movie is actually pretty good. It's just a shame that a little more production couldn't have gone into the special effects.

The movie RED SANDS is about a group of military soldiers (during the early 2000's in Afghanistan) who are stationed at an abandoned farm house in the middle of the desert. Killing time, some of the soldiers take up target practice on an old statue in the middle of a canyon, breaking it and releasing (unknown to them) an evil demon. Tension rises among the men as the clarity of their mission becomes blurred, a sand storm blinds them, and the arrival of a mysterious Afghan woman complicates things further. Isolated and becoming crazy from the heat, the soldiers soon realize there is more to their bad situation than it would seem.

RED SANDS starts off pretty good, with excellent camera work, nice lens coloring, competent actors and a genuine feeling of dread. Another thing I liked about this movie is the original idea behind it. This isn't a predictable Horror movie and a lot of it feels honest and true. With that being said, most of those good aspects might be thrown right out the window for you, depending on how you feel about bad CGI. This movie doesn't have too many scenes where special effects are required, but a few moments at the end becomes jarringly obvious.

Everything else about this movie is well done, and then you have the horrible CGI Djinn monster at the end of the movie! I'm talking on the level of THE MUMMY movies from the late 90's and early 2000's! They're about as bad as something you might see on the SyFy Channel late at night. Actually, if the SyFy Channel made their movies anywhere as half as good as Alex Turner's RED SANDS, this movies short comings (in terms of the CGI) might become bearable. SyFy Channel, take note!

With my biggest problem aside, I actually liked this movie. It's not perfect but it was everything I thought it was going to be and in some cases, it exceeded my expectations. Going into the film knowing the CGI was horrible helped soften the blow, but some people might not be as forgiving as I am. I can understand why some people might be turned off by the special effects considering they're so awful. It just begs the question to the film makers, "why?" Everything else about this movie is excellent, why use such bad special effects? Someone must have rushed to get this movie pumped out on DVD, not caring about the final product. It's a shame because the director did such a bang up job with everything else.

Gore Hounds, I have to say it. Check it out. Despite my issues with the CGI, some of the other effects are pretty good. Gun shot wounds explode with blood the good 'ol fasion way (with blood packs) and some of the close up shots of the actual monster's mask was pretty well done. Also, there are some interesting camera tricks throughout the whole movie, adding to the over all creepy vibe. In the end, what you have here is a movie half good and half bad. I'm glad that I watched it and included it in my collection, other's might just yawn and roll their eyes into their heads. It's a shame too because RED SANDS isn't all that bad of a Horror film.

I don't know. Maybe I'm too forgiving? You be the judge.

Over and out."

Creepy....

bosley316 | Caledonia, Nova Scotia | 02/26/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was tense through the last two thirds of this movie. Not the sort of over the top bloodbath that many expect from modern "horror" movies, but Red Sands has plenty of creepy scenes and is generally well crafted. Best of its kind I've seen in a while."