Red Sands (2009)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I don't really understand the many negative criticism of this movie, I think it was pretty good. I don't watch horror movies often, perhaps one a month, so maybe I haven't been "buffed up" enough, but this movie make me feel awkward for a few nights after watching it.To be honest I started watching from the moment they broke that statue, so looks like I missed that part about the djinn. But it didn't take long to put together the pieces and realize that this is a modern clone of The Thing. The soldiers are isolated. They find an empty village where everyone has mysteriously disappeared. There's something that keeps killing them one-by-one and is able to take on the shape of the person it killed. I thought this movie is about some aliens, but looks like it's about djinns... oh well, it's still a The Thing clone.But it's pretty scary at the same time. The Thing wasn't scary for me, it was more like an adventure movie. This one was scary. That dream sequence with the woman in the burkha was especially creepy, thanks to the weird music and light effects. It was good entertainment.

When a US soldier uses an ancient stone idol as a target for shooting practise, he releases the evil djinn that was imprisoned within. As his platoon carry out orders to keep a desert road under surveillance, the malevolent spirit summons a sand storm and infiltrates the group in the form of an Afghan woman, and one by one the men fall victim to its power.It might boast some impressive cinematography and a couple of fairly bloody effects, but with nary a decent scare during the whole film, a raft of stereotypical characters, dull dialogue, cheap-ass CGI effects, and an unexciting and uneventful plot that moves slower than a shifting dune, Red Sands is a dry and lifeless experience, just like the Afghanistani desert in which it is set.As with his first horror flick Dead Birds, director Alex Turner takes the atmospheric, slow-burn, psychological route for much of the running time, his djinn using each victim's sins against them to terrify before killing; but whereas Dead Birds managed to deliver a modicum of atmosphere and a few effective frights between the less interesting bits, Red Sands manages neither and, given the choice, I'd rather count every grain of sand in Afghanistan than sit through this dreary film again.

I gave it a 6 because it had all the makings of a good horror film. It used a very unique set and setting.The actors were OK but with a good story even they would come alive. The writers never pulled it off as they could have with a bit more work and tighter editing. Of course you must have a story first to edit... The film starts down a great path with malleable talent. And there is some pretty good action happening. As you watch put yourself in these soldiers place. What would you do? Once I had any one of their experiences I would be on the path to getting the heck out of there. They were obviously forgotten even though I doubt that would happen without some contact from the base. I can recommend you see it for it's potential that was never realized. It's actually a good lesson in screen writing. They had the subject mater right but it seemed as though they either ran out of money or inexperienced screenwriters. I'd like to know if anyone knows anything about the end credits music track. There is no soundtrack cause it doesn't need one.If you know the name of the band please shoot me an e mail [email protected]

Red Sands is reminiscent of supernatural terrors like John Carpenter's The Thing. Without the big Hollywood bucks, this is skillful film-making with characters and setting doing the storytelling. The abandoned war-torn stone house serves as an interesting choice of backdrop for a group of US soldiers sent to monitor a strategic Afghanistan road. What they encounter is more than they can handle...While Alex Turner's cinematic action is superb, the only thing I find lacking is scale throughout the film. It just seemed too confining at times. A few grand establishing shots and culture elements would have given the film more depth and scale. Definitely worth the ticket price.