[Red Sands]
Plot:Set in 2003 Afghanistan during the early years of the U.S. led invasion where a group of U.S. soldiers accidentally disturb a group of cursed artifacts.

Cast:Shane West, Brendan Miller, Aldis Hodge, Leonard Roberts, Theo Rossi, Noel Gugliemi.

My Thoughts:It's no "Dead Birds" but it's not all bad.

Review:"Red Sands" is being billed as a companion piece to the 2005 straight-to-dvd release "Dead Birds". The film is set in 2003 afghanistan, where a group of young soldiers are sent on a mission to keep an eye on a route being used by Al Quaeda militants to transport weapons. But before they arrive at their camp, one of them destroys an ancient statue with his rifle. Upon arriving at the camp, strange things begin to happen to the troops. Things which may or may not be a repercussion of the defacement of the statue.

The thing to like about "Red Sands" is that it follows the same pattern of Daniel Myrick's "The Objective", and manages to not suck nearly as bad as that movie did. Both movies have very similar premises. U.S. Troops encountering supernatural forces of the deadly variety when they are on the hunt of islamic militants. But in the case of "Red Sands"...the films heroes bring the forces upon themselves, when one of them destroys a statue. And as we all know when it comes to horror film rules, destroying cultural artifacts is a big no-no. See the "Wishmaster" series for more proof of this.

Speaking of which, this movie opens with a few passages referring to the Djinn, explaining to the viewer that the Djinn is a creature of evil, and not the cute, cuddly Disney genie we've all come to know and love them as. At that point, I was expecting atleast a partially decent horror film. But instead, this movie just doesn't deliver. And it's a shame because considering how the Djinn was used in the "Wishmaster" films, this movie could've really done some awesome things with the mythological demon. But when you're on a budget, I guess you do what you can. The movie is not a total waste though.

The cast is led by some pretty seasoned yet young acting talent with Aldis Hodge, Theo Rossi, Noel Gugliemi, and Shane West. They atleast keep the movie interesting and watchable with their performances. But when it tries to get scary, all we get is flashy editing, and some trippy visuals. A-la the latest rock video from some Scandanavian death metal band. The gist of the movie is quite simple. Now that one of the moronic troops shot up that statue, an evil desert-residing force has decided to psychologically terrorize the group of U.S. soldiers, and slowly break down their psyche and steal their souls.

So what happens next? If you guessed paranoia, mental breakdowns, and troops turning on each other...then you are correct! And if you expected something different and more original, well then you need to watch more horror movies...sorry. But this film goes totally by the numbers. And while it's attempts at creating and stirring up fear work on some levels, it's far too easy to pinpoint how this movie is gonna turn out in the end. It would've been nice if it wasn't so predictable. But sadly it is. Blood and gore in the movie is rarely used, although there's a freaky collection of scenes where an undead soldier with a huge gaping, bloody hole in his head shows up to freak out his living comrades.

Beyond that, not much gore here. Scares might work on some people, really depending on who you are. I kind of think this movie would freak out war veterans who've spent time in Afghanistan or Iraq, and know the conditions...and can place themselves in this type of scenario, and then factor in being pursued by something supernatural and evil. But for those of us who haven't spent a day in the U.S. military, this movie isn't really gonna be anything beyond a movie that teases but never delivers any sheer, blood-curdling terror.

Although it does present something to think about, which is if all of this killing in Afghanistan and Iraq has or might create some sort of spirit trap where the ghosts of soldiers and dead islamists haunt the sweltering deserts of both countries. While there are legends and myths about that sort of thing, that have existed for years in the middle east, the current conflicts there might ratchet them up to new levels of belief now. But in my view, this movie was just another lesson in respect for things you don't understand.

If something looks funny or weird to you, don't destroy it. Especially when it's a mythological artifact that has a history and a stigma attached to it. It's called common sense. The ending of "Red Sands" is quite haunting though, but it's too bad as much creativity and effort weren't put into the whole of the movie as was put into the chilling ending. "Red Sands" isn't terrible by any means, but it's not fantastic either. Truly a middle of the road film.

Positives:Good performances by most of the cast, a few trippy scenes here and there, a creepy ending.

Negatives:The film attempts to scare you but never quite manages to reach that level of terror necessary to invoke emotion. The fates of the U.S. troops play out in far too predictable fashion.

Overall:Two out of four stars.





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