The Sand (2015)

The Sand (alternate title: Blood Sand) is a low budget thriller/monster movie that came out in 2015. So, to summarize the plot, a bunch of college students are partying on the beach, and then the next morning they realize all their friends are gone. It is not long before the discover a giant egg like shell on the beach and notice something wrong with the sand. At first, you think this is going to be another stupid low budget cheesy movie with terrible acting and horrible effects. However, you would be WRONG about that assumption. It is a lot more that just some drunk college students partying on the beach.

This movie reminds me of a cross between Tremors (1990) and Alien (1979). There are little static shards that appear whenever someone touches the sand, so its an underground monster apparently from space as indicated from the weird alien-like shell on the beach.

The casting is okay. I don't think anyone is going to win an Emmy for their performances in this film, however, for a low budget film, it was pretty good. I love the fact that they kept the monster a secret until the end. I won't spoil it, but let me tell you, the pay off is well worth it. It is worth it to sit through the movie and see the creature that has been terrorizing them all day. 

Another interesting aspect is that Jamie Kennedy made an appearance in this film; which I found weird and sort of entertaining. He probably is the reason I wanted to see it. It's hilarious. He shows up looking like Rick from The Walking Dead.

However, I feel he represents every cop in horror movies that refuse to believe the kids. He thinks they are all on drugs. His character reminds me of Detective Mooney from Killer Klowns from Outer Space. He doesn't believe the kids until (spoiler alert) he gets killed by the monster.

This movie was suspenseful enough to keep you interested, but it's only because you want to know. You want to know if this is something that is caused by pollution, radiation or is there really a monster from space.

I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was pretty entertaining and if you like low budget sci-fi horror movies, then this one is for you. It is just one of those movies that was filmed in one location, small cast, small crew and probably shot in a few months.

Now,  I'll try not to get too political, but I think this is supposed to be a social commentary on the pollution in our oceans and on our beaches. These students are partying on the beach and when they wake up the next morning, you see the amount of trash they had left behind. Then again you can just look at it as a cheesy sic-fi horror movie.

I would say that its worth a watch. It's available on Amazon Prime Video or you can rent from iTunes, GooglePlay, or even Vudu for a pretty cheap price.

Now that I've talked so highly about this movie, I do have a few issues with it. The main issue is that I believe the CG is way over done in this movie. I wish they had added more practical effects, because that is what makes the movie feel a little more realistic in my opinion. The CG just makes it look too cheesy and comedic. I know why they chose to use CG is because its actually cheeper than using the practical effects, so I understand, but damn. Also I didn't like the fact that at the end (spoiler alert) the hinted for a sequel, and as far to my knowledge and research, there is no sequel.

Rating: 4.0/10

I hope you all check out The Sand this weekend!!





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