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Review: The Sand (2015)

the-sand-2015After walking the beach for an hour tonight, I decided it was finally time to watch my copy of The Sand. I didn’t have high hopes for the feature film, since one learns not to expect greatness from titles like this… about a beach that eats people. Having just finished my viewing, I think you’ll find my comments quite interesting. Read on for my review.

The Sand is written by Alex Greenfield and Ben Powell with director Isaac Gabaeff. The film stars Brooke Butler (All Cheerleaders Die, “Tosh.0”), Meagan Holder (“Make It or Break It,” “Ringer”), Dean Geyer (“Glee,” “Terra Nova”), Cynthia Murell (“How I Met Your Mother,” “Making A Scene with James Franco”), Cleo Berry and Mitchel Musso (“Hannah Montana,” “Pair of Kings”). It also features appearances from Hector David Jr. (“Power Rangers: Samurai”), Nikki Leigh (Unlucky Charms), Michael Huntsman and Jamie Kennedy (Scream 1-3, Tremors 5).

Plot: A large group of twenty-somethings throw an all night party on the the shore of a private beach in celebration of their college graduation. Everyone passes out on the beach and in the morning, the large group has suddenly shrunk down to only eight people. Two awake in a life guard tower, four awake in a car, one wakes up on a wooden bench and another wakes up stuffed inside a metal trashcan. As they regain their senses and attempt to head home, they discover that a carnivorous force is living in the sand and, being that there is a short supply of food, it has no intention of letting them leave. To their horror and dismay, their numbers continue to drop as they try to escape the danger in The Sand.

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Clearly, The Sand is the combination of Blood Beach (1980) and “The Raft” segment of Creepshow 2 (1987). Actually, I’d equate it more as a remake of Blood Beach. The thing is, I thoroughly enjoyed both of the previously mentioned titled, so it’s no surprise to me that I got a kick out of The Sand. I’ve seen a lot of reviews calling it, “the worst film of 2015,” but this is simply not the case. Please, ignore the one star reviews you see on the internet because they are simply not true. Sure, The Sand caters to a very specific demographic within the horror genre, but it’s far from terrible. It’s actually pretty great. It’s got a lot of beautiful women and the men aren’t shabby either. All of the actors and actresses were fantastic; my favorites being Brooke Butler, Meagan Holder, Dean Geyer and Cleo Berry. The Sand is full of twists and turns, cat and mouse games, and trial and error… all of which usually end in a suspenseful, bloody mess!

The only thing I can really harp on is the CGI used to create the sand monster. It just wasn’t up to par with the rest of the quality of The Sand. I’d even go as far as to say it was worse than anything you’d see on SyFy. This, for me, was the only deterrent.

Honestly, The Sand is a campy good time. I’d highly recommend watching it with your friends, whether a beer or two is worked into the evening is completely up to you. I think men and women between the ages of 16 and 25 will enjoy this flick due to the blood, boobs and swearing; and I think a casual creature-feature horror film fan can find some level of enjoyment out of this title, too. The action starts right at the very beginning and will keep you hooked until the very end. Very entertaining and it has tremendous sequel potential. If a sequel to The Sand was ever greenlit, I know I’d be anxious to see it. Well done!

Final Score: 8 out of 10

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Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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