Director: Isaac Gabaeff
Cast: Brooke Butler, Dean Geyer, Jamie Kennedy
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 84 minutes
The Sand is one of this year’s most fun films. It’s a high concept, fun horror which on page doesn’t sound like it should work; mean-eating sand anyone?
A group of college students party hard at the beach; the morning after the night before they find that something isn’t right with the ground beneath them. In fact the sand has become downright nasty, with a thirst for flesh. Luckily all our survivors aren’t in contact with the sand, two are in the lifeguard tower, four are in a car, one crashed out on a picnic bench, whilst another is the unfortunate (or in this case fortunate?) victim of a drunken prank and is stuck in a barrel. They are all a long way from safe ground and with the beach deserted for the weekend their chances of rescue are slim.
But what has made the sand, which was once safe, suddenly so threatening? Well the truth behind that becomes apparent from inter-spliced footage from the party the night before.
It is now that the film gets interesting as the viewer is given the opportunity to discuss how they would get out of the situation. Do you stay still and wait for a rescue that may never come, or do you attempt to leave, and if so, how?
For most of the film the reality behind the threat is kept hidden or barely seen. This helps keeps the outlandish narrative surprisingly grounded, building tension and intrigue right up until the big reveal.
Filled with all the stock characters that one would expect to see – the dumb blonde, the cheating jock, the geeky best friend, the bitch, the fat guy and the disbelieving cop, The Sand manages to make you care about the motley crew. Friendships unravel and rivalries are cast aside as the group must find a way home. The stakes are raised higher every few minutes as they realise that their safe spots aren’t as safe as they would hope. It’s the most intense and high stakes game of ‘the floor is lava’ you will ever witness.
Inspired by old school horrors like Blood Beach, The Sand takes a silly b-movie idea and crafts it into a single situation horror that works. With oddly endearing charters The Sand has charm in buckets (and spades). Even better, the film’s ambiguous ending could easily pave the way for more, and I for one welcome that.
Catch The Sand on digital download when it arrives at Frightfest Presents on 19th October. Own it on DVD from 25th April.
