Red Sands Movie Review

Red Sands is a 2009 American horror film directed by Alex Turner and written by Simon Barrett , in their second collaboration following Dead Birds. The film stars Shane West, Leonard Roberts, Aldis Hodge, Theo Rossi, Callum Blue, Brendan Miller, Noel Gugliemi, and J.K. Simmons, and introduces Mercedes Masöhn. Contents 

 Plot Plot In 2002, Jeff Keller, who mysteriously survived the slaughter of his troops during a mission, is debriefed by an officer. The facts gathered indicate that he and his soldiers had been ambushed by al-Qaeda fighters who killed them all, leaving Keller for dead. Two weeks before, in September 2002, Keller's crew gets a mission assignment and is set out to an isolated farmhouse where a family had been slaughtered days before. Their mission is to monitor a road as a sting to catch militants using it to transfer supplies. However, as the platoon’s convoy makes their way towards the objective, an IED detonates near the truck carrying Keller’s squad. Disorientated, the vehicle inadvertently heads off in a different direction from the rest of their platoon. Staff Sergeant Howston manages to make contact with their lieutenant and is ordered to conduct a reconnaissance sweep, sending Keller and a group to search the area. During this unintended stop, the men discover a mysterious shrine; the squad's interpreter Wilcox believes that it was a shrine to a Djinn, a powerful deity made from a smokeless flame, which in mythology matched the legend of a genie. A bored member of their group, Chard Davies, proceeds to fire a few rounds at a stone idol, causing it to shatter. They return to their convoy and go to the farmhouse. While there, a series of bizarre events unfold. The squad travels to a nearby village to announce their presence, only to find it abandoned, with the only sign of inhabitants being a man lying dead and half buried in the sand. A sandstorm comes up and the group catches an unnamed Afghan woman running in, seeking shelter. Unable to speak her language they are unable to understand what she is saying, though dubious to her arrival, they keep her in case there are more. During the following days, tension begins to mount in the group. Staff Sergeant Howston is unable to reach any of their allies by radio; when Wilcox attempts to, he hears a strange distress call stating that their sergeant has gone AWOL. Howston cannot hear this call. Paranoia begins to get the better of them, when Howston receives word that they missed a car on the road which they cannot see, and their truck's ignition system is destroyed one night. Meanwhile, Howston and Wilcox are being haunted by gruesome images of people they had killed in the past. Wilcox goes missing, and the only witness seems to be team member Tino Hull, who sees another member, Jorge Wardell, giving off a terrifying roar before him. That night, Wilcox's dead body is found with his eyes removed and his face in a frozen expression of terror. After a series of vivid and bizarre dreams Hull grabs another member, Trevor Anderson, and holds him at gunpoint as he accuses Wardell of killing Wilcox. Hull opens fire on Wardell and Davies is forced to retaliate, killing Hull. Howston orders them to take the bodies outside, and the next morning, the group is shocked to find that they are missing. Howston, slowly losing his grip on his sanity, orders Keller and Anderson to keep guard outside while he himself watches to make sure nothing else goes missing. While they are gone, Davies attempts to rape the Afghan girl, and in a heated moment calls Howston a "fucking nigger", prompting Howston to hit him. In anger, Davies attempts to attack Howston, and Howston finally cracks, killing Davies and ordering Anderson and Keller to stash his body outside. Afterwards, Howston goes missing, as does the girl while the remaining two attempt to make radio contact. Keller realizes that the voice he heard on the radio was that of Anderson, when he makes the same radio call he had heard days prior.

Cast Shane West as SPC Jeff Keller Leonard Roberts as SSG Marcus Howston Aldis Hodge as PFC Trevor Anderson Callum Blue as PFC Gregory Wilcox Brendan Miller as PFC Chard Davies Theo Rossi as PFC Tino Hull Noel Gugliemi as PFC Jorge Wardell (as Noel G) Mercedes Masöhn as Afghan Woman J.K. Simmons as LTC Arson Govinda>