On the carcass menu today, it's RED SANDS (2009), a new horror movie from director Alex Turner that takes place in the desert of Afghanistan.

I gotta tell you, as soon as I found out that RED SANDS was my carcass pick for this month, I was psyched, almost as psyched as pulling away that succulent piece of meat from the carcass and chomping down--- what? That's turkey carcass, okaaay? Jeeesh! Anyway, I was psyched because a horror film about American soldiers in the desert of Afghanistan promised something more refreshing than the standard horror fare we see so often today. You know, the usual stuff, stories about violent psychotic killers or the recent ubiquitous ghost stories, most of which involve teenage girls with deceased mothers.

So, just by its initial setting alone, RED SANDS had something more going for it, an edge that made me purdy darned curious to check it out. I looked forward to finding out what this horror flick was all about. I didn't have to wait long.

RED SANDS explains its menace immediately, even before the opening credits roll as the word "Djinn" appears on screen followed by an explanation of what it means. Djinn, it turns out, are creatures from pre-Islamic mythology created by God before all other life. They are made from smokeless fire and are able to change shape at will. They hate humans. Most have left the mortal world, but some have not.

So, right off the bat we know what the soldiers in this movie will be facing. This immediate explanation worked for me, because it piqued my interest and had me looking forward to what was about to happen.

In RED SANDS, a unit of U.S. soldiers is assigned the mission of investigating a desert road that is reportedly being used by Al-Qaeda terrorists. Their mission is to observe the Al-Qaeda activity in the area and engage if necessary. Before they reach their destination, they stumble upon some strange ruins which include a mysterious giant statue. One of the soldiers shoots at the statue for fun, and as a result, the statue crumbles to the ground. What the soldiers don't realize is by destroying the statue, they have awakened the Djinn.

Soon after they set up camp, the soldiers are surprised by an unexpected visitor, an Afghan woman who doesn't speak or understand English. Shortly after her arrival, strange things begin to happen. Soldiers begin experiencing bizarre dreams. They see strange images, such as soldiers they know are dead, and they hear weird messages over the radio. In short, all kinds of creepy stuff starts happening, until one by one, the soldiers start dying.

RED SANDS is one freaky movie, chock full of creepy images. It's the kind of movie best watched late at night with the lights out. There are enough disturbing images to really play with your head. Images of soldiers with massive head wounds, beautiful women who suddenly change into monstrous demons, along with those images of war that naturally disturb, such as the death of innocent children. And a lot of these images are flashed across the screen with lightning like speed, and the result is often jarring.

Director Alex Turner also does a terrific job playing with light and darkness. There are a lot of scenes that take place in darkness, not pitch black darkness, but the shadowy kind where you can just see enough to know that something's not right, but you can't quite make things out completely. A soldier walks into a low lit room, and he shines a light across the room over the face of a previously unseen woman. He brings the light back to her, sees her again, and then enters the darkness surrounding her, disappearing with her into the blackness. Creepy stuff.

Even though this movie is about a supernatural creature, don't expect it to be "Alien in the desert." Don't expect battle scenes between soldiers and monsters. RED SANDS is not that type of movie. The supernatural creature here attacks the humans through dreams and other psychological means. To that end, the movie really succeeds as a scary psychological vehicle.

It's Rated R so there's some gore, but the movie doesn't go overboard by any means, nor does it wimp out either.

It also has a neat music score by Luke Rothschild and String Theory, a nice mix of electronic sounds and traditional horror movie music. The score adds to the psychological terrors of the film by hitting unconventional notes at some key times.

The film certainly has its drawbacks. One of them is the lack of a central character. While the acting is all fine, there isn't one main character who stands out above the rest. This is less the fault of the acting than of the writing by Simon Barrett, who wrote the screenplay. The characters aren't really fleshed out at all. That being said, the one memorable performance is by J.K. Simmons (SPIDERMAN 1, 2, & 3) as Lt. Col. Arson, and his role is essentially a cameo, as he only appears for a few brief minutes.

And as much as I enjoyed the creepy plot, as it moves along, it quickly becomes predictable in terms of guessing how the story will end, especially considering it's told in flashback. I had the ending figured out long before the final scene, and if you??(TM)ve seen enough horror movies, no doubt you will too. It's not an original concept.

Visually the movie is unimpressive, which might come as a surprise considering that it takes place in the deserts of Afghanistan. There's nothing really to distinguish it visually from other horror movies. There's no stunning photography of the Afghan desert, for example. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say the desert scenes were all done digitally. Yep, CGI strikes again! The movie definitely sports that artificial "cartoony" look to its desert scenes.

The good news is this doesn't really hurt the movie all that much. It's not a sweeping epic, after all. It's a horror tale about a supernatural creature, and so the fine work done in the shadowy darkness by director Turner more than makes up for the visual ho hum status quo of the bright daylight scenes in the movie.

RED SANDS is a neat little horror film, immediately engrossing by its setting alone, and then by its quick revelation of its menace. Best yet, the story which follows, in spite of its predictability, does not disappoint. It's an edgy, hard hitting psychological supernatural thriller that will succeed in making you just a wee bit uncomfortable, even in the comfort of your own home.

RED SANDS is available on DVD right now. It's worth a look, as long as you don't mind cheap looking deserts.


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