I watched it from beginning to end.I didn't have high expectations of the movie but the acting was good.No cardboard wooden acting.Its definitely NOT the worst movie of 2015.Talk about hyperbole.A group of young adults are trapped on a beach where something deadly has spawned overnight in the sand..There is some gore,not a lot.Its positively funny at times not because of cheese factor but because of some of the characters.Think Cabin Fever.The plot is thin but I watched it just to see who would survive.It tries to be more intelligent than it is but at the same time if you have a sense of humor..it makes light of itself at the right times too.I laughed out loud at a couple scenes.I really enjoyed The Sand,although it fails to be The Ruins or Don't Blink.If you like those movies you'll enjoy The Sand.Five stars for an enjoyable viewing experience.
110 Reviews
Really guys?
nelvist25 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
OK. I never post on this site but the I read the reviews and almost decided not to watch the movie.. But said screw it. And because of that I'll say this.. In fact I felt so strongly about it I registered to IMDb.
The hyper-negative reviews were either from an opposing production company or one person who hates this company and was wired to slay them.
this is a B movie. Don't expect Star Wars. I'll tell you all the flaws with the movie..
the movie proceeds slowly. Think Tremors except that the monster can't reach you unless the plot needs it to.
the monster's abilities change.. Drastically. Sometimes you can hold your hand out and it can't reach you at 4 inches away. Sometimes its passive tentacles can reach 3 feet to deliver heinous toxins. Sometimes it can't detect you at all if you don't touch the sand. Sometimes it can grab an object with enough precision to open the door handle of a car. Sometimes it can't eat through a shoe sole. Sometimes it can flatten a tire. Sometimes it can punch through steel. They could have thought it out a little better.
Empty cup syndrome. For HEAVEN'S SAKE PUT WATER IN THE CUP! No actor seems to be good enough to fake realistic drinking from an empty cup!
the sand consumption effects were inconsistent. Sometimes it left a mark in the sand. Sometimes it melted someone. Sometimes the sand was unchanged. I realize they wanted variety. I'd have gone a bit more gory and spent 1000 dollars on actual sand moving effects.
And by far the worst part.. By FAAAR.. the actors all had some sort of short term memory loss. Two friends die at once but for twenty minutes they only recall one of them. The second to die no less.. Half the movie is spent telling one guy how much he is loved but he dies RIGHT NEXT TO THEM and they never even check if he's alive, ever, not even in passing or vaguely before bolting, nonchalantly and slowly, for safety. No call for help. Nothing. Don't even bother to glance in his direction. That's some love.
The CG could have used a little work but none of it was ever transparent unless you are extremely bored and somewhat masochistic and watch the movie in slow motion. I have no idea why anyone would do that yet people clearly did.
All in all, it was a decent B Movie that could have moved a little faster or at least shown more boobs. I actually enjoyed it. It would have been better with twice as many survivors to die and a bit more work on the science of what the monster could and couldn't do and maybe a week or two more work on the CG.. with some research on jellyfish and tentacles.
The hyper-negative reviews were either from an opposing production company or one person who hates this company and was wired to slay them.
this is a B movie. Don't expect Star Wars. I'll tell you all the flaws with the movie..
the movie proceeds slowly. Think Tremors except that the monster can't reach you unless the plot needs it to.
the monster's abilities change.. Drastically. Sometimes you can hold your hand out and it can't reach you at 4 inches away. Sometimes its passive tentacles can reach 3 feet to deliver heinous toxins. Sometimes it can't detect you at all if you don't touch the sand. Sometimes it can grab an object with enough precision to open the door handle of a car. Sometimes it can't eat through a shoe sole. Sometimes it can flatten a tire. Sometimes it can punch through steel. They could have thought it out a little better.
Empty cup syndrome. For HEAVEN'S SAKE PUT WATER IN THE CUP! No actor seems to be good enough to fake realistic drinking from an empty cup!
the sand consumption effects were inconsistent. Sometimes it left a mark in the sand. Sometimes it melted someone. Sometimes the sand was unchanged. I realize they wanted variety. I'd have gone a bit more gory and spent 1000 dollars on actual sand moving effects.
And by far the worst part.. By FAAAR.. the actors all had some sort of short term memory loss. Two friends die at once but for twenty minutes they only recall one of them. The second to die no less.. Half the movie is spent telling one guy how much he is loved but he dies RIGHT NEXT TO THEM and they never even check if he's alive, ever, not even in passing or vaguely before bolting, nonchalantly and slowly, for safety. No call for help. Nothing. Don't even bother to glance in his direction. That's some love.
The CG could have used a little work but none of it was ever transparent unless you are extremely bored and somewhat masochistic and watch the movie in slow motion. I have no idea why anyone would do that yet people clearly did.
All in all, it was a decent B Movie that could have moved a little faster or at least shown more boobs. I actually enjoyed it. It would have been better with twice as many survivors to die and a bit more work on the science of what the monster could and couldn't do and maybe a week or two more work on the CG.. with some research on jellyfish and tentacles.
Take it With a Grain of Salt
shawnblackman20 October 2015
A whole bunch of students get together for big beach party where they have to turn in their phones for a Vegas rules party. They don't want anybody recording something they shouldn't plus this gives the writer the opportunity to explain why they won't have their phones later on. You see where kids drag over a hideous pod type thing they find in the water. The morning after the party people wake up to realize everyone who was on the sand is gone. The first movie I thought of when watching this was Blood Beach(1980) which is similar with a hint of Sand Sharks(2011). This one entertains though. The plot may seem ridiculous but you are on the edge of your seat hoping they don't touch the sand because if any part of your body touches the sand the creature has you. This is where the CGI effects kicked in which sucked but the tension made up for the cheesy computer blood. People would have wondered what's going on watching them film this because seeing them trying different ways to cross the sand without touching it was funny like using surfboards and inflatable rafts plus the sand would suck them in after chewing for a bit. I mean we see the CGI and spectators wouldn't. You will enjoy this guilty pleasure but be warned it goes from tense moment to tense moment and try not to let to logic get in the way. 4/10.
Sun, beach and tentacles...
paul_haakonsen22 June 2017
Granted, this movie had score a relatively low rating here on IMDb, and I probably should take heed of that. But there was just something about the movie's cover with the tentacle that was alluring and interesting, and that made me actually sit down to watch this 2015 horror movie.
Naturally I didn't have much of any expectations to the movie, because I had never heard about it prior to actually finding the movie.
With this being your typical late-teen / young adult horror movie, then you can expect pointless and tacky nudity, which totally doesn't serve the movie in any way.
"The Sand" (aka "Killer Beach") actually starts out well enough and doesn't waste any time in establishing a backstory or such. So there is action from almost the very beginning of the movie. And there was no need to establish that, because you don't need to be particularly attached to the characters in the movie for it to work properly.
The special effects and CGI in the movie were serving their purposes well enough, although you can clearly see that it is computer animated. Some of the CGI was actually downright laughable to witness. But still, it does look adequate enough, and it is much better than the special effects in many other horror movies.
They actually had some fair acting talents in the movie. And I must admit that I wasn't familiar with anyone in the movie aside from Jamie Kennedy. Now, I can't claim to be a fan of Jamie Kennedy in any way, but he was actually cut out for this particular character. It should be said that people in the movie were actually doing good jobs with their given roles and characters.
Writers Alex Greenfield and Ben Powell actually came up with an interesting concept for the plot and script. And I will say that the storyline was original, so that was a nice and fresh approach.
The most disappointing aspect to the movie, aside from the questionable CGI effects, was that you had to wait almost to the very end of the movie before tentacles started to emerge from the sand. Up to that point it was small wriggling tendrils that emerged from the sand. I had expected more tentacle action from the movie, especially given the movie's cover. However, I will say that the fluorescent tentacle was really worth the wait, because that was cool and looked good.
The atmosphere of the movie was good, and there was a real sense of dread and endangerment to the young people marooned on the beach.
All in all, then I actually found "The Sand" to be an adequately entertaining movie, though it is hardly the type of movie that you will watch more than a single time - provided that you actually manage to sit through it the first time. My rating for "The Sand" is a mediocre five stars out of ten.
Naturally I didn't have much of any expectations to the movie, because I had never heard about it prior to actually finding the movie.
With this being your typical late-teen / young adult horror movie, then you can expect pointless and tacky nudity, which totally doesn't serve the movie in any way.
"The Sand" (aka "Killer Beach") actually starts out well enough and doesn't waste any time in establishing a backstory or such. So there is action from almost the very beginning of the movie. And there was no need to establish that, because you don't need to be particularly attached to the characters in the movie for it to work properly.
The special effects and CGI in the movie were serving their purposes well enough, although you can clearly see that it is computer animated. Some of the CGI was actually downright laughable to witness. But still, it does look adequate enough, and it is much better than the special effects in many other horror movies.
They actually had some fair acting talents in the movie. And I must admit that I wasn't familiar with anyone in the movie aside from Jamie Kennedy. Now, I can't claim to be a fan of Jamie Kennedy in any way, but he was actually cut out for this particular character. It should be said that people in the movie were actually doing good jobs with their given roles and characters.
Writers Alex Greenfield and Ben Powell actually came up with an interesting concept for the plot and script. And I will say that the storyline was original, so that was a nice and fresh approach.
The most disappointing aspect to the movie, aside from the questionable CGI effects, was that you had to wait almost to the very end of the movie before tentacles started to emerge from the sand. Up to that point it was small wriggling tendrils that emerged from the sand. I had expected more tentacle action from the movie, especially given the movie's cover. However, I will say that the fluorescent tentacle was really worth the wait, because that was cool and looked good.
The atmosphere of the movie was good, and there was a real sense of dread and endangerment to the young people marooned on the beach.
All in all, then I actually found "The Sand" to be an adequately entertaining movie, though it is hardly the type of movie that you will watch more than a single time - provided that you actually manage to sit through it the first time. My rating for "The Sand" is a mediocre five stars out of ten.
Majorly flawed but still fun monster-in-the-sand effort
Leofwine_draca1 September 2016
THE SAND is, in essence, a film version of that 'floor is lava' game you used to play as a kid (you know, where you and your friends - or just you if you had no friends) weren't allowed to touch the floor because you'd die, so you had to clamber over furniture and jump a lot. Man, I used to love that game. Anyway, this cheapie has the same premise. A bunch of uninteresting characters are trapped on a beach with a killer creature in the sand. A bench, a lifeguard hut, a trash bin, and an open-top car are the only refuge. This single location movie sees them trying to figure out a way to escape without being eaten by a tentacled nasty.
This film's connections with the 1980s monster movie BLOOD BEACH are numerous, although it's much lower key and smaller scale, unsurprising given the lack of budget. Despite being a majorly flawed film, I still enjoyed it as I've always enjoyed similar single location movies. The acting is pretty bad and the CGI effects are really terrible (worse even than in an Asylum film) but THE SAND offers mild suspense all the way through and you can certainly do a lot worse.
This film's connections with the 1980s monster movie BLOOD BEACH are numerous, although it's much lower key and smaller scale, unsurprising given the lack of budget. Despite being a majorly flawed film, I still enjoyed it as I've always enjoyed similar single location movies. The acting is pretty bad and the CGI effects are really terrible (worse even than in an Asylum film) but THE SAND offers mild suspense all the way through and you can certainly do a lot worse.
Something Is in the Sand
dcarsonhagy23 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Worst movie of 2015? No, and it is not even close to being the worst. If you watch the trailer, you should know what you're going to get in this movie.
Yet another all night graduation beach party complete with boobs, giggles, hooking-up, binge drinking, and stuffing someone into a trash container, "The Sand" doesn't offer anything most of us have not seen before. It is once the heathens awaken the fun starts. You see it seems something is now under/in the sand...and it's VERY hungry. It does not take the teens long to realize that if they step foot in the sand, they are going to be up to their eyeballs in s*it.
Other reviewers have said the editing could have been better. Actually, I thought the editing was okay. This is not Fellini people, so ease up. For this type of genre, I thought "The Sand" played well above most of the other independent pieces of crap that usually permeate the horror industry.
Rated "R" for nudity, language, and violence, "The Sand" isn't near as bad as what people would have you believe. It isn't great, but all of us have seen way worse.
Yet another all night graduation beach party complete with boobs, giggles, hooking-up, binge drinking, and stuffing someone into a trash container, "The Sand" doesn't offer anything most of us have not seen before. It is once the heathens awaken the fun starts. You see it seems something is now under/in the sand...and it's VERY hungry. It does not take the teens long to realize that if they step foot in the sand, they are going to be up to their eyeballs in s*it.
Other reviewers have said the editing could have been better. Actually, I thought the editing was okay. This is not Fellini people, so ease up. For this type of genre, I thought "The Sand" played well above most of the other independent pieces of crap that usually permeate the horror industry.
Rated "R" for nudity, language, and violence, "The Sand" isn't near as bad as what people would have you believe. It isn't great, but all of us have seen way worse.
Hands Down....Worst Movie of 2015!!!!!!
arfdawg-118 October 2015
The Plot After an all-night graduation beach party, a group of hung-over twenty-somethings awake to a beating sun, and a seemingly carnivorous beach that devours anything with a heartbeat that touches the sand.
OMG! First of all the only other review on this site is guy who give this 5 stars and he says in the review that he hasn't even seen the film!!!!
WHAT?
This film is trash and not in a good way. It sucks. The acting is horrible. But besides that the plot is completely idiotic. Nothing makes sense and it's just horrible.
And then we have the special effects -- or should I say lack of special effects. There is essentially NO special effects. And what there is looks like those first generation effects you see on DVD extras when they show you how horrible the effects look before they fix them up. You can actually see through what is supposed to be solid!!! It's the worst movie I have see in a decade.
OMG! First of all the only other review on this site is guy who give this 5 stars and he says in the review that he hasn't even seen the film!!!!
WHAT?
This film is trash and not in a good way. It sucks. The acting is horrible. But besides that the plot is completely idiotic. Nothing makes sense and it's just horrible.
And then we have the special effects -- or should I say lack of special effects. There is essentially NO special effects. And what there is looks like those first generation effects you see on DVD extras when they show you how horrible the effects look before they fix them up. You can actually see through what is supposed to be solid!!! It's the worst movie I have see in a decade.
A collection of stupid people
francisco-zotto2 October 2021
Not that bad....
trans_mauro1 June 2016
Take "The Sand" for what it is. And if you do that, it is a fun little flick.
It is a B movie with minimal budget, minimal special effects, filmed in one location and with a cast of unknowns and still it has an interesting premise.
I see it as a homage to the 50's man-in-a-rubber-suit monster film. And it works very well in this respect. The difference being that instead of a monsters something weird is crawling under the sand.
It is a little bit longer that it should be, some of the characters are annoying, but still it is worth a rental
It is a B movie with minimal budget, minimal special effects, filmed in one location and with a cast of unknowns and still it has an interesting premise.
I see it as a homage to the 50's man-in-a-rubber-suit monster film. And it works very well in this respect. The difference being that instead of a monsters something weird is crawling under the sand.
It is a little bit longer that it should be, some of the characters are annoying, but still it is worth a rental
This film lacks on a whole new level.
InDyingArms24 October 2015
A party on the beach takes a whole new turn when these two teens find an egg. The next day, it apparently hatches, and takes over the sand, devouring anybody who comes into contact with the sand. The plot was intriguing if it was SyFy TV movie standards, however it is not. I felt is if this was one of those plots that could've been much better, but when given, we get utter crap. The execution of this entire plot felt lazy, and slower than it really could've been. The characters we are given to follow through this entire movie were just annoying. The film tries passing them off as smart, or perhaps quick thinking, but in this case make them seem even more clichéd, and low-minded than usual. I don't mean to sound rude, but come on. The film passes them off as clichéd characters who try burning off movie runtime by bickering about the typical "You slept with my boyfriend" gimmick, usually seem in these horror films. With the characters, as if the clichéd, overly common characters weren't enough, try taking the horrible acting, and dialog why not? The acting in this movie isn't even comically bad, it literally stands as just flat out bad. The dialog is atrocious, once again, the film attempts to make these characters supposed hero's, but instead make them seem stupid, and even more clichéd as usual. The given dialog, at points, seems so horribly stupid, and at points even angering. The decisions in this film, as well, are dreadful! There were so many things these characters could of done to make this film make so much sense! But no, they took the wrong turns, pretty much at all the supposed right times. They make the stupidest decisions, when it's unbelievably obvious at points. Finally for the SyFy vibed' part of the film. The CGI. This film has CGI that seems better off as SyFy, TV movie material. There's parts where it looked like unfinished, horribly placed CGI tentacles, as well as gore, and blood. They were horribly placed at times, other times looked unfinished, and fake, overall, just not a very good attempt at CGI. At all.
In conclusion, why. This film took so many wrong turns, and lacked so much it's just hard to follow. The characters are annoying, clichéd, and executed with terrible acting. The CGI was literally like recycled SyFy material half the times, the film makes us sit through the characters making some of the stupidest decisions, in some of the most obvious of situations, leading to heavy disappointment, and even anger at some points. The dialog is just dreadful, and overall, this film tries passing up the typical teen - character - horror film clichés, which failed, and just lead to more disappointment. I wouldn't recommend this film unless you're into terrible films that, in fact, aren't so bad it's good .. but just plainly bad.
In conclusion, why. This film took so many wrong turns, and lacked so much it's just hard to follow. The characters are annoying, clichéd, and executed with terrible acting. The CGI was literally like recycled SyFy material half the times, the film makes us sit through the characters making some of the stupidest decisions, in some of the most obvious of situations, leading to heavy disappointment, and even anger at some points. The dialog is just dreadful, and overall, this film tries passing up the typical teen - character - horror film clichés, which failed, and just lead to more disappointment. I wouldn't recommend this film unless you're into terrible films that, in fact, aren't so bad it's good .. but just plainly bad.
Definitely watchable
Universaliva5 May 2019
Not as bad as the reviews make out
neil-4768 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A group of college kids wake up hung over after a beach barbecue only to discover that if flesh touches the sand, the beach eats it (and the rest of what is connected to it) Who will escape and how? This is a very low budget film made with a cast of unknowns in a single location and, given those limitations, it is done quite well. For instance, a lot of camera-work is low angle which serves two purposes: it gives a "sand-eye" view, and avoids background detail and any continuity or other issues which might otherwise have resulted.
The young cast are attractive and do well enough.
Tension is maintained fairly well throughout.
The CGI - mainly blood and monster filaments/tentacles - is poor. And the resolution is lacking. But it's an OK time-passer.
The young cast are attractive and do well enough.
Tension is maintained fairly well throughout.
The CGI - mainly blood and monster filaments/tentacles - is poor. And the resolution is lacking. But it's an OK time-passer.
Characters discuss relationship problems, just minutes after they discover they are in mortal danger.
fedor87 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A sort of beach version of "Tremors". It starts off interestingly - and gets down to business fairly quickly: no dragging out. However, after the first 10 or so minutes the plot slows down drastically. Horror movies usually start slow, then speed up. We have the opposite here.
Then the nonsense starts too.
Easily the most idiotic moment is the surfboards scene; midway toward escape and freedom Jonah actually stops. To do what? To discuss relationship stuff with his ex and her new fling. Distracted by his own sudden amnesia (because he somehow forgot they were surrounded by a subterranean monster and that half his friends are dead), he makes an inexplicable ultra-klutzy move which has him falling down and getting infected. Duh. If the movie wanted to tell us it wants to be stupid, it succeeded.
Unfortunately, this absurd relationship drama occurs several more times. These clown amateur horror writers need to finally understand that while in survival mode nobody gives a sheet about relationships nor does anybody want to discuss anything that isn't directly related to survival: food, water, shelter, weapons and defense. Sex, petty jealousies and relationship drivel are relegated to the status of utter irrelevance. Bloody obvious.
The surfboard strategy should EASILY have evacuated all the "teens" from the danger zone. But hey: the writer needed to pad this out, so no go. They're still stuck.
Couldn't they just start running? An efficient sprint would have done the trick. The tentacles weren't instant, there was a brief delay which would have given even a jogger enough time to scamper away.
Then a cop comes - and suddenly it's a comedy. OK, not that suddenly: the fat black guy is sort of the resident comic relief character from the start. Nevertheless, the first half is not a comedy. The cop predictably gets killed, but not before performing a comedy routine. The "shoes are protecting him" shtick is far-fetched, considering that the tentacles are powerful enough to bring down a car. This is absurd.
I mean I know these are just Spring Break morons, but even this inferior species could have figured out that once in the cop car they could simply call HQ over the radio.
Speaking of which, why are there no cops searching for the missing dead cop? The vehicle is in plain sight, surely it should have been spotted. Dumb writing.
Even dumber is Blondie punching the black girl "for screwing with Jonah". Another slapstick moment at the most inopportune moment. Not funny, just dumb.
Aside from all the idiocy, essentially TS drags too much, that's the major flaw hampering it, completely killing the tension. TS is too static, too repetitive, hence gets rather tedious in the 2nd half. The other problem is the shoddy script with its lame dialogue and a schizophrenic genre mix-up that can't quite define itself: comedy or not? It should have been either an all-out goofy comedy or completely devoid of buffoonery. This "middle ground" approach is strictly amateur-hour level.
As it is, TS is a typical dilettante mess. A low budget is all well and fine (as an excuse) but you don't need money to write a decent or at least usable script.
Then the nonsense starts too.
Easily the most idiotic moment is the surfboards scene; midway toward escape and freedom Jonah actually stops. To do what? To discuss relationship stuff with his ex and her new fling. Distracted by his own sudden amnesia (because he somehow forgot they were surrounded by a subterranean monster and that half his friends are dead), he makes an inexplicable ultra-klutzy move which has him falling down and getting infected. Duh. If the movie wanted to tell us it wants to be stupid, it succeeded.
Unfortunately, this absurd relationship drama occurs several more times. These clown amateur horror writers need to finally understand that while in survival mode nobody gives a sheet about relationships nor does anybody want to discuss anything that isn't directly related to survival: food, water, shelter, weapons and defense. Sex, petty jealousies and relationship drivel are relegated to the status of utter irrelevance. Bloody obvious.
The surfboard strategy should EASILY have evacuated all the "teens" from the danger zone. But hey: the writer needed to pad this out, so no go. They're still stuck.
Couldn't they just start running? An efficient sprint would have done the trick. The tentacles weren't instant, there was a brief delay which would have given even a jogger enough time to scamper away.
Then a cop comes - and suddenly it's a comedy. OK, not that suddenly: the fat black guy is sort of the resident comic relief character from the start. Nevertheless, the first half is not a comedy. The cop predictably gets killed, but not before performing a comedy routine. The "shoes are protecting him" shtick is far-fetched, considering that the tentacles are powerful enough to bring down a car. This is absurd.
I mean I know these are just Spring Break morons, but even this inferior species could have figured out that once in the cop car they could simply call HQ over the radio.
Speaking of which, why are there no cops searching for the missing dead cop? The vehicle is in plain sight, surely it should have been spotted. Dumb writing.
Even dumber is Blondie punching the black girl "for screwing with Jonah". Another slapstick moment at the most inopportune moment. Not funny, just dumb.
Aside from all the idiocy, essentially TS drags too much, that's the major flaw hampering it, completely killing the tension. TS is too static, too repetitive, hence gets rather tedious in the 2nd half. The other problem is the shoddy script with its lame dialogue and a schizophrenic genre mix-up that can't quite define itself: comedy or not? It should have been either an all-out goofy comedy or completely devoid of buffoonery. This "middle ground" approach is strictly amateur-hour level.
As it is, TS is a typical dilettante mess. A low budget is all well and fine (as an excuse) but you don't need money to write a decent or at least usable script.
SBiG, should have been the short
alucardvenom27 December 2015
Let's make no mistake, I didn't expect movie with the title "The Sand" to be masterpiece, just a rather cheap dumb horror movie.
And "The Sand" is exactly like that. I did like the premise of "something is in the sand", because it reminded me of those 50s horror-SF movies, even the premise is hard to take seriously. (but hey, that's why so many of us love these movies).
"The Sand" isn't a masterpiece of course, nor is it a good horror movie, but it offers some level of entertainment. The main premise is more or less one you saw in "Blood Beach" or one of those segments of "Creepshow 2" where characters are stuck on raft. "The Sand" plays the same: characters are stuck while the sand around them literally tries to devour them, or at least something that's in the sand.
Acting is sorta descent for this type of movie. I am unfamiliar with actors, but considering what the premise has and some of the stupid dialogue they had to say, it's a miracle how much they are selling the impossible situation they are stuck in. Speaking of characters, there's nothing special, they are your usual horror cannon fodder, except the two characters: the fat black guy who's stuck in trash bin for the entire movie and the "oblivious to everything" cop. Of course, he dies too for being cop in a horror movie. Surprised?
My main complaint is use of CGI gore effects. Movie should have stick to practical effects, but instead we get some obvious terrible CGI gore. Note to any filmmaker there who wants to make monster movie (because this is essentially one): Do practical FX and show the monster. No matter how cheap or bad looking it is, everyone's come to see it and the worst thing is if you grace us with CGI and no monster. No matter how bad practical FX and makeup might look, you'll get points from monster movie lovers for having courage to show and push it in front of us. It's sole reason why we come to see those monster movies.
And other major complaint is that, much like "Zombievers" this one runs out of steam around the half. One running joke. If it was 30-40 minute short movie, it would have been a much better movie.
And "The Sand" is exactly like that. I did like the premise of "something is in the sand", because it reminded me of those 50s horror-SF movies, even the premise is hard to take seriously. (but hey, that's why so many of us love these movies).
"The Sand" isn't a masterpiece of course, nor is it a good horror movie, but it offers some level of entertainment. The main premise is more or less one you saw in "Blood Beach" or one of those segments of "Creepshow 2" where characters are stuck on raft. "The Sand" plays the same: characters are stuck while the sand around them literally tries to devour them, or at least something that's in the sand.
Acting is sorta descent for this type of movie. I am unfamiliar with actors, but considering what the premise has and some of the stupid dialogue they had to say, it's a miracle how much they are selling the impossible situation they are stuck in. Speaking of characters, there's nothing special, they are your usual horror cannon fodder, except the two characters: the fat black guy who's stuck in trash bin for the entire movie and the "oblivious to everything" cop. Of course, he dies too for being cop in a horror movie. Surprised?
My main complaint is use of CGI gore effects. Movie should have stick to practical effects, but instead we get some obvious terrible CGI gore. Note to any filmmaker there who wants to make monster movie (because this is essentially one): Do practical FX and show the monster. No matter how cheap or bad looking it is, everyone's come to see it and the worst thing is if you grace us with CGI and no monster. No matter how bad practical FX and makeup might look, you'll get points from monster movie lovers for having courage to show and push it in front of us. It's sole reason why we come to see those monster movies.
And other major complaint is that, much like "Zombievers" this one runs out of steam around the half. One running joke. If it was 30-40 minute short movie, it would have been a much better movie.
A really bad day at the beach
jackmeat20 October 2015
My quick rating 1,8/10. WOW!!! What did I just watch? Was this a training video on how to take an absolutely horrid idea for a movie, hand it over to a screenwriter and watch the bad idea get even worse? This seems to be a tutorial in everything not to do in movies. The acting is beyond horrible. Even if these people were being themselves (calling the blondes, blonde is a compliment) it was like they were "acting" like themselves. Every dumb thing they would say in real life they just overacted in the movie. Hard concept to explain how bad it was. When it comes down to special effects and you only have 5 bucks left to spend, buy a super value meal at mcdonalds and sit at your computer for the time it takes to eat it with a software program downloaded for such purpose ad read the FAQs. After that hour you WILL be able to do better then they did in this movie. Heck, a couple times you could see through the person when being transparent had nothing to do with it. It was unintentionally laughable. Plot, touch the sand, it eats you and not in the fun, campy way that it did in "Blood Beach". My apology to that movie, at least it was funny and b-budget fun. I am giving this movie way too much thought time, so I am done. Don't See this.
Not the worst movie but editing would have helped
slaine-5206420 October 2015
Brook butler is no Scarlett Johansson but having her in any film gives it an automatic extra 2 stars for me. That being said the film could use some serious editing and did they ever drop the ball with buddy in the can. That had the potential for comedic genius material of the year award. We do the best we can with limited budgets and some scenes with missing body parts were not that bad. Over the top, like can anybody that stupid, and why r u not running the other way when your buddy so considerately sacrificed his life for u. These r the reasons we watch these b-movies in the first place. Really we have all seen way worse from full moon studios so quit your bitching. So unlike let us prey which started out as a masterpiece right from the opening credits then fell apart at the end, this movie is not the worst movie ever made, that honor belongs to mars attacks.
The Definition Of HORRIBLE!!...**Spoiler Alert**
exavier-229312 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Lets see if I can sum this up....
First of all, ENOUGH WITH THE DRUNK AND DRUGGED PARTY GOERS WHO END UP DYING MOVIES!!
From the very beginning you can tell where this movie is going with the video camera effect and with the usual plot of partiers that go heavy on the drugs and alcohol and end up dying one by one leaving one really, REALLY cheesy female heroine who thinks she has everything figured out, but always ends up making the movie worse. But then it drops the camera effect and sticks with the latter. At this point I'm not even sure what's worse. BOTH concepts are way over-used and played out at this point.
As the movie goes on, I promise you, you will find yourself actually CHEERING for whatever the hell is in the sand eating people because the actors are really that annoying. The fact that anybody survived was a huge disappointment.
Anyway, breaking the movie down....you have the dumb jock, his dumb ass girlfriend who he "cheated" on with the stereotypical token white-acting black girl that Brandy and Kelly Roland made famous in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and Jason Vs Freddy, respectively. You have the stoner (which in this case was airhead female as oppose to the airhead guy who always seems to be on his own island mentally). You have the female lead who plays the "hero", but only makes you want her dead just so you wouldn't have to hear her annoying ass screeching anymore. And then you have the black guy, who NORMALLY ends up dead first, but I guess in this case, instead of killing him first, they decided to completely kill whatever dignity he ever had and THEN kill him. Oh, and lets not forget the stuck-in-the-middle-dude, circa Cabin Fever.
So they all have a typical college drinking party at the beach. With no cellphones (stored in a bag and placed in the trunk of a car) they're all stuck where they stand since SOMETHING is under the sand eating whatever steps in it. That's it! That's the whole movie. One by one they get eaten leaving only the dumb jock, his girlfriend, and the chick he "cheated" on her with.
I'm going to assume that at the end of this crap fest that the jock died, because he was just sitting there with his eyes wide open and the girls walked away unharmed since whatever was in the sand decided to leave that beach and head to another......PLEEEAASSEE DON'T MAKE A SEQUEL TO THIS GARBAGE!!!!!!!
I only gave this thing a 1 because I couldn't give it a 0. I'd skip this one if I were you. If not for the terrible acting and plot, then definitely for all the damn way over-exaggerated screeching (I can't even call it screaming) coming from ALL ACTORS, not just the females.
First of all, ENOUGH WITH THE DRUNK AND DRUGGED PARTY GOERS WHO END UP DYING MOVIES!!
From the very beginning you can tell where this movie is going with the video camera effect and with the usual plot of partiers that go heavy on the drugs and alcohol and end up dying one by one leaving one really, REALLY cheesy female heroine who thinks she has everything figured out, but always ends up making the movie worse. But then it drops the camera effect and sticks with the latter. At this point I'm not even sure what's worse. BOTH concepts are way over-used and played out at this point.
As the movie goes on, I promise you, you will find yourself actually CHEERING for whatever the hell is in the sand eating people because the actors are really that annoying. The fact that anybody survived was a huge disappointment.
Anyway, breaking the movie down....you have the dumb jock, his dumb ass girlfriend who he "cheated" on with the stereotypical token white-acting black girl that Brandy and Kelly Roland made famous in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and Jason Vs Freddy, respectively. You have the stoner (which in this case was airhead female as oppose to the airhead guy who always seems to be on his own island mentally). You have the female lead who plays the "hero", but only makes you want her dead just so you wouldn't have to hear her annoying ass screeching anymore. And then you have the black guy, who NORMALLY ends up dead first, but I guess in this case, instead of killing him first, they decided to completely kill whatever dignity he ever had and THEN kill him. Oh, and lets not forget the stuck-in-the-middle-dude, circa Cabin Fever.
So they all have a typical college drinking party at the beach. With no cellphones (stored in a bag and placed in the trunk of a car) they're all stuck where they stand since SOMETHING is under the sand eating whatever steps in it. That's it! That's the whole movie. One by one they get eaten leaving only the dumb jock, his girlfriend, and the chick he "cheated" on her with.
I'm going to assume that at the end of this crap fest that the jock died, because he was just sitting there with his eyes wide open and the girls walked away unharmed since whatever was in the sand decided to leave that beach and head to another......PLEEEAASSEE DON'T MAKE A SEQUEL TO THIS GARBAGE!!!!!!!
I only gave this thing a 1 because I couldn't give it a 0. I'd skip this one if I were you. If not for the terrible acting and plot, then definitely for all the damn way over-exaggerated screeching (I can't even call it screaming) coming from ALL ACTORS, not just the females.
It's alright
TdSmth59 August 2017
Some kids party at a beach. It is decided that for the sake of fun, all cell phones will be confiscated. Further into the night some kids find some large cocoon-type thing.
The next morning the beach is pretty empty except for one girl who's topless on a bench, two kids who are in lifeguard tower, three kids in a car and one guy is stuck in trash container.
When topless girl steps into the sand, filaments grow out of it and she's sucked into the sand. In some poor and bizarre editing/directing choice, at the very same time some other guy from the car is also attacked by the sand as he's trying to make his way out of the car. And in yet another terrible decision, neither the kids nor the editor/director care for the dying girl but go nuts over the guy.
For some there's no one else anywhere near the beach and they have no access to their cellphone. So the question is, how will the remaining kids get out of this situation, who will live and who will die? If you understand Hollywood politics, you know the answer to the second question. All that remains then is the how. And it's a long and slow process. The girl in the tower will be the leader and heroine, the poor guy with her has a thing for her so of course she treats him like trash. Occasionally they will come up with some idea but they sure take their time. It's near the end when finally there's some progress.
The Sand is then a low-budget horror thriller, with uneven performances, cheesy but not horrible CGI effects, a script with a good concepts but that runs out of ideas. Clearly the main limitation here is the budget. This movie deserved better. We needed a better director and editor, a larger cast, more scares, more gore, more nudity. The problem is that given the main idea and the low budget, the movie should have been more fun and campy instead it takes itself too seriously. It's an enjoyable movie for what it is and certainly better than what most here think.
The next morning the beach is pretty empty except for one girl who's topless on a bench, two kids who are in lifeguard tower, three kids in a car and one guy is stuck in trash container.
When topless girl steps into the sand, filaments grow out of it and she's sucked into the sand. In some poor and bizarre editing/directing choice, at the very same time some other guy from the car is also attacked by the sand as he's trying to make his way out of the car. And in yet another terrible decision, neither the kids nor the editor/director care for the dying girl but go nuts over the guy.
For some there's no one else anywhere near the beach and they have no access to their cellphone. So the question is, how will the remaining kids get out of this situation, who will live and who will die? If you understand Hollywood politics, you know the answer to the second question. All that remains then is the how. And it's a long and slow process. The girl in the tower will be the leader and heroine, the poor guy with her has a thing for her so of course she treats him like trash. Occasionally they will come up with some idea but they sure take their time. It's near the end when finally there's some progress.
The Sand is then a low-budget horror thriller, with uneven performances, cheesy but not horrible CGI effects, a script with a good concepts but that runs out of ideas. Clearly the main limitation here is the budget. This movie deserved better. We needed a better director and editor, a larger cast, more scares, more gore, more nudity. The problem is that given the main idea and the low budget, the movie should have been more fun and campy instead it takes itself too seriously. It's an enjoyable movie for what it is and certainly better than what most here think.
Unforgettable - not in a good way
one9eighty26 July 2017
The film is totally unforgettable, and not necessarily in a good way either. American collage kids celebrating graduation or spring break or something. After a night of sex, drugs and rock and roll... and a hell of a lot of alcohol, they awaken the next morning to a terror stalking them from the very sand that surrounds them. God awful acting with a terribly predictable script that goes nowhere, fails to state the obvious and totally misses the mark most of the time. The cgi is oh so cheap looking and would have been better using ceefax pages from the 80's/90's. I can only assume that this was made by kids for free rather than somebody funding and paying people to make this piece of ass, but unfortunately that's a sarcastic and unrealistic assumption. Seriously, make a video using your phone and then use freeware to edit at and do post-production, instantly you'll have made something better. I'm no stranger to B-movies, or C, D and Z-movies, I knew what to expect coming into this film but even still I was let down. I didn't enjoy this, unless it's used to torture me at some point I'd never watch this film again, if you want to do yourself a favour - avoid it.
its a good monster movie.
fluffset29 June 2016
I love to watch dead teenager movie, I dunno why but I think because its fun to watch. I never read any plot of the sand, I just watch it without nothing to expect and that's just my style. I love this movie! Its not really a good movie, its cliché but its still got the tension. This is a horror movie by the way so tension and suspense are really important here. I think I know why the rating is so low, its the same reason, people expecting too much and ended up frustrated. Its plot is not really idiot because its so hard to avoid the sand, so they also make us thinking so hard on how they can get out of this mess. They also make us care about some character and I'm sure some of us feel sad for some of the death. Then, this movie will be better if they got some more money for the cheap CGI. Only the CGI make this movie bad, other than that, the acting and everything is OK.
Once in a while, a low budget horror film is a wondrous find!
captaincameron1 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Once in a while, a low budget horror film will surprise you. The dialogue is exceptional, the lead characters fully developed, and the story line solid. This is not such a film. I always click the "contains spoilers" but do try to avoid revealing them very often. That said, if you read the plot summary and look at the stills, you know a lot about the movie already. Scantily-clad women--and a few guys, including Dean Geyer who is a handsome enough guy but always looks like he took Nyquil an hour ago--are stuck on a beach fighting an unknown evil. One pretty girl gets topless, but the whole pretty thing and topless thing loses its appeal when losing the fight against the unknown evil. Why the topless girl could not have survived, at least for while, and instead one of the girls who retained her top could have lost the fight, I don't know. It would not have changed the plot, and while there remained plenty of cleavage, it still would not have been unpleasant. The dialogue is amazing. I think the phrase "Look at me" was probably uttered just over seven hundred times. Or at least thirty, and none of them with one of the pretty people meaning "Hey, I'm pretty. Look at me." You could turn this into a drinking game. What happens at the end? I can't tell you. Not that I won't tell you, as I don't want to give it away. I can't. Nobody can. I would be willing to bet that the writer(s) have no idea either. But it's not actually that bad. If you see it in the discount DVD bin, save your money, but it shows up for free, give it a watch. Eye candy. Unknown evil. Fat man in a trash can. Basically, this is the Citizen Kane of its time.
I LOVE B MOVIES..!!
Mandy4237628 July 2018
My favorite movies are B horror movies. I've watched a lot of them. As long as the acting is tolerable and the plot is decent, I can look over a cheesy monster or being able to tell it had a low budget. This movie was really good for what it was. The effects were good. The acting was good. The only part of the movie I didn't enjoy was the life guard. He was so annoying and no one would act that way in real life. I definitely think this movie is worth watching. If I really enjoy a movie, I'll watch it numerous times after I find it. I've watched this one many times.
The kind of horror that's easy to watch and doesn't require thinking
myignisrules2 June 2016
Surprisingly entertaining and well acted, The Sand isn't hardcore horror. There isn't a load of blood and guts, but when I was about 9, I saw a movie like this one called Blood Beach. That stuff was traumatizing and this one, brought back nice memories of that scary movie. The actors are quite likable (most of them anyway), making it tough to watch them bite the dust and my biggest plus was the fact that they acted like REAL PEOPLE. They handled things the way I would've which made it easier to root for them. On the down side, the CGI sucked (there's not much of it though) and the story would veer into 90210 levels of drama at times (is now really the right time to talk about who banged who?)
The Sand is an easily digestible horror flick, short and fun to watch on a weekend if the genre mood strikes you.
The Sand is an easily digestible horror flick, short and fun to watch on a weekend if the genre mood strikes you.
Predictable and badly shot
Hayden-8605523 November 2020
A relatively short film (thankfully) with some very repetitive scenes and average acting. The only parts which worked well was when I was laughing at its ridiculousness, any attempt at an emotional scene was tragically bad.
I wouldn't say the film was outright boring, there was a fun scene with a lifeguard but it was a very poorly made film, not very technically good and there's a million better horror movies.
3/10: Avoid
I wouldn't say the film was outright boring, there was a fun scene with a lifeguard but it was a very poorly made film, not very technically good and there's a million better horror movies.
3/10: Avoid
Could be blood beach two
Aaron13755 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The film Blood Beach had a very good advertising campaign and looked like an interesting concept, but went in a strange direction. This film, too, had an interesting concept, but it too went in a bit of a wrong direction. Which is a shame as it had some potential, but too many inconsistencies and other factors make this film something that is not rare for a horror movie to be...a letdown. It happens to me a lot, a potentially cool horror comes along and it has a cool concept then just takes it in a direction that I just do not care for and I end up being disappointed.
The story has a party at the beach where no cell phones are allowed and lots of drinking and general spring break things are happening. Only, the next morning most of the crowd is gone and there are two people in a lifeguard station, four in a car, one on a picnic table and one poor dude stuck in a trashcan. Well, the girl on the picnic table gets off, only to find something is grabbing her. One of the guys in the car rushes out to save her, but he too succumbs to the sand! So the group figures there is some creature lurking under the sand and they find the edge where it can't get them, but getting there is going to take all their wits, but they spend a bit too much time discussing relationships...
The end of the movie reveals that the creature is basically a large jellyfish that hatched from an egg that the party goers are shown carrying onto the shore. I was disappointed by this reveal, and found it a bit much. A giant jellyfish film would be cool, but seriously, what jellyfish burrows in the sand? The inconsistencies are killer, this thing can bust tires, move stuff around, but a pair of shoes a beach patrolman is wearing stops it. How? It pulls people down, how do shoes stop it? Honestly, how I would have played it is tiny flesh eating organisms in the sand rather than one big monster that can pull a fat guy through a garbage can, but can't pierce a raft or gets stopped by shoes!
So the film had some cool moments and a couple of cool kills. That being said, there were just too many head scratching moments as a guy is making progress on surfboards then decides to be completely stupid and show what an idiot he is and apparently two girls just love him to death. Also, if I watch a person being stripped of his flesh and then pulled into the sand, I am not going to worried about anything else, but the problem at hand! Sheesh!
The story has a party at the beach where no cell phones are allowed and lots of drinking and general spring break things are happening. Only, the next morning most of the crowd is gone and there are two people in a lifeguard station, four in a car, one on a picnic table and one poor dude stuck in a trashcan. Well, the girl on the picnic table gets off, only to find something is grabbing her. One of the guys in the car rushes out to save her, but he too succumbs to the sand! So the group figures there is some creature lurking under the sand and they find the edge where it can't get them, but getting there is going to take all their wits, but they spend a bit too much time discussing relationships...
The end of the movie reveals that the creature is basically a large jellyfish that hatched from an egg that the party goers are shown carrying onto the shore. I was disappointed by this reveal, and found it a bit much. A giant jellyfish film would be cool, but seriously, what jellyfish burrows in the sand? The inconsistencies are killer, this thing can bust tires, move stuff around, but a pair of shoes a beach patrolman is wearing stops it. How? It pulls people down, how do shoes stop it? Honestly, how I would have played it is tiny flesh eating organisms in the sand rather than one big monster that can pull a fat guy through a garbage can, but can't pierce a raft or gets stopped by shoes!
So the film had some cool moments and a couple of cool kills. That being said, there were just too many head scratching moments as a guy is making progress on surfboards then decides to be completely stupid and show what an idiot he is and apparently two girls just love him to death. Also, if I watch a person being stripped of his flesh and then pulled into the sand, I am not going to worried about anything else, but the problem at hand! Sheesh!
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