La reliquia del mal

Before seeing this movie, I expected something better from the director of 'Dead Birds' which was a very decent movie (not breath-taking, but interesting and worth-seeing in the horror genre). I got disappointed very early on, but I continued to watch it, maybe hoping for an interesting turn or at least something that would compensate me for the 90 minutes spent seeing it. But it kept on going worse. OK, the story setting is good, a group of American soldiers stationed in the Afghanistan's desert waking up a djinn. That's all that was good. It could be a nice movie but the result was boring, dull, not at least frightening, and the end is totally predictable. The actors were rather mediocre, the dialogs poor, the characters stereotypical, the special effects very cheap, the attempt to describe the American view of the Muslim religion childish and lacking, and the overall plot had a lot of holes in it. With one word, boring. A waste of time, there must be hundreds of other movies in this category better than this one so do not waste any time on this.

I really enjoyed this director's last movie, Dead Birds, so I had high expectations for this one. Hollywood lives to disappoint though and Red Sands is a complete letdown.

The setting is intriguing, the situation (a released djinn) promising, but the director doesn't deliver. Like a wounded snake the film drags its slow length along to an utterly predictable ending. The action is sparse, the suspense even sparser. The actors try their damnedest to inject some energy into this thing but like a balloon with a puncture they can huff and puff for all their might but it won't inflate.

All in all a sorry show. Let's hope the director can learn by the mistakes made here for we know he's capable of a lot better. 4/10

This movie is about a few soldiers alone in the desert who either kill each other or die mysteriously. The end.

This movie lacks the cause then effect that a horror movie needs in order to create tension and suspense. (and interest!) There is absolutely no connection between the incident with the statue and what follows in the movie. None. If you didn't read the press release, you'd never geddit.

The continuity of the movie is so bad you can snip it up and watch the scenes in any sequence. The story doesn't develop at all.

No new facts come to light as the movie progresses. At the end, we are in the same position as at the beginning, so it's kinda pointless that the director puts the last scene at the beginning.

There is no realization, no new understanding, no process of discovery. The only clues are provided by Shane West's dreams - and even then, they are sketchy anecdotes that fade too soon.

Mercedes Masohn's role could have been deleted from the movie without losing anything at all.

The deleted scenes on the DVD include a longer version of the Goat Herder scene that connects better to the rest of the movie.

Maybe I'm just too intelligent to be watching this genre?

Red Sands is a (cheap) remake of a French movie called Djinns. Both remind me of The R Point (without reaching it) : horror/psycho/thriller war movies

If you have not watched Djinns, then you will like Red Sands or find it OK (that's if you like this sort of horror/psycho/thriller war movies). It is tense, and the scenery makes it tense too. So if you like Red Sands, i strongly recommend you watch Djinns (taking place in the 60's during Algeria War)

But if you have watched Djinns fist (like me), you will be disappointed by Red Sands : it is too cheap, the plot is not as developed, not as tense as in Djinns, well in 3 words : not as good.

well, being a horror movie buff, this movie was a great disappointment!! there was nothing that jumped out at me, from the comments made i decided to watch this movie and from the beginning it was boring and no plot!! i sat through this thinking it would get better but it just got worse!! it was slow, no action, or anything else as i continue to sit through it, my suggestion, don't waste your precious time on this ridiculous movie! i tried very hard to give this movie a chance and give it the benefit of the doubt, but honestly, watching as many movies as i have this one was so bad, i wish i could give it a better rating but i don't want to have someone like myself to waste there time and energy as trust me it was in fact one of the worst movies i have seen and i have seen some pretty bad ones, please don't waste your time!!!!!