It Stains the Sands Red

First off, this is worth a watch, and it's far better than the 2-3 stars some reviewers are awarding.

Woman takes an unplanned "walking holiday" in the Nevada desert and picks up an unwanted follower in the form of a slow but relentless Zombie, is a great premise.

Brittany Allen as Molly does a perfectly acceptable job in the lead playing a character who has to deal with increasingly grim situations with nothing but steely determination 5 grams of cocaine to see her through.

In the last act the film lost it's clarity but still just about kept it together.

6 out of ten, could have been a 7 with a tighter ending.

The most epic thing about this is Molly (Brittany Allen) is the only woman in it and she can really hold her own in a zombie apocalypse scenario otherwise meh movie. Not much happens except great scenery and a few badass scenes!

To try and quench my zombie appetite I have watched MANY MANY...and I mean MAAANY zombie movies, and many of them are pretty dang bad.

This is not one of them.

Although not academy award level in any aspect, I would consider this deserving of awards in the independent and lower budget arenas!

If reviewers and viewers pay attention you will notice that this movie is labeled a Drama, Horror, Thriller. I believe that's accurate. For hard core zombie fans who like strict zombie action, I can see why some would be disappointed. I was not. And in fact I was quite pleasantly captivated. This was a breath of fresh air for this tired, same ole same ole, genera. I finally found a zombie movie that had some MEANING to it. Where the main character was believable and multi dimensional. I loved the humor inter mixed thru out!

The camera work was EXCELLENT. The acting and direction was very very good. And the story was full and different with the pace set at a nice steady burn. After about 45 minutes the pace does pick up with some new characters introduced and some nice surprises!

After reading my review, you can tell whether or not this film may interest you. If you are on the fence...let me push you off. I thought it was an excellent film.

"It Stains the Sands Red" (2017) is a pretty decent zombie film; I'd rate it an 8 out of 10.

The fun starts with a truly impressive aerial shot of Las Vegas in the midst of a full blown zombie apocalypse — it's great special effects work, and it's almost enough to compensate entirely for the limited scope of the story that follows it. (This film focuses largely on one stranded woman being pursued by one zombie antagonist through the Nevada desert.)

Although much of the film might be too slow for some horror fans, it's actually surprisingly intelligent. The movie focuses on things often neglected in survival horror scenarios like this one — factors like exhaustion, the elements, firearms proficiency, the availability of basic utilities and even the availability of addictive drugs. There's more to admire too — there's a plot twist late in the game that I thought was skillfully executed. (I won't spoil it here.) Finally, our ostensibly addle-brained anti-heroine does a couple of things that I never would have thought of in order to survive.

It also boasts an incongruously beautiful setting. (This was shot in Nevada's "Valley of Fire.")

"It Stains the Sands Red" isn't perfect. There are a couple of stupid parts, particularly near the end of the story. (Were these otherwise talented screenwriters just running out of steam?) And there is one surprise plot development that will be sure to have some genre fans rolling their eyes and groaning.

Also, the makeup effects for the monster were good enough, but not stellar. (Like many longtime fans of zombie horror, I think I've been spoiled by the genius of Greg Nicotero and Tom Savini.)

I 'd still name this as a good move, however, and I'd recommend it.

A stripper-mom fleeing a zombie apocalypse finds herself alone and stranded in the desert as one of the creatures stalks her ...

Good concept with an interesting twist and energetic climax. Plenty of style, with fine cinematography and a few big-bucks effects. This is from the writer/director/producer team behind Grave Encounters, so you might expect a bleak and harrowing story, but it's surprisingly big hearted if not quite optimistic.

But surprise surprise - this experienced team allow a lot of niggles to interrupt the story, with constant lapses in plausibility and logic. For example, in the opening scene the getaway car digs its rear wheel into the sand and won't budge - instantly I thought of a way to dislodge it, but the characters didn't even begin to think - even for the comedy effect. Later, there are plenty opportunities to exploit the creature's weakness, but the heroine doesn't have the wit to even try. A safe-haven house appears and disappears for no reason. The story is peppered with these problems, which kept dragging me out but are easily fixable. It undermined the humour and pathos the story was aiming for, so that's frustrating.

The final act has a serious change of tack, which kinda works. It does deliver on character and emotion, but its awkwardness might have been less if the earlier story had flowed more smoothly. So there's plenty to enjoy in this movie, but the script was just a bit off.

The landscapes are gorgeous, and there's a good car-shot with a face in the wing mirror, plus a fire-lit reveal of the monster creeping up from behind. Also plenty of gore and skin.

Lead actress does well, with a great squeal & scarper when trying to confront the zombie. And the zombie's movements are well done, and he even generated sympathy. Was the chemistry believable? Would have helped to have better dialogue.

Enjoyed the music. And the title comes from a gross-out snack.

Overall: Quality, but sloppy.