The Sand

2015

Directed by Isaac Gabaeff

Welcome back to Movie Monday, folks! If you’re new here, this is where I’m methodically working my way down my list of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Today, we’re diving into #57 on the list: the 2015 horror “masterpiece” known as The Sand (or Killer Beach, depending on which credits you’re watching). As always, remember that this list is based solely on my opinion, so something I hate may be something you love. Though in this case… I have questions if you genuinely love this one.

How I Found This Gem

I’d seen a clip of this movie on TikTok or Instagram at some point and was intrigued enough to look for the complete film. Then I realized it was an hour and 24 minutes of my life I couldn’t get back. But hey, at least I can turn my pain into your entertainment!

What Is This Thing?

In case you haven’t had the pleasure, The Sand follows a group of friends who wake up hungover after a beach party to discover that the sand has become carnivorous overnight. Why? Because an alien egg they found during their party hatched, releasing a creature that lives beneath the sand and devours anything with a heartbeat that touches it.

Our protagonists find themselves scattered across different “safe” spots: some in a lifeguard tower, others in a car, one on a picnic table, and my personal favorite – a guy named Gilbert who’s stuck waist-deep in a trash barrel. Yes, really.

The Production: A Beach Party Gone Wrong

The Sand was directed by Isaac Gabaeff and shot in just twelve days in California in 2012, though it wasn’t released until 2015. Interestingly, this film wasn’t even the original project the team set out to make. According to Gabaeff, they were initially in pre-production for a drama about four people sailing between Hawaiian islands when the project suddenly collapsed. Rather than giving up, they quickly pivoted, found the script for The Sand, and went straight into production.

This rapid change of plans might explain some of the film’s, shall we say, rougher edges. It’s almost as if the film’s production history mirrors its plot: a group wakes up from a party and has to deal with unexpected circumstances using whatever resources they have at hand.

The film premiered at FrightFest in 2015 and was eventually released on DVD by Monarch Video on October 13, 2015. Somewhat amusingly, it was voted one of the top 5 monster movies on the SYFY Channel right behind Piranha 3D (2010). Take that for what it’s worth.

The Cast: Hannah Montana Meets Playboy

The cast of The Sand features a mix of young actors including Brooke Butler, Meagan Holder, and Mitchel Musso (yes, Oliver from Hannah Montana). Jamie Kennedy (Randy from Scream) also makes a cameo appearance as a beach patrol officer that most reviewers found painfully unfunny.

One interesting casting note: Playboy Playmate Nikki Leigh appears in the film for her first feature film nude scene. She became a Playboy Playmate in May 2012 just before filming started and was reportedly cast mainly for her willingness to perform nude. According to behind-the-scenes info, she was originally supposed to be fully nude when waking up hungover on the beach, but the director decided on the day of shooting that it made more sense if she was just topless. How considerate.

Let’s Talk About That “Plot”

The premise of The Sand is essentially what would happen if someone watched the “The Raft” segment from Creepshow 2 and thought, “What if we stretch this into a feature film and set it on a beach?” Or, as many reviewers pointed out, it’s basically a cheaper version of the 1980 film Blood Beach.

The film opens with some found footage of the previous night’s beach party, where we see two characters finding a strange spherical object covered in goo. Fast forward to the morning, and our hungover heroes wake up to discover their friends are missing. They soon realize that anything touching the sand gets sucked down by an unseen creature lurking below.

From there, the film becomes a survival story as the characters try to reach safety without touching the sand. They attempt various methods of escape: surfboards as bridges, towels soaked in pepper spray (yes, really), and an inflatable raft. Meanwhile, they face all sorts of interpersonal drama, including the revelation that Jonah (Kaylee’s boyfriend) slept with her friend Chanda the night before. Because even with a man-eating beach monster, we need some soap opera elements.

By the end, only Kaylee and Chanda survive, walking across the now-safe sand the next morning. In the final scene, we see that the creature – revealed to be an enormous jellyfish – is swimming toward Santa Monica Pier. Sequel bait that mercifully never materialized.

The Special Effects: Microsoft Paint Gets a Workout

If there’s one aspect of The Sand that received universal criticism, it was the special effects. Multiple reviewers described the CGI as “terrible,” “sucked,” “cheap,” and my personal favorite: “a glitchy, cartoony pixel-jumble.”

Film critic Kim Newman noted that even “the lo-tech practical monster/gore effects of vintage Corman or Frank Henenlotter in his Basket Case–Brain Damage mode would play better than the glitchy, cartoony pixel-jumble that passes for a monster here.” When your creature effects make people nostalgic for Attack of the Giant Leeches, you know you’ve got problems.

The death scenes were apparently disturbing and well-executed according to some reviewers, but the monster itself rarely appears on screen. This was likely a budgetary decision, but it also robs the film of what could have been its most interesting visual element.

Critical Reception: A Mixed Bag of Sand

Reviews for The Sand were predictably mixed, with most critics acknowledging its obvious flaws while some found a certain charm in its B-movie approach.

Mike Wilson from Bloody Disgusting gave the film a negative review, criticizing the performances, dialogue, and runtime, though he conceded that the cheap special effects added a certain charm, and the death scenes were disturbing and well-executed.

Matt Boiselle from Dread Central awarded the film two out of five stars, writing: “The Sand could be good for a midnight watch where goofiness is happily embraced and the need for creature fun is welcome; however, once the sun comes up, it’s best to find a lot of shade from this solar disaster.”

On the slightly more positive side, Michael Therkelsen from Horror Society rated the film eight out of ten, calling it “a campy good time,” while also noting the film’s cheap special effects didn’t fit with the rest of the film.

Jennie Kermode of Eye for Film was even more generous, giving the film three and a half out of five stars, writing: “It takes skill to make a cheesy creature feature well. The Sand is much smarter than it looks on the surface. Give it time and it will pull you in.”

Meanwhile, one user review on IMDb summed it up perfectly: “The monster didn’t kill anyone. It did a favor for us all. All these teenagers are stupid as hell.”

Where Does It Rank?

At #57 on my worst movies list, The Sand isn’t catastrophically bad – it’s just… mediocre in almost every way. It takes a silly but potentially fun concept (killer sand!) and delivers it with poor execution, mediocre acting, and CGI that wouldn’t pass muster in a PlayStation 2 game.

The film suffers from what many low-budget horror films do: stretching a simple premise beyond what it can support. What might have worked as a 30-minute segment in an anthology film becomes tedious at feature length, especially when the characters aren’t particularly likable or interesting.

Final Thoughts: Should You Watch It?

If you enjoy B-grade horror films that embrace their goofiness, The Sand might provide some entertainment value, especially with a group of friends and some adult beverages. As one reviewer put it, it’s a “guilty pleasure” that goes from “tense moment to tense moment” – just don’t let logic get in the way.

For everyone else, however, I’d recommend following the characters’ example and staying far away from this beach. There are better ways to spend 84 minutes of your life than watching attractive but annoying twenty-somethings trying not to touch sand while a barely-seen jellyfish monster picks them off one by one.

Then again, if you’re specifically looking for a film featuring Oliver from Hannah Montana stuck in a lifeguard tower while a Playboy model runs topless across the beach trying to escape killer sand… well, your options are limited, and The Sand has you covered.

Next week, we’re entering a new month, giving a quick break from this worst of list to look back at an animated classic from Disney. Who’s up for a little Peter Pan? Does it hold up after all these years? Come back next week to find out!

Have you seen The Sand? Do you think it deserves its spot at #57 on my worst movies list, or should it be higher (or lower)? Let me know in the comments!