Writer: Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz (Screenplay)
Starring: Brittany Allen, Juan Riedinger, Merwin Mondesir, Kristopher Higgins, Andrew Supanz, Nico David
Plot: In the throes of a zombie apocalypse, a troubled woman from Las Vegas with a dark past finds herself stranded in the desert with a lone and ravenous zombie on her tail.
Tagline – If the heat doesn’t kill you, something else will.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Tense Thriller
Story: It Stains the Sands Red starts as Molly (Allen) and Nick (Mondesir) are getting out of Las Vegas after a zombie outbreak, breaking down on the side of the road through the desert, the two find themselves being stalked by a single zombie. Nick killed, leaves Molly alone, the problem is she can’t shake the zombie who she nicknames Smalls (Riedinger), who just follows her through the desert.
Continuing her journey Molly learns the hard way that Smalls isn’t the only danger she is facing in the desert. Can she make it to the airport before it is too late.
Thoughts on It Stains the Sands Red
Characters – Molly is our main character, she is party animal and stripper with a drug addiction using Nick to get out of the chaos that is zombie riddled Las Vegas. She is left along to make her way for the desert in hopes of finding the airport which should offer her safety. The problem is that she is joined by a zombie that follows her like a dog becoming almost like her guardian angel. Smalls is the zombie that is following Molly, he appears from nowhere only to constantly following her through the desert, he starts to listen to instructions to stay with her. Anyone else we meet are only used in small amounts of scenes including Nick the man that was taking Molly to safety and others along the journey.
Performances – Brittany Allen in the leading role is excellent, she must carry the film with her performance and even though her characters starts as an unlikeable character as the film continues her performance makes you care for the character. Juan Riedinger as the zombie is the next closest to any getting screen time and with the help of the make-up department never looks out of place in his role.
Story – The story here is very simple, we follow one woman during a zombie outbreak that finds herself stranded in the middle of the desert with a single zombie following her at a pace that she can easily outpace. The simplistic survival instinct that is shown by Molly from early in the movie. We have a character that must face her own demons that she gets to face in her search for survival, proving that her past can be what she needs to keep her going.
Horror – The horror in this movie focuses on the desperate attempt to survive in a zombie infested world, while we get to look at the idea that zombies are not the only threat within this new chaos.
Settings – The film keeps us in the desert for the most part, it shows us just how desperate Molly is to survive in this world that one of the most dangerous places in the world could be her only hope.
Special Effects – The effects are practical for the most part, we don’t get many and they are used for a mix of the zombies and the kills.
Scene of the Movie – The locked room.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The people Molly meets hits a checklist for zombie movies.
Final Thoughts – This is a good twist on the zombie genre, following the solo woman that must get survive with her lone follower a zombie.
Overall: Standout zombie movie.
Rating