A zombie is the metaphorical embodiment of a woman’s fears as it methodically pursues her across the Nevada desert in this tale of transference, Stockholm Syndrome, and the walking dead.
Stripper Molly and her pistol-packing, drug-dealing boyfriend are trying to flee the undead infested Las Vegas. Some car difficulties force an encounter with one of the walking corpses, and Molly, now alone, escapes across the sands. She is pursued through the night.
Her pursuer is not slowed by heat, or exhaustion, or impractical footwear, and becomes a constant reminder of her impending mortality. She names the ghoul ‘Smalls,’ borne out of a vicious, if hypothetical, verbal berating she laid upon him, to deal with his unswerving and menacing presence.
As the cruel desert sun has her reviewing her life choices and the events that brought her here, she finds ‘Smalls’ to be a sympathetic, unjudging ear who never talks back. Well, her issues do number and she finds herself bonding with her would-be assailant, to the point of a dependency. As Molly reaches the end of her geographic quest, so too, does she reach her introspective one. And now her plans must adapt.
This movie could be seen as a straight-forward zombie movie, or, if one analyses the subtext even just a little, a morality tale of redemption as well. The whole thing has only a few minutes where there are more than 2 or 3 people on screen at a time, with Molly, played amazingly by Brittany Allen, carrying this thing on her shoulders. And, despite seeming so unlikeable at the beginning, won me over through her perseverance, vulnerability, and eventual bad-assedness.
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| What a way to wake up! |
The undead, (there actually ARE more aside from just Smalls, if only briefly,) adhere to the Rules of Romero for the most part, and provide the necessary creeping menace of the original Living Dead movies.
But it was the desert setting that set this film apart for me. It had a personality all its own, and served as an obstacle and plot vehicle, a viscous enemy slowly wearing Molly down during the day, and with its total blackness at night, hiding the dangers in the dark.
Needless to say, I enjoyed this film. I found the story engaging and the characters convincing and well fleshed-out, not to mention good acting on everyone’s part.
On my Zombie Movie Rubric, It Stains The Sands Red scored a very respectable 3 out of 4 points. This earns it a hearty recommendation from myself, and will probably score itself a repeat viewing, as well!
YouTube has a decent trailer available here, to further convince the skeptical.
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