Sand Serpents

You gotta love Scyfy for the creature features they put out on a regular basis. Our current film starts off in Afghanistan where a team of US soldiers are captured by the Taliban. As they wait for their captors to decide what to do with them, there seems to be an earthquake accompanied by a massive roar that results in the disappearance of all the enemy and leave the 7 soldiers alone and basically weaponless.

Of course we all know it wasn't an earthquake. Explosions during the initial battle between the Taliban and the US patrol wake up something deep below the surface - something none too pleased to be woken up. (I can relate to this. I don't sleep well or often but when I do, I can get a bit cranky if someone disturbs my rare chance at slumber). I am not spoiling anything by telling you that the creatures the soldiers will have to fight are giant sand worms not unlike those in 'Dune'.

What advances the story at first is the deadline the soldiers face to meet their scheduled pick up. When that doesn't go as planned they try to reach the relative safety of a refugee camp. It becomes a race to see who can stay alive the longest with the serpents determined to menace them every step of the way. Its good to have a film stripped of everything but the essentials. It's simple - move fast or die fast.

When your top star is Jason Geddrick (remember him) you know we are dealing with filmmakers on a budget. You also know not to get attached to the rest of the unknown cast. They are there just to serve as worm bait the moment we start to like them or they do something brave.

What money they do have to spend on CGI goes to creating some pretty impressive effects. The way they show the serpents moving just below the surface before popping up to snatch another character reminded me of the creatures in 'Tremors' which of course is the grand daddy of all underground giant worm movies. Think of this one as 'Tremors-lite' and that is not a bad thing to be called.