Sands of Oblivion

Anchor Bay / Starz

R1 DVD

I had trouble with this film. Although it is well directed and features good actors like Adam Baldwin and an elderly George Kennedy it has enough errors in it that I felt a little let down. This was not helped by a feeling that I had seen it all before as far as the plot was concerned. For a start (and in fact in the starting scene) some of the CGI looks like – well, CGI. Studios are capable of much better than this. There are odd details all the way through the film – in the compulsory car chase the vehicle lights are on, but the scene then changes to broad daylight. Why are the floodlights at the archaeological dig turned on during the middle of the day? Even the explosion at the end, when the monster is destroyed by exploding a box full of white phosphorus grenades with a missile, is very low budget. It is points like this that stopped the film from being much better than it is.

As far as the plot goes, it seems to be a mashup of many similar stories. In ancient Egypt the god Im-La-Ra, god of chaos, starvation and general strife, has been locked up in a hidden temple room for centuries. He is safely confined as long as he does not get possession of an amulet that is keeping him locked in. If he does, nothing can stop him from unleashing the ancient plagues of Egypt upon the world.

Cecil B de Mille in the 1920s made The Ten Commandments in sandhills on the California coast. He imported many artefacts from a newly excavated Egyptian city including, naturally, the sarcophagus of the ancient god. Once the film was made he ordered the sets buried under the sand. Now they are being excavated as a historical monument before a new channel is dredged through the sandhills. The god gets loose, as they do, and begins his campaign of terror with the archaeologists. Like all gods / mummies / resurrected people he has superhuman strength and shape changing abilities. He must be stopped by the female archaeologist leading the team, her estranged husband and her new boyfriend. Does this all sound familiar?

The characters are fairly routine, from the ex-Gulf War looney gun hoarder to the nerd who will get his head cut off to the Comic Sheriff. It is only the good acting that saves the characters from mediocrity.

On the positive side the scenery is beautifully filmed and the blood and gore effects are first class. The plot, for all that it is highly derivative, is fast-moving and well done. Even the dialogue is reasonably intelligent. Im-La-Ra in his various guises is well-conceived and effective even if the CGI does let him down a little. Although there are occasional lighter moments the horror and suspense never really let up for the length of the film.

The film was originally made for cable TV and this may be partly the reason for the low budget. Nevertheless it is a good piece of horror and worth watching.

The only extra is the usual “Making of …”

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