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[Stake Land]
Plot:America is a lost nation. When an epidemic of vampirism strikes, humans find themselves on the run from vicious, feral beasts. Cities are tombs and survivors cling together in rural pockets, fearful of nightfall. When his family is slaughtered, young Martin (Connor Paolo) is taken under the wing of a grizzled, wayward hunter (Nick Damici) whose new prey are the undead.
Simply known as Mister, the vampire stalker takes Martin on a journey through the locked-down towns of America's heartland, searching for a better place while taking down any bloodsuckers that cross their path. Along the way they recruit fellow travellers, including a nun (Kelly McGillis) who is caught in a crisis of faith when her followers turn into ravenous beasts. This ragtag family unit cautiously moves north, avoiding major thoroughfares that have been seized by The Brethren, a fundamentalist militia headed by Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris) that interprets the plague as the Lord's work.
Cast:Nick Damici,
Danielle Harris,
Kelly McGillis,
Conor Paolo.
My Thoughts:Good story but lacks impact.
Review:"Stake Land" is a new attempt at sprucing up the vampire genre. Basically, it cuts through all of the romance-com/"Twilight" bs we've been fed for the past few years...while also cutting down the poorly-filmed vamps-in-the-dark straight-to-dvd movies that have come out as of late as well. It separates itself from the usual junk well enough, but still doesn't have that impact needed to quite leap-frog over the hump. The movie follows a version of the United States of America that is far different from our version.
The whole country has been taken over by vampires. Beyond a few select, safe areas...ala "Resident Evil" franchise. A vampire killer with a chip on his shoulder named Mister, and a boy traveling with him named Martin (Paolo)...are headed to a place called "New Eden". Where most of the other survivors have gone. But in order to get there, they'll have to deal with many threats. Vampire...and human. If someone took "The Road", which starred Viggo Mortensen...and mixed it with "30 Days Of Night"...you'd get "Stake Land".
Problem is, "Stake Land"s character drama and story far trumps the borefest that was "The Road". But on the flip side, it's vampire intricacy doesn't even come close to kicking as much ass as "30 Days Of Night" did. It's problem? A lack of balance. Post-apocalyptic-vampire-overrun U.S. or European countries...seem to be the new 'thing' in horror now. If it isn't post-apocalyptic zombies. It's vampires. Or people who resemble vampires in some way. "Stake Land" manages to bring an element of character drama similar to that of "28 Days Later".
But in some ways, it also carries cliches. For example...the object of the movie is for Mister and his companion, to drive around through desolate towns on their way to New Eden. As per usual with films like this, and you could also throw in "Land Of The Dead", "Diary Of The Dead", and maybe even "Survival Of The Dead"...they pick up survivors who are friendly and non-threatening on the way. But also have their fair share of battles with human beings who've chosen the dark path in this post-apocalyptic world.
The films villains though are beefed up a bit with some intriguing character development. In example, the villains of the movie are Christians who've adapted the non-gentile way of living. They kill people, take things, and even attack other innocents. Calling themselves, "The Brotherhood"...these guys specialize in choppering over other camps and rebuilt towns, and dropping vampires from above. Using the vamps as missles of sorts. Missles which upon hitting the ground, spring up and attack anything with a pulse.
I found that to be an interesting wrinkle in the story. And this fundamentalist-christian group also plays a pivotal role in the films conclusion as well. But for a film which calls itself "Stake Land"...it actually over-does the drama, and doesn't do enough with the vampires. The film doesn't have many vampire moments or attacks to be honest. On occasion, Mister and the others encounter a stray vampire who they take down. But no vampire film can excite the viewer without a scene of a pack of vampires going on the attack.
This movie would have us believe that the vampires aren't really that coordinated. And are mentally flawed, thus they cannot really plan any attacks on unsuspecting humans. Setting up a Romero'esque scenario where we have to wait and se eif the vampires mentally and intellectually grow more dangerous over time. "Stake Land" is bloody enough to satisfy the average horror fan, but doesn't rely as heavily on scares as it should. I guess the writers felt the scenario at hand is scary enough?
So setting up strong terror moments, or moments of fright...wasn't really necessary. Although there are a few good eye-widening scenes strewn throughout the movie. One of which involving a scamp (young vampire), which will probably give the viewer a chuckle. Because it sure gave me one. The appearance of Danielle Harris in the film comes at the right time, where the film kind of has nowhere else to go. But the addition of her character, along with another guy...to Mister and his companion's convoy...opens up a few new areas for the film to go in.
And also leads to a modestly entertaining, and at the same time tragic-at-times...finale. "Stake Land" is a film definitely worth seeing once. If you like a movie that blends good character drama, with post-apocalyptic backdrops, and vampires...then you should give it a whirl. But if you don't like horror movies where character drama overshadows the horror elements a bit too much, then you probably won't dig this one too much.
Positives:Danielle Harris, Nick Damici, and Connor Paolo all give good performances. The vampires, particularly the one at the end, were good antagonists. The character drama and story were good and strong.
Negatives:Too much character drama at times. A few predictable cliches in a few areas, and not enough vampire action at times.
Overall:Three stars out of four.
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