Stake Land (2010)

Director: Jim Mickle

Starring: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis

In a world of vampires, an expert vampire hunter and his young protégé travel toward sanctuary.

It’s not safe at night anymore. There are things that go bump in the night – and they have fangs. ‘Stake Land’ takes a different approach to the vampire genre – concentrating more on characterization and atmosphere. In this post-apocalyptic vampire tale, vampirism is referred to as a virus.

Nick Damici stars as a character simply called Mister, who takes Martin (Connor Paolo) under his wing after his parents are attacked and killed by vampires. The film has them constantly on the run trying to stay safe from vampires. They are on their way to a place called New Eden, which is supposedly safe.

I have a few issues with the film. There’s so much conflict between the survivors that it was hard to tell who the real antagonists were. A brutal group of people called The Brotherhood were killing off survivors – this in a time when the human race is supposed to stick together. I also didn’t know who the real protagonist was. Was it Mister, or Martin? Both, I guess…

And then I also didn’t like the film being narrated. It ruined the suspense in a way, because I knew nothing was going to happen to the narrator. The film is also slow paced and ultimately I found it a little on the boring side. I won’t spoil who it is, but towards the end one of the characters who turns into a vampire, is still able to talk and reason, and fight hand to hand combat. What makes him so special that he didn’t also turn into a vampire monster like all the others? Why should I believe this without explanation? This was simply to add an antagonist for the finale, and a clichéd hand to hand combat scene…

The film then ends so similar to ‘I am Legend’, it almost copies it. ‘Stake Land’ is not a bad film and worth a watch, but there are so many better vampire films out there that I’d rather watch.

Would I watch it again? No.