After 5 solid days of Phantasm, it’s time to switch gears into something more somber and emotional. This film slipped out during the height of the Twilight hysterial and flew very much under the radar. Not sure why it was overlooked so much, maybe people weren’t really interested in this type of vampire at the time. It seems that now is the right time for a second look.
The film begins with a boy named Martin (Connor Paolo, Friend Request), whose family is brutally murdered by vampires. Luckily, a grizzled older man (Nick Damici, Late Phases) rescues him and takes him under his wing. The man (Mister, as Martin calls him) ends up to be a vampire hunter, and he begins to train Martin as his apprentice.
Martin and Mister travel together, along with a nun they rescue and a young pregnant woman, all looking for a safer place up north with fewer bloodsuckers. But on their way they must fight off not only the undead but religious extremist cults who preach of the endtimes and roving cannibal gangs.
Possibly one of the nicest things I can say about this is it plays like an indie coming of age film, where a vampire apocalypse breaks out. The film is a little slow, but deliberately so. We follow a period of time with Mister and Martin, watching Martin grow and Mister warming up to him. Martin learns Mister’s way of life, but we start to find out if it is really something he wants
Now that isn’t to say the film isn’t without it’s violence and gore. It is still a horror film. At times there is blood flying everywhere. There are brutal killings of vampires, people being ripped apart. The vampire makeup effects are great as well, these aren’t Twilight vamps. They are monsterous, have facial deformities and sunken eyes. You really believe these things could maul the fuck out of you, which increases the terror to new highs.
Jim Mickle directs this film beautifuly, being dark, gory and gritty when needed, but also tender and emotional at times when the characters need to stretch their legs. Nick Damici pulls double duty here, playing Mister from the script he wrote. The character comes across as a real badass with a dark past and sadness that is just simmering below the surfacethat he covers with gruffness. Paolo brings a young man lost with no family, trying to make the best of the life he has found, trying to be tough because that’s pretty much the only option he has.
Stake Land is a very well constructed vampire tale that doesn’t hold back on the violence, but has along with it a very character driven, coming of age style story that supports it. While it could’ve existed as just wall to wall gore and blood, it would feel like a shallow shell that just feels the bloodlust of the average horror fan. This film chose the better route, and goes further to tug at their hearts too.
Verdict: Must See
Stake Land
Director: Jim Mickle
Writers: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Starring: Nick Damici, Connor Paolo
James has always been more partial to werewolves than vampires, but they tend to get worse movies than Vampires. There should be a film for them like a “Silver Land” or something.
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