Review #279: 'Stake Land' (2010)

The U.S. is a wasteland. It is the result of a vampiric plague that has seen the world overrun by vicious, blood-drinking beasts. When his family is butchered by one, young Martin (Connor Paolo) is taken under the wing of mysterious and grizzled vampire hunter Mister (Nick Damici). Mister is already on a journey to travel across America and get to Canada, now known as 'New Eden'. The country is in turmoil from gangs, and the most notorious of these is the Brotherhood, a religious fundamental group who believe the vampires are a plague sent by God, led by Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris).

Vampires are so huge these days, especially amongst teeny-boppers and fantasy-addled women, that possibly the coolest supernatural creation has become redundant and non-threatening. The astronomic popularity of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books and the inevitable films, along with Charmaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries that was later to become HBO's True Blood have take the edge and (sorry) bite out of the vampire myth. Stake Land's director Jim Mickle seems to be more than aware of this, as he has brought it back down to Earth, and has created a sobering and brutal apocalyptic vision, and a damn good film.

It's clear from the opening five minutes that this won't be an easy watch, as Martin goes into the barn where his family has just been murdered to search for the vampire. His torch flashes around, and he sees his mother dead and his father dying, and then, perched on a high beam, is the monster sucking on his baby sibling, whose limp body he then drops thudding to the ground. The vampires here aren't handsome and seductive, nor are they human. They are more like the undead from Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981).

If there's a complaint to had about the film, it's that there isn't much plot. It's basically watching the characters try and get from A to B. It's very much The Road (2009) with vampires. But what happens between A and B is so full-on that you won't really care too much, but you will need a strong stomach. Mister isn't the archetypal heroic hard man - his morals are very questionable, and his anger, eagerness and the pleasure he takes in killing is often unsettling. When Mister and Martin come across a Sister (Kelly McGillis) fleeing two Brotherhood rapists, he coldly slits one of their throats, and throws a stake into the other's back, leaving him to die a slow death. No punch-lines here.

Stake Land does for vampires what HBO's Game of Thrones has done for epic fantasy. It has brought it back down to Earth, creating an adult world where the realm is more reality than fantasy. By doing this, it gives a fresh perspective and a new respect for the fantasy genre, and rather than create a world we can get lost in, it engages us more by setting it very much in our world. Stake Land won't be for everybody - it's moody, devoid of humour, and often relentlessly depressing and nasty. But it's also very much about family and loneliness, and spends a lot of time focusing on the father-son relationship between Martin and Mister, and is done so well it is actually extremely moving in some places. Refreshing, then, and shows there is plenty of life in the vampire genre yet.


Directed by: Jim Mickle
Starring: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Danielle Harris, Michael Cerveris, Kelly McGillis
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie