Though it cribs most of its best ideas from the cream of the post-apocalyptic genre, it does so in a way that is both compelling and exciting, creating a great apocalyptic atmosphere and bringing new life to a genre that is mostly ruled by the increasingly overplayed Zombie.
The Post-apocalyptic subgenre has seen rather a lot of attention in the recent decade, normally with a focus upon our undead friend. Even me, who loves everything Zombie, has grown to be slightly tired of what is now a tried and tested formula. Therefore when I heard of stake land, which attempted to switch out Mr Z. with a Vampire apocalypse, I was excited, though sceptical. Though my mind quickly jumped to visions of I am Legend (the novel), I quickly remembered I am Legend (the film), and lowered my expectations. What I was expecting wasn’t actually what I got, which was a nice surprise. What I was expecting was a pedal-to-the-metal throwaway apocalypse flick with lots of action, but little consequence. Rather what I got was a nicely balanced and well realised apocalyptic world with a personal touch which reminded me more of The Road, than say, Dawn of the Dead.
Following in a setting akin to something like The Road, Book of Eli, or the Fallout series (for all you gaming fans out there!), Stake Land catches up with current events too late to save the world from the disaster that has befallen it, even too late to explain how such events happened. Though unspecific about how the world fell into destruction, it makes it pretty clear that the world is going to stay there. This is not one of those films which try to stop the problem, or to save the world, but rather simply just survive in it. Trying to survive are our two main protagonists, ‘Mister’ (played by Nick Damici) and the Vampire orphaned Martin (Connor Paolo), as they make their way across America, heading north to ‘New Eden’, where they hope to find safety. Along the way they must fight off Vampires, Cannibals, and a crazed religious KKKeque group known as the ‘Brotherhood’ as well as generally survive the harsh desolate and destroyed apocalyptic landscape, hopping from enclosed town to enclosed town and safe house to safe house. Along the way they meet a number of companions, a Nun (Kelly McGillis), a Soldier, and a pregnant girl, Belle (Sean Nelson and Danielle Harris) along with a number of others. It is the interaction between these friendly companions and the dangerous elements which provide the meat for the story, which doesn’t concern itself with much of an overarching plot, rather than, ‘Survive’, mimicking that of The Road.
Its similarities to the Road don’t end here. In fact, the main story telling method is strikingly similar. The plight of ‘Man’ and ‘Boy’, is played out here in starkly similar ways, though things are obviously less desperate for our vampire hunting duo. Mainly, it is the way that the story is pushed forward by periods of almost mundane survival accompanied by a strong emotional musical score and an personal inner monologue (Mostly from the view of Martin) that shows the obvious cues taken from Cormac McCarthy’s great apocalyptic work, or at least the film adaptation of such. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it gives Stake Land a sense of personality, and helped me grow a strong attachment to the characters which is normally unlikely in such action films. Obviously Stake Land doesn’t hit the same notes as The Road, and is neither as poetic or poignant, but this story telling method, accompanied with periods of day to day activity and long panning wide shots of the desolate world around our characters, adds some decent weight and atmosphere to the story which would otherwise be lacking; kudos to Director Jim Mickle for creating a palpable sense of hopelessness, death and decay which creates this great atmosphere, even if his ideas aren’t totally original. The actors, do a good job at keeping this atmosphere alive, with Nick Damici bringing a great sense of gravitas and mystery to his role as the travelling Vampire Hunter. Meanwhile Michael Cerveris, as main antagonist and leader of the Brotherhood, Jebedia Loven, brings a much needed type of crazy to the show.
Obviously alongside this, Stake Land has some intense moments of action which are obviously necessary for a film with Vampires in it. These are both intense and exciting and come of rather well considering the low budget. That said, some moments do lower the impact of the film due to some dodgy special effects, but this is normally overlooked due to the fast paced nature of the attacks and the fact that for the most part, due to its lower rating, much of the stake, as well as gun, impacts are discreetly or not directly shown.
The Vampires themselves look much more like Zombies than the traditional ‘Vampire’. There are no Dracula look alikes here, nor do Stake Land’s Vampire conform to most of the tropes that surround the mythical Vampire. They do follow some of the main vampire weaknesses, mainly that they can’t come out during the day, and that they die through a Stake to the heart. This unwillingness to come out during the day brings a different dynamic to apocalyptic landscapes which normally are dangerous all the time with a Zombie foe. In other ways, though, the Stake Land Vampires don’t conform. They aren’t as humanoid as some of their fanged brothers in other mediums; they can’t talk, nor can they switch between a vampire form and a human one. They are also only focused on eating their pray and are rather dim in an extremely Zombine way. In essence, Stake Land has combined a number of important facts from both of these horror staples. That is not to say that this is a bad thing, and the Vampires of Stake Land fit with the nature of the apocalypse and also bring a much more down to earth approach to vampires which is more believable than most other portrayals of them. For instance, instead of exploding into dust when staked Buffy the Vampire style, they instead simply die, leaving behind a bloody and beaten corpse, adding to the gravitas and weight to the action scenes and stopping the film wandering into magical and untenable territory.
Overall, the combination of great and intense action interlaced with great atmosphere, create a film which is extremely well balanced. It is both exciting yet thought provoking and I certainly enjoyed it. Sadly, the final third of the film does the initial parts a disservice and the ending leaves a lot to be desired, taking further cues from The Road here, but without the sense of closure that it’s open ended conclusion brought. Instead Stake Land simply ends, and is rather anti climatic. While some plot decisions nearing the finale (if you can call it that) are both confusing and poorly explained, and weaken some of the fiction surrounding the Vampire threat by taking a toe towards the untenable.
That said, if you are fan of all things apocalyptic, and want something slightly more down to earth and a little less focused upon Mr. Z, Stake Land is certainly worth a look. While the ending left a lot to be desired, I think the initial pacing and personal touches make Stake Land well worth watching.
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