Stake Land

Synopsis: Vampires have spread like a plague across the United States, with a `few survivors guarding themselves against the rampaging hordes. Mister (Nick Damici) and Martin (Connor Paolo) travel through this desolate landscape headed towards New Eden and the promise of a better life.

If Terrence Malick were to make a post-apocalyptic vampire action flick, I suspect this would be it. That’s probably overstating things a little bit, but not that much. Formally, the look and feel of the film put me in mind of Malick’s sensibility with the voice-over musings in particular making me think of The Thin Red Line. That aside, Stake Land is a beautiful, meditative and sad vision of a world turned upside down by horrific creatures and its completeness of vision is compelling. It is much like The Road (2009) in its immersive, oppressive world-building, but with a stronger central narrative and better performances. It’s a crime that it is only showing at The Nova.

We begin with Martin’s family getting slaughtered by a vampire, and his rescue by Mister. From there it’s a trip into the heart of an America torn asunder. The roads are dangerous, not only due to vampires, but also The Brotherhood, a cult that sees the vampires as God’s judgement on the earth and who are determined to help things along. Their fanaticism led to the fall of Washington, and from there, the United States. The whole nation has been crushed, and the lengths to which The Brotherhood go to make others suffer are genuinely inventive and disturbing. Bombing a town with live vampires has to be one of the most twisted ideas to turn up in a horror film for some time.

But for all the horror, Stake Land is a gently paced and genuinely thoughtful film. The cinematography is stunning and the characters are elegantly sketched. Not one is a caricature; there’s soul in each of them - and sadness, and fear, and hope. But by far the best character in the whole film is Nick Damici’s Mister. Damici’s performance is something special, as he takes what could easily be a cartoonish one note role and turns it into something that surprises on multiple occasions. The fact that he co-wrote the film shows that this wasn’t an accident.

In a time when screen vampires have become a sad joke, Stake Land lifts the undead revenants from their stupor and gives them back their teeth.  With great characters and beautiful direction, this is a smart, thrilling and highly entertaining film. Go see it.

 

 

Want more about this film?

    

Want something different?