Review of Stake Land (2010) by Peter F — 05 Jul 2011

America has gone to hell in a handcart due to an oubreak of a vampiric virus, small pockets of survivors strive to carry on with their lives whilst others attempt to make the arduous journey north to "New Eden", a safe haven that is said to be vampire free. Martin a young man who witnessed his parents savaged by vampires teams up with a renowned vamp hunter simply known as Mister to make this journey to the promised land and hunt down some blood suckers along the way... However the vamps are not the only horrors that they should be worried about, as a fundamentalist christian "Brotherhood" is always on the look out for more survivors to convert in to doing God's will.

Stake Land may not be wholly original, it's influences are clear to see (The Road, Book Of Eli, 28 Day/Weeks Later, Diary Of The Dead, etc.), admiration and respect can be drawn from the film though as it's a rarity to see such a small budgeted film look this stylish and be this visionary.

The Films tone is bleak... very bleak at times with no compromise in raising even the slightest glimmer of hope for our protagonists as their journey north is blighted continuously by vamps, religious crazies, terrain and having a pregnant girl in their party.

Performances are decent and solid enough from a largely unknown cast and the effects work well for the most part although the action scenes could have been more powerful if they had that little extra "OOMPH" added, characters tend to drift in and out of the story too which is no major issue but some continuity in this particular area would have allowed the story to flow better.

For the most part Stake Land is a case of ambition over originality yet is a highly promising and interesting post apocalyptic yarn... "We're all doomed".