Review of Stake Land (2010) by Kelvyn M — 30 Jan 2011

This distinctively bleak indie horror pic is aiming high. As well as seeking to transfer the post-apocalyptic aesthetic of "28 Days Later..." and its sequel to an American landscape, "Stake Land" tries to assuage that audience of Goths who thought that "Zombieland" made the end of civilisation as we know it seem too much like fun, but that "The Road" lacked for action.

.. Not even Danny Boyle's (largely depoliticised) undead diptych seemed this tormented by the state of its particular nation. Still, it's very decently played by its mostly unknown cast, and co-writer/director Mickle stages credibly chilling tableaux of carnage, chaos and confusion on a slender budget: billboards scrawled with cryptic cries for help, bodies hanging from lampposts and telegraph poles, the aftermath of a Jonestown-like mass suicide that provides the backdrop for a clever reverse.

It isn't averse to the odd vampire helicopter raid, but shows where it's really coming from in the way it makes the embracing of old friends count for as much as the visceral staking scenes, carefully sound-designed to go right through you.