Mania Grade: C
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Info:
- Blu-ray: Stake Land
- Rating: R
- Starring: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Michael Cerveris
- Written By: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
- Directed By: Jim Mickle
- Distributor: Dark Sky Films
- Original Year of Release: 2011
- Extras: 2 Feature Length Commentaries, Making of, Character Prequels, Production Diaries, Toronto Film Festival Premiere
- Series:
Stake Land Blu-ray Review
The Walking Dead with Vampires By
Robert T. Trate
August 02, 2011
Nick Damici is the man with a plan in Stake Land on Blu-ray
© Dark Sky Films/Bob Trate
The premise to a film can be a very powerful thing. Word of mouth and the premise alone made Stake Land a film horror and sci-fi fans wanted to see it. Here we have two men trying to survive an America that has become a vampiric wasteland. Quickly, one thinks of The Road (2009) mashed up with The Walking Dead (2010). Yet, this is where this film falters: it is stuck somewhere between being a feature length film and a television series. Writers Nick Damici and Jim Mickle establish a world very quickly but bog it down with mutant vampires, rape gangs, and extreme Christian survivalists. There is almost too much threat and not enough character development to really care about our heroes. Though let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Mister (Nick Damici) saves Martin (Connor Paolo) after his family has been brutally murdered by vampires. These vampires are not your gothic Anne Rice stock. They are dirty savage monsters that lack reason. We see their savagery in its rawest form as they devour a young baby. This supposedly shocking moment is ruined when we actually see the fake baby on screen. Moments before the sound effects painted a more gruesome picture in the audiences mind then what was revealed. This is the first of many instances that fall just short of being something brilliant if not just different.
America has become a much smaller place in this film. People gather together for protection and some sort of a normal life. Mister removes the fangs of his victims to show people that he is a good and decent man and the kind you want to have around. His protégé Martin is our window into this world. Both Connor Paolo and Nick Damici are adequate in their roles. If the chance was provided to them to live in these characters longer perhaps a real performance would have come out. With each new problem, town, or vampire, one cannot help but imagine Mickey Rourke in the role Mister or Andrew Garfield as Martin. Damici feels as if he has lived in the character boots for a long time but, in having a credit as a co-writer on the film, it is clear where that experience (and casting decision) comes from.
With any post apocalyptic film, there are always people that join our heroes. Some will be a threat to the family unit while others will add to it. Stake Land brings run of the mill characters to the fold with a pregnant teen (Danielle Harris) and a raped Nun (Kelly McGillis). The third and final character is an ex-Marine (Sean Nelson) that just assumes his role with little to do or bargaining in being a member of the group. They saved him so naturally that he follows them out into the wasteland.
Stake Land takes many of its cues from The Walking Dead (the comic) and George Romero’s zombie films. It is always humanity that is the true monster and the real adversary for those just looking to survive. Michael Cerveris, Fringe’s “Observer”, plays the leader of a religious cult who is hell bent on avenging the death of his son. This almost brief interlude to the story lacks any real bite so that, when it eventually matters, it comes as yet another disappointment to what could have been anything else. Stake Land has a tired playbook and it follows through on every beat.
In a longer format, Stake Land might have had a chance on Showtime or HBO. It established a dark world loaded with peril that just had too much going on for 98 minutes. Never once did I feel as if Mister and Martin would be in any real danger. Plus, it was guaranteed that at least one of them would have a happy ending. Without spoiling anything, there is a moment that was really missed by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle. There is a necklace this is passed from one character to another. Unfortunately, it was the wrong character’s necklace so this final moment and symbolism meant nothing. Stake Land comes up dry with so many missed opportunities that it is painful too relive on a second viewing.
Robert Trate writes two weekly columns for Mania the DVD Shopping Bag and the Toy Maniac. Robert also participates in a pod cast that reviews movies, comics and celebrates all things geek. Check it out at You’ve Got Geek on You.com. Follow Robert on Twitter for his for Geek ramblings and criticisms.
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I remember the day when I really used to like vampire movies but they've become as tiresome as Kim Kardasian.
Though if there is one good thing I read in the review, it's that they are real vampires and not that freaking twlight garbage.