Stake Land

FINALLY! A movie that proves Christian fundamentalists are more of a threat to post-apocalyptic society than vampire zombies...but that both are trumped by Christian fundamentalist vampire zombies.

I definitely had a good time with this. Sober presentation, the feral vampires were a nice change from all those pussified versions we've had since the recent focus on the 'retarded teenage girls' audience, and it has just the right mix of people stuff and survival stuff. Sure, it has some weaker moments and the final 15 minutes felt too standard Hollywood-ish, but I thought the overall experience was quite effective.

Zombieland without the humor. It's an interesting road trip film, but I don't know what it is that separates these vampires from being zombies, really. Stake Land sounds better than Shoot Them in the Head Land I guess. I always wanted to see this because Kim Coates is clearly the guy on the cover, but, of course, he's not in this and that's not him on the cover. I haven't been this disappointed since I sat through The Doors waiting for Val Kilmer to show up.

Not just Zombieland with vampires. OK, the basic plot is a carbon copy: experienced monster hunter adopts hapless teenager as they travel through a post-apocalyptic USA, picking up other survivors, fighting off the undead and insane survivalist cults. But the tone and execution are completely different, owing more to The Road than Shaun of the Dead. Bleak, beautifully shot, and relentlessly grim, with vampires that make those in 30 Days Of Night look like Twilight.

The silent and gritty formula works a treat for this tense road movie which takes all the best bits of The Road and Zombieland while avoiding the pessimism of the former and the tongue-in-cheek of the latter. The characters' ragged appearance is the first seed of sympathy. It then hooks you in by pitting them against an ever-present threat which grows increasingly dangerous. Many directors could learn a lot from Mickle's masterful shotmaking and storytelling in this resurrection of a dead genre.

The biggest problem with this film is that the plot doesn't really go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, the dialogue is good and the plot is well written, but the characters are just wandering around aimlessly, trying to survive. Also the vampire epidemic and its origins are not explored at all. That being said, it's still pretty good for what it is. Bleak though, at times almost depressing. But still recommended.

What a awesome movie vampire/zombie. The lead Nick Damice was great you couldn't ask for better. I am hoping for a part 2.

This post-apocalyptic vampire film flirts with existential themes, perhaps to set itself apart from the countless others of the same genre, but it never really follows through. And that plot twist about a "thinking vampire" is just so stupid and nonsensical and completely at odds with the film's realism-tinged, somber tone.

Most of this post apocalyptic vision is indeed spectacular, and it suits the film to have a dead serious tone to it. However the ending absolutely ruins everything for me.

Poor man's "The Road"/"Children of Men". But actually very decent indeed.

This movie is entertaining. Sucks you in right from the opening scene. I love this movie, stayed true to form to its genre. Did not disappoint.

The Walking Dead tellyshow with a The Road journey, some Zombieland buddy stuff and a cult-like gang à la 28 Days Later. Not bad but all done before and completely predictable. I did really enjoy the cello-heavy soundtrack though.

very nice

I thought they already made The Road movie, why bother making worse version with silly vampires? It looks like a 90s TV series and also it is boring. There.

73.500

Okay Movie

When the feel-good romantic line of a movie is: "It's Walter." - "I'll kill him." You know you've got something special. This film is surprisingly new and unique post-apocalypse/undead film. It had great jump scenes, gruesome graphics, great action, cool heroes, and a few touching moments, one of which was a kill scene! This is an out of the box film! I love it!

I thought it was ok and the vampire zombies were pretty cool.

A slight variation on the standard zombie film. A decent afternoon film about a group of people headed to "New Eden" aka Canada to escape the vamps and scamps.

Surprisingly nice. It has some 'Last of Us' moods with a similar concept of a mentor bringing his young ward (kind of) along for a journey through dangerous places. I always like the survival aspect in these kinds of movies, too, though sometimes that means that it bothers me when some survival aspect is not entirely explained. Solid acting, well-written characters, and nicely dark and bleak moods. The pacing felt a bit uneven, like it could have been all brought together in a better way.

Starts off really strong but gets weaker as it chugs along, the conflict with the main bad guy just feels out of place in an apocalyptic, everything-is-fucked scenario.

I passed up this movie thinking it would be low budget and bullshit. My bad, it had an interesting story and a new take.

There are little scenes here and there that I felt were a little silly, but then there were really awesome scenes too. More awesome than silly, all-in-all. The rest of the movie was good too, with a good atmosphere, and a plot that may just be people wandering around trying to survive, but I enjoy that. It is like The Road in that sense, and I feel it's stronger for it. You have a badass character teaching a younger guy, who comes into his own, and the ending was well done.

A really good Horror/drama that would play out much better as a zombie movie then a vampire flick.

It's a slow paced and sobering rendition of the vampire apocalypse movie, which ends up being very entertaining, relying more on the tone and atmosphere than dollars and explosions.

Unimpressive

I can't fault them for trying something different, unfortunately all the building blocks here are ridiculously cliche.

76.500

not bad

A good film, and I really like the lead actor Connor Paolo. He dose a great job. The film is full of small continuity errors but it's still good.

Another proof that vampire movies suck and unfortunately not only blood.Zombies' make-up is ridiculous as well as the murder of younger guy's family.There are many ghoulish and grotesque looking, unnecessary scenes.There is no background of what actually happened before events take place - the easier way for a script writer,the more boring way for a watcher.Taking into account women are only used as an addition for a male journey thread, it's rather chauvinistic. All in all, nothing interesting.

What a pretentious bullshit! A great cinematography, though.

Watchable but not very interesting combo of vampires and all-American road movie. I'm sure the makers were trying to stake a point about the destruction of middle America by but I'm not American, so I don't give a toss and any allegory it might have had was wasted on me.

So boring, and has pig-squealing vampires. It sucks........ (get it...........)

Most of the acting and characters were ok, though Connor Paolo's character really needed to be someone with more screen presence. I'm also really sick of Danielle Harris, because she is really awful in everything. The scene at the beginning with the baby pretty much set the mood of the rest of the film, so it was pretty dark and bleak. Worth a watch because of the great atmosphere and cinematography, and for these types of films, the mood and setting really need to be 'characters' as well.

A well done post Apocalypse road movie that fell just a little short for me.There's almost no purpose other then for them to survive and what happened is not explained at all.What made this film work better then most of these kind of films is the somber and tense tone of the film and that the pacing kept it interesting throughout.

The best vampire movie in over a decade!

A surprisingly good film, especially given the now cliche milieu it's set in (not only do we have a post-apocalyptic society, but there are vampires threatening it too). The most compelling parts of the movie are the characters, especially the character named "Mister," who remains largely mysterious throughout the film but is never frustrating because he's such a badass vampire hunter guy. I wouldn't mind a prequel/sequel explaining his backstory.

This has some pretty good characters and nice makeup, but I think I just might be getting sick of post-apocalypse stories. This is just like all the others: mysterious loner hero who nonetheless picks up strays, deals with religious nutjobs and other people just as dangerous as the monster/disease/what have you. Not a bad movie, but I expected more after hearing so much buzz.

I like a good survivor movie. And I liked this one.

Nothing new for me - even the new religion side reminded me of Judge Dredd or Blake 7.

A vampire road movie. I wish there was more emphasis on the brotherhood. That was quite an original take on what some people will do in an apocalyptic disaster. I hope there will be a prequel to this one ' Stake Land - The Brotherhood Rising ' or something like that.

6 recommended

Take the premise of Zombieland, turn it into a drama with the complete opposite tone, and trade zombies for vampires. You are left with Stake Land, the thinking man's vampire movie. The somber tone shapes some good drama, strong characters, and plenty of twisted gore. There are a few odd turns throughout, but also some great, surprising choices. This one surprised me in all the right ways. Highly recommended for any horror buffs out there.