Bullet Points: Stake Land
Recently I wrote an article on my favorite action packed vampire movies and while I have amazing taste and formed an almost flawless list, there was one recent fanged flick that I had yet to see. Fortunately for all of us, I spent a couple of hours this weekend brushing up on the near brilliance of Stake Land.
Synopsis: Stake Land picks up in a post-apocalyptic America where a plague has ravaged the population and has allowed a breed of vampires to wreak havoc on the surviving humans. A man named Mister (Nick Damici) travels with his young companion across a wasteland of death to make it to the sanctuary city of New Eden.
- Uh oh: You know you’re in for some shit when a vampire kills a baby in the first 5 minutes.
- The Springfield of the apocalypse: It seems like every single movie set in dystopian America has a place called New Eden. I hope that if something catastrophic does happen we can at least agree on a better name.
- Tools of the Trade: Of course the vampire killing duo have stakes (duh) but Mister also busts out what appears to be a tire iron with four sharp edges. It makes for a very cool kill when he launches it 30 feets at a dude’s spine.
- Familiar Faces: I was stunned to see that the older lady was Kelly McGillis! Seeing her here might give you reason to believe that Tom Cruise has been praying to the right God cause he looks miles better at his age than she does. Nevertheless, she puts in a very good performance.
- Monster Squad: I recently posted a review for the werewolf film Late Phases starring Nick Damici. It just so happens that the first movie I saw him in featured him fighting against a bunch of giant mutant rats. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a mummy film in the near future. I wonder if fantasy beasts are a pre-requisite before he’ll even read a script ?
- The Brotherhood of Assholes: Vampires are pretty bad here but the worst are the human cult members who are running territory and feeding people to the creatures. Their leader is all about them and let’s just say he gets a real up close view of the life of a vampire.
The Verdict: Stake Land was a definite win for me. I really dig Damici as the grizzled badass and even the young kid wasn’t annoying during a majority of the film. Danielle Harris was another supporting character and I’ve had a crush on her since she was in Halloween 4. The makeup for the vamps isn’t amazing and it never gives a credible reason for why they exist but that doesn’t take much away from the film. I would recommend it to any real fan of the vampire sub-genre. Bon apetite bloodsuckers!
