Stake Land

[Uncle Mike]

The best movie I have seen in a long time....and the best Vampire flick that I have ever seen (Well...'The Satanic Rites Of Dracula' will always be special...but still not a great movie...) Big words. But all true I assure you. If you want an unrelenting mix of 'The Road' and 'The Last Man On Earth/I Am Legend' then this is the flick for you. Brilliant direction and some good gore makes this a wonderful fright flick! I don't often feel compelled but this last week I've seen the best (Stake Land) and the worst (The Wicker Tree) in recent memory. And thus ends my short career in movie reviews...

[blackstone]

I'll keep an eye out for that one. Btw do you ever see the hammer film Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires? Think it was hammer meets shaw brothers martial arts, well worth seeing, better than satanic rites

[goon3423]

I too have recommended this movie to anyone who will listen long enough  .

[Uncle Mike]

Hey Blackstone,

Yeah, Seven Golden Vampires is the pinnacle of bad Hammer Vamp movies...it is so 'out there' that I never thought of it as a Vampire movie...more of a glorious martial arts train wreck...with a couple Vampires...

[Simlasa]

Man, I really did not like Stake Land...
It irritated me from beginning to end.
I'll give you that it's well-made, in that it looks good... but that's about it. It's basically your average zombie ('vampire') apocalypse movie... but with an artsy pretentiousness slathered over it.
I suspect the people who made this would really rather be making dramas for the Lifetime Network. There's lots of annoyingly breathy narration by 'the kid' (who looks to be about nineteen but everyone keeps referring to him as a 'child').
All the survivors seem to have been infected with a virus that causes them to love bluegrass music... except for the villainous 'Brotherhood' who are an very unconvincing group of religious zealots (seemingly written by someone with no experience/knowledge of real-life religious zealots).
The 'Mister' character is a ridiculously uber-macho superhero who seems to have been neck-deep in the vampire hunter business for decades prior to the plague... maybe he'd seem less silly in a more gonzo zombie film.
The pregnant girl they pick up is just there as a plot device... as is the token black guy and the nun... you never get to know much of anything about these people and don't really care what happens to them.
A teenage girl shows up out of nowhere near the end... seemingly just so 'the kid' can have a cute girlfriend.
There's tender music playing in the background throughout... trying to make you think this is all about something... but it's not really.
For seeming to want to be a horror movie there's not a single surprise to be had, no suspense... minimal gore... the whole thing seems pretty neutered as zombie ('vampire'... ok, sure, whatever) apocalypse movies go without adding in some other angle that makes me give a crud what happens.

It could have done with a LOT more... something, anything.

[Anatoli]

I really liked it, wrote a review last summer after having seen it http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.se/2011/06/stake-land-review.html

[Uncle Mike]

Great review Anatoli...should have known that you'd have seen it!

[Henry]

I loved Stake Land, very gritty! But the bit when that one starts talking (trying not to give away spoilers!) wound me up a tat. Other then that a great film that slipped the radar.

[supervike]

I netflixed this on your suggestion Uncle Mike!

Well worth it.  Very good and enjoyable.

I like this take on Vampires too, not the 'supermen' protrayed in some, and certainly not the sparkley lovers protrayed in others.

Undead creatures of the  night. 

Plus that dude from Fringe was in it!! 

[Commander Vyper]

Yeah I ddin't get on with it, butt hen again was knackered when I watched it, Near Dark is one of my favourite modern vamp films I have to say. But I will give stakeland a go again in the future.

[supervike]

Near Dark?  I'll have to get my hands on that.

[Anatoli]

Near Dark is great, the best movie Kathryn Bigelow has made to date imo, and it's pretty much an "Aliens" reunion party as you have both Jenette Goldstein, Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen in the same movie.

[TheShadow]

well its on sky movies tonight !

[Commander Vyper]

Near Dark is great, the best movie Kathryn Bigelow has made to date imo, and it's pretty much an "Aliens" reunion party as you have both Jenette Goldstein, Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen in the same movie.

You're forgetting Point Break, (sorry from Devon and a waterman so go figure! Little hand says it time to rock and roll! WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA! ).

[manic _miner]

 Watched Stake Land the other night.Not very impressed with it.Like others have said Near Dark is way better.I did hope that it would have been better but it seemed really slow in places.