Movie Review: The Stakelander (2016)

Once upon a time I reviewed a movie called “Stake Land”. It was very good. Now for the Month of Spooks, I am reviewing its sequel. So let’s do it.

Ladies and gentlemen… “The Stakelander”.

The world has gone to shit. After his life in New Eden is destroys by the vampire brotherhood known as… The Brotherhood, Martin (Connor Paolo) must travel into the wasteland to try to find his old mentor and friend Mister (Nick Damici). So now we have our story. And I really enjoyed it. Sure, it lacks a lot of the little subtleties that made the first movie’s plot so great, but it’s still an enjoyable enough plot that works in its own right. Whereas the first one was a slowly burning road drama, this is more of a fast-paced action-horror thing. I do still prefer the first movie’s plot, but this is still an enjoyable romp.

The characters in this are interesting and entertaining. Connor Paolo reprises his role as Martin, the young man taken in by Mister in the first movie. He’s older, much more proficient at killing vampires, a hardened survivor. But he still has a warm heart beating behind that chest of his, giving some nice layers to the gruff boy. And Paolo is really good in the role. Next up we have Nick Damici reprising his role as Mister. How do we describe his character… had the movie come out in the 70s, Charles Bronson would’ve played him. He’s an older badass who is able to kick a lot of ass. But he does also have a soft side in there, he just doesn’t reveal it to anyone. And Damici is great in the role. We also get supporting performances from people like Laura Abramsen, A.C. Peterson, Steven Williams, Kristina Hughes, and more, all doing well in their respective roles.

The score for the movie was composed by Redding Hunter (that is such a good name), and I think he did a good job with it. Of course there are a lot of familiar horror stings there, but there’s also a good chunk of the music that has a very western-y vibe, which I think really works for the whole “wandering through the wasteland” thing this movie is going for. And it all comes together to create a really good score.

Unlike the first movie, “The Stakelander” was not directed by Jim Mickle (though Nick Damici stayed on as writer). Instead this was directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, and I think they brought a somewhat distinct style to it that I liked. Where the first movie created a very broody atmosphere for its slow character drama, this has a more light atmosphere that complements the generally faster pace. But they still do bring in the creeps from time to time, thanks to solid direction and some vicious fuckin’ vamps. And the cinematography by Matt Mitchell was really good, giving us some really good looking shots. Some decently satisfying action here too.

This movie doesn’t have much of an existence on the sites I usually use, so this’ll be brief. But I can say that on imdb.com it has a score of 5,3/10.

While it lacks a lot of the subtlety and layers that made the first one great, “The Stakelander” is still a really solid sequel. It has a good plot, good characters, really good performances, great music, and really good directing/cinematography. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for “The Stakelander” is an 8,76/10. So while not perfect, it’s still worth buying.

My review of “The Stakelander” is now completed.

Not gonna lie, my expectations for this were quite low, but I am glad to have been proven wrong by it.

Movie Review: Stake Land (2011)

Vampires. Creatures that have been used in fiction more times than I can count. Sometimes they’re scary, sometimes they’re sexy, sometimes they suck (Looking at you “Twilight”, also, pun intended). What I’m trying to say is that vampires are very versatile things that you can utilize all kinds of ways in movies/TV/books/games.

Ladies and gents, welcome to… “Stake Land”.

After his family gets killed by a vicious vampire, Martin (Connor Paolo) finds himself teamed up with a mysterious man called Mister (Nick Damici). And these two set out to travel through the vampire infested United States to get to a potentially safe place called New Eden. I have to say that I was a bit surprised by the plot of this movie. While at first it just seems like a straightforward road trip movie featuring vampires, it soon shows it’s true colors. Seeing our main two work together trying to survive is really interesting, and I found myself really invested in their journey. This concept could’ve turned out really lazy and bad, but it was handled really well.

The characters in this movie are all very well fleshed out and I found them really interesting. Nick Damici was really good as Mister, playing him as the mostly silent badass. Connor Paolo was great as Martin, perfectly playing this damaged yet still somewhat hopeful young man. Kelly McGillis plays a nun that our heroes meets along the way and she was really good. Danielle Harrisplays a woman that Mister and Martin meets on their journey and she was really good in her role. Michael Cerveris plays a crazy cultist in the movie and he was really good. We also got Sean Nelson as another guy that our heroes meets in the movie and he was really good. All the performances were really good.

The score was composed by Jeff Grace and holy shit it was fantastic! It was haunting, it was dramatic, and it was quite eerie. Sure, at a few points it did sound like Nick Cave’s and Warren Ellis’ score for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”, but I didn’t actually mind too much… probably because I fucking love the score for that movie. But those parts did still sounds different enough to not bother me too much. And the bits that didn’t sound like the score from that other movie, they were quite awesome.

This movie was directed by Jim Mickle and he did a pretty damn good job. The shots look great and his direction overall feels very tense and uneasy, which helps add to the already eerie atmosphere. It’s also quite impressive considering the small budget they had. Now, I can’t find any exact numbers, but considering it’s an independent horror movie made by a then pretty much unknown director I can only assume that the budget wasn’t that big. But despite that it manages to have some pretty badass makeup effects, props, and various other effects.

This movie has been pretty well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 75% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 66/100. Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars. And on imdb.com it has a score of 6,5/10.

“Stake Land” is an extremely impressive indie vampire film. It has a great plot, good characters, really good performances, great music, great directing, and great effects. Time for my final score. *Stabs vampire in it’s heart*. My final score for “Stake Land” is a 9,56/10. This of course means it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

My review of “Stake Land” is now completed.

You could say that for the characters there was a lot… at stake…