Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Stake Land Blu-ray Movie Review

Just another post-apocalyptic monster movie, or something new?

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater August 3, 2011

We’ve been over-inundated with bleak, post-apocalyptic movies in the last few years--I predict this trend to wither to a crisp after 2012 comes and goes uneventfully--but let me recommend one more: Stake Land. As you can probably infer from the title, it’s a vampire film, but the fanged ones featured here are a far cry from the sexy, frequently shirtless vamps in True Blood and Twilight. These animalistic bloodsuckers would sooner rip out your aorta than “glamour” you into bed, and they have more in common with the rabid “infected” of 28 Days Later than the decadently noble immortals of Bram Stoker lore. But what’s really different about Stake Land is its tone. Where most vampire/zombie films are high on bloodletting action and explosions of gore, this one is more restrained, steeped in quiet despair for an America that once was and will never be again. It takes its main cues from the end-of-the-world loneliness of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and it features somber voice-over narration that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Terrence Malick movie. I want to be careful not to oversell the film--it’s not perfect, and it’s nowhere near as profound as its key influences--but it is a strikingly original departure from the typical horror landscape of remakes, reboots, and mindless teen-oriented slasher pictures.

America has fallen and fractured in the wake of a vampiric epidemic. Stake Land gives us precious few clues about the origin of this plague-- and, like the unnamed scourge from The Road, it doesn’t really matter--instead throwing us directly into the aftermath, a country where pockets of survivors band together in walled-off towns, where the burnt-out husks of cars litter the highways, and where religious blood cults lay claim to vast stretches of territory, converting, raping, or killing anyone who wanders through. And, of course, when night falls the vamps come out to devour and destroy. These literally cold-blooded killing machines aren’t your typical sanguinary feeders. They have the grotesque faces of the Evil Dead’s possessed, and they act more like zombies--dumb but vicious, hungry and single-minded. They are, however, susceptible to the usual vampire disposal methods, namely, a wooden stake through the heart. (Although we learn that older vamps, known as “berserkers,” can only be killed by penetrating the base of the skull.) Our guides through this ravaged world are Martin (Connor Paolo), a teenager whose parents were killed in the initial attacks, and the vamp-hunter who saved his life and took him as an apprentice, a grizzled and taciturn old coot who simply goes by “Mister.” (Nick Damici) Mister has trained up “the boy” in the ghoul-killing arts, and together they’re heading north in a beat-up Mercury sedan to New Eden, a promised land that they’re hoping actually exists.

Stake Land, then, is essentially a road movie which finds these two characters changing subtly in response to the journey they take together, a trip punctuated by violent episodic encounters and brief moments of hope and love. For Martin, it’s a coming-of-age adventure, and Mister, like Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, learns to have a kind of begrudging affection for his young charge. Their interactions are nearly wordless, but Paolo and Damici--who has a Charles Bronson-meets-John Wayne thing going on--share a strong and believable rapport. Along the way, they pick up a few stranded survivors and form a makeshift family of sorts. A nun (Kelly McGillis) saved from sexual assault becomes a surrogate mother for Martin, a homeward-bound ex-Marine (Sean Nelson) joins their unit, lending some much-appreciated firepower, and a reluctant Mister allows a pregnant barmaid (Danielle Harris) to tag along, even though he knows she’ll inevitably slow them down. The vampires are a constant threat, but it’s the humans--like in a Romero zombie movie--who are ultimately the more dangerous foes. A band of rapture-happy fundamentalists called The Brethren prowls the Appalachian hills in burlap hoods, burning crosses KKK-style and taking women as sex slaves. Their bald-headed leader, Jebediah Loven (Michael Cerveris), is the film’s central villain, a devious extremist who believes the vamps are God’s way of purifying the nation. The bastard’s even known to drop bloodsuckers into safe-towns via helicopter.

Director Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street) and producer Larry Fessender (House of the Devil) do a lot with a relatively minuscule budget. The cinematography and art direction, in particular, are excellent. Shooting in the economically depressed wilds of Pennsylvania--where much of The Road was filmed--they capture areas that don’t need much set dressing to look suitably post-apocalyptic, from abandoned railways to coal towns that appear to be crumbling in on themselves. This naturally amplifies the film’s not-so-subtle subtext about America’s seemingly impending downfall, with echoes of financial ruin and religious fanaticism. Mickle has an axe to grind, but at least he gets it sharp. His general approach to the material is impressive; he provides plenty of the expected vampire-slaying action--there’s enough gurgling bloodshed here to keep most gorehounds happy--but Stake Land also feels more thoughtful than your average horror movie. The character are well-defined and inspire empathy--even if the acting from the supporting players isn’t always the greatest--and the atmosphere is surprisingly mature, wistful for a bygone era. Mickle takes this too far at times, as Martin’s narration gets a bit flowery and self-serious, but I appreciate it when a “genre” filmmaker goes above and beyond the expected to deliver a film that stands out from the horror norm. Stake Land is a true rarity these days--a vampire film that doesn’t suck.

Stake Land Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There was a time when all low-budget horror movies were grimy and grainy, shot on cheapo film stock with less-than-ideal equipment, but that age has just about come to its end. With the advent of the Red One digital camera, video-shooting DSLRs like the Canon 5D Mark II, and similar rigs, indie filmmakers can now get the look of a bigger production for a fraction of the cost. Stake Land is a great example. Shot in 4K with the Red camera, the film features a digital-to-digital 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's lush, detailed, and nearly noiseless. 35mm cinematography will always hold a special place in my analog-loving heart, but let's face it--digital is the future. Stake Land looks great. There are a few soft shots, mostly related to slightly imprecise focus, but the level of clarity in general is excellent. Facial features are finely resolved, cloth and other surfaces display visible texture, and the landscape shots have crisp definition without looking artificially sharpened. The digital color grading is also effective, alternating between a warm cast with creamy highlights and cool, ominous blues. Black levels and contrast are perfect during the daytime scenes, and although the nighttime sequences can look a bit crushed, this is probably unavoidable and maybe intentional. Source noise, however, is only rarely noticeable, and there are no overt compression issues.

Stake Land Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Stake Land comes with two audio options, a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 mix. Both are capable and sound excellent, but if you've got a home theater system, you'll definitely want to stick with the 5.1 presentation, as the rear channels are used frequently in the film to strong effect. From the very first frames you'll hear cicadas buzzing in the surrounds and Mister's car making a slow swoosh from front to back. Ambient sound often adds to the sense of immersion--rain pours down heavily, a creepy hymn blares from the background, and a generator roars to life. Elsewhere, the surrounds are used for whipping helicopter blades, loud gunshots, and the screams of the undead or dying. The subwoofer activates several times to provide an undercurrent of dread. What makes the mix, though, is Jeff Grace's moody score, which sometimes evokes the 28 Days Later soundtrack, but also has its own distinct sound, alternating between quiet piano-and-string arrangements and more driving, percussive themes. The music and the effects sound full-bodied and clear. Dialogue is easily understood too, and only rarely gets muddled in the mix. The disc comes with optional English SDH subtitles.

Stake Land Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary Tracks: The disc includes two full-length cast and crew commentaries, the first with Jim Mickle, Nick Damici, Connor Paolo, Larry Fessenden, and Brent Kunkle, and the second with Mickle, Peter Phok, Adam Falk, Ryan Samul, Graham Reznick, and Jeff Grace.
• Going for the Throat: The Making of Stake Land (1080p, 1:01:55): I appreciate the sheer amount of behind-the-scenes footage that's included here, but I wish that it had been more organized and selective. Most of the material is presented as-is, unnarrated and unexplained, but once you get past the 30-minute mark there are a few interviews with the director, producer, and stars.
• Production Video Diaries (1080p, 48:58): Here we have even more behind-the-scenes material, broken into five sections, Pre-Production, Storyboards, Visual FX, Post-Production, and Toronto Film Festival Premiere and Q&A.
• Character Prequels (1080p, 34:25): Here you'll find seven short films that explore the backgrounds of several of the main characters. There are no particularly interesting revelations about the characters or the universe of Stake Land, but they're certainly worth watching if you enjoyed the film.
• Trailer (1080p, 1:48)

Stake Land Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I liked Stake Land a lot more than I thought I would. It takes itself a bit too seriously at times--the near-constant voiceover tends to be superfluous--but it delivers compelling characters, a bleakly believable setting, and no shortage of chest-spearing, vamp-killing action. I'd say it's definitely one of the better horror films of 2010, and worth checking out. Dark Sky's Blu-ray looks gorgeous, sounds great, and comes with several hours of bonus material, so I see no reason not to pick this one up if you're a vampire/zombie/post-apocalyptic film fan. Recommended.