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Stake Land (2010) - Jim Mickle


So, you take Zombieland, The Road, Walking Dead, and From Dusk 'Till Dawn. Roll them up into a nice little macabre burrito and you have yourself Stake Land. The most original vampire movie that I have seen in quite sometime. Yeah, we are all familiar with the emotional and over-dramatic vampire. The frilly shirts and pale skin. We get it! This movie combines the uber-popular Zombie genre with the uber-popular Vampire genre and creates this hybrid that just works so well! I was really bummed to realize that this wasn't a new AMC series that I could catch on a weekly basis.

In a weird post-apocalyptic world Vampire/Zombies hunt the remaining humans. Martin's family is massacreby these creatures and he is saved by a mysterious vigilante known only as Mister. Mister is pretty bad-ass. He teaches Martin how to survive in this deadly new world. The two team up and look for survivors and head north to a secure new Eden. However, it isn't only Vamp/Zom's it's crazy rednecks and religious freaks that are certain God sent this disease. Secretly the movie is telling you to move to Canada. It's like the greatest commercial for America's hat! 

The gore and splatter shots are all over the place. Not really too many scary moments other than a few jumps. It's still a really fun ride. The characters are all flushed out really well, even though our hero barely has a name. The towns that our duo stumble across are all well planned out and finely tuned little communities that could have been functioning well before the movie had started or ended. It felt that good. Like I said above, I was bummed when I found out this wasn't a television show. It would be a great alternative to the Walking Dead. 

I suggest this movie to anyone that loves survival-type drama. If you liked watching Lost or you loved Lord of the Flies then this storyline is right up your alley. It does such a great job of getting you to identify with a character before throwing him right out into a this really dangerous place. If you have time to sit down and pay attention to it, then I suggest going and finding this. Watch it. It's a good movie. It's independent too.
  • Actor Nick Damici carved the long bow used in the film from oak, in his kitchen. 
  • Winner of eight awards!
  • Throughout filming, actor Nick Damici ("Mister") wore his mother's actual wedding ring on the pinkie of his right hand, as a way of acknowledging his character's back story.
 
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