"Stake Land" Reviewed

This 2010 movie was described as, "Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden."

I heard so many good things about this movie ahead of time and was anxious to see it. A darling man gave me this video and told me to see it. He and I have the same taste in movies, so I was not surprised that I would like it so much. It had a feel like "The Walking Dead" in some ways and "Jericho." I really appreciated the heartland feel to it, the narration by the teen boy, and the settings. It never felt like a set built to feel like an abandoned world filled with death. It actually felt like it was filmed in such a world.

Mostly, I appreciated that it made no apologies. There was no violence just for effect and the characters were so removed from the horror, that as a viewer, I too was removed. It was a very delicate dance to get that across without cutting the viewer off. We still felt a touch of care because of this boy narrator and that little island of hope and innocence he maintained for the carefree world he once knew. It had a unique take on an apocalyptic theme, taking the situation and showing the social implications in subtle ways, such as using vampire fangs as a kind of currency and way to show your power and ability in the new reality.

The directed maintained a good balance of action to narrative and you really felt that anything could happen. You could not predict the plot which I greatly appreciated. The insight into the kid's altered world at a critical time into manhood was brilliant. There was no better sex or age to make this main character. He was coming into adulthood with a need for an elder male's guidance, a new set of priorities, and the raging hormones, indecision and insecurity that made it the ideal point of view.

Of the apocalyptic movies I have seen (and there's a lot), this is in my top 5, most definitely. I highly recommend it! I saw two worthwhile horror movies in 2011; "Insidious" and "Stake Land." The only two that I ended up owning and that says a lot because I am really cautious to only acquire movies I know I will want to see again and again.