Stake Land

After an aggressive introduction evoking B-movie zombie massacres, Stake Land gradually evolves into a journey of lonely souls in a post-apocalyptic world in which some people are no better than the feared “vampires” (didn’t I write something similar about The Road?). Well-chosen actors make the characters seem lifelike, the film does not contain any cheap clichés and does not deliver self-serving violence and blood, and it’s accompanied by quality music in the form of sad piano and string motifs that add to the oppressive atmosphere of hopelessness. All of that makes it a completely different, more skillfully directed and overall better film than you would expect. I’m giving it four stars because of its low budget. If it were a big-budget movie starring Will Smith, I would demand a more sophisticated script and stick with three stars. (06/08/2011)

The post-apocalyptic atmosphere is great and the vampires look great. It’s no wonder that Stake Land was a success at festivals, but watch out for those expectations. Though there are a couple of action deaths, I would never label this as “action horror”, it’s actually closer to The Road. It’s a sequence of scenes without any significant escalation or fuller plot. Fortunately, the film was able to get me invested in the characters enough to feel sorry when something nasty happened to them, otherwise it would be easy to bury, and I’m sure that’s just what many viewers will do. I’ll be nice today and I’ll give it four stars, but it’s so-so. (05/30/2011)

The Road with action, Zombieland without humour, The Walking Dead with vampires in a film that feels like cut out from a much larger and better material. (06/25/2011)