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Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Michael Cerveris ... see more see more... , Sean Nelson , Bonnie Dennison , Greg Jones , Traci Hovel , Tim House , Stuart Rudin , Adam Scarimbolo , Larry Fessenden , Chance Kelly , Adam Folk , Jean Brassard , Lou Sumrall , Vonia Arslanian , Phyllis Bash

America is a lost nation. When an epidemic of vampirism strikes, humans find themselves on the run from vicious, feral beasts. Cities are tombs and survivors cling together in rural pockets, fearful o... read more read more...f nightfall. When his family is slaughtered, young Martin ("Gossip Girl's" Connor Paolo) is taken under the wing of a grizzled, wayward hunter (Nick Damici) whose new prey is the Undead.

Simply known as Mister, the vampire stalker takes Martin on a journey through the locked-down towns of America's heartland, searching for a better place while taking down any bloodsuckers that cross their path. Along the way they recruit fellow travellers, including a nun (Kelly McGillis) who is caught in a crisis of faith when her followers turn into ravenous beasts. This ragtag family unit cautiously moves north, avoiding major thoroughfares that have been seized by The Brethren, a fundamentalist militia headed by Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris) that interprets the plague as the Lord's work.

Director Jim Mickle first grabbed the attention of horror film fans with his zombie-rat thriller Mulberry Street, in which Damici also starred and served as co-writer. They have teamed up again to deliver an even darker and bloodier shocker. Drawing on the post-apocalyptic frenzy described by Richard Matheson (author of the novel I Am Legend) and George Romero, STAKE LAND is a road movie with fangs and a phantasmagorical journey.

Also starring horror movie icon Danielle Harris and produced by indie horror director Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER). -- (C) IFC Films

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60% liked it

4,730 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

59 critics

R, 1 hr. 36 min.

Directed by: Jim Mickle

Release Date: April 22, 2011

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DVD Release Date: August 2, 2011

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Flixster Reviews (674)

  • Deano78
    May 13, 2012
    Deano78
    A very good post apocalyptic vampire film. It has a raw indie film feel to it and hasn't got much advertising, in the UK at least. It is very entertaining, if simple in idea but well executed. Reminded me of the Walking Dead crossed with Near Dark.
  • fb528166828
    January 19, 2012
    fb528166828
    There is such a large number of direct-to-video trash in the horror genre that floods video store shelves, and after five minutes of Stake Land, there was no reason to believe this was going to be anything different. Beginning as an almost carbon copy of Zombieland minus the humo... read moreur, the film introduces us to a post-apocalyptic world overrun by an assortment of undead bloodsuckers, and our two heroes: orphaned teen Martin (Connor Paolo) and tough as nails vampire hunter Mister (Nick Damici). What unravels however is a suprisingly moving and unique road drama, scattered with some genuinely disturbing scenes, and ultimately one of the best horror movies these tired eyes have seen in quite some time.

    Tonally, Stake Land hits all the right notes, mostly due to the wonderfully sombre musical score. It's very understated and completely appropriate for the atmosphere that director Jim Mickle constructs. Martin, Mister, and the various side characters who tag along for various parts of the journey are all fully realised and generate impressive levels of sympathy, and when things go bad the film is genuinely affecting. Just when the slow pace begins to drag a little, the film wraps things up on a suitably bleak note, yet still offers a hint of optimism in the final moments. The climactic battle isn't perhaps as effective or well explained as it probably needed to be, but so much works with Stake Land that it's possible to forgive the few flaws. It's so rare that a largely unknown horror film can surprise like this, and even for people who usually avoid the genre, Stake Land has a lot to offer.

    tinribs27.wordpress.com
  • allan913
    October 24, 2011
    allan913
    An instant classic of the genre. One of the best, most original and entertaining vampire movies ever made. A smart, brutal, intense and bone-chilling horror film. It delivers plenty of action and gritty suspensful moments to go with its compelling and strong characters. A shockin... read moreg fright-fest from start to finish. Movies of this genre dont get smarter or better than this. It has loads in intense scares and strong performances from its cast. An explosive, riveting, absorbing and mind-blowing thrill-machine of a film. A powerful and unforgettable horror film. Nick Damici is brilliant as Mister. Director, Jim Mickle has crafted a triumph.
  • LWOODS04
    October 21, 2011
    LWOODS04
    Cast: Danielle Harris, Kelly McGillis, Connor Paolo, Michael Cerveris, Bonnie Dennison, Chance Kelly, Sean Nelson, Nick Damici, Adam Scarimbolo, Marianne Hagan

    Director: Jim Mickle

    Summary: This genre-bending thriller combines vampires, religious fanatics and post-apocaly... read moreptic horrors with a coming-of-age tale that finds drifter Mister (Nick Damici) training young Martin (Connor Paolo) to survive the nightmare that has become America as they journey to New Eden. While they combat the mutated bloodsuckers and vicious humans seeking to rule the land, Mister and Martin rescue other wanderers and become a tightly knit family of warriors.

    My Thoughts: "For this to be a low budget thriller/horror flick, it was really quite good. I wasn't expecting what I got, which was a great looking horror filled vampire/apocalyptic great time. Acting, plot, directing, all of it is good. It's a quiet eerie film that won't leave you bored. The action starts at the beginning and never lets up. There is lots of gore and some bloody good killing in this indie horror flick. The religious freaks are insanely crazy. They really creeped me out. The film is scary, sad, dark, gory, and violent. Not one for kiddies for sure. But one you can enjoy on a dark stormy night. Enjoy."
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    September 28, 2011
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "The most dangerous thing is to be alive."

    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, ... read morea death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden.

    REVIEW

    Stake Land is another in a long line of survival horror films. Like a cross between The Book of Eli without the ham, Zombieland without the humour, or The Road without the depression. It's also a coming of age film, think if Kevin from The Wonder Years was suddenly plunged into post apocalyptic vampire America.

    The vampires themselves are interesting, appearing more like shuffling decaying zombies than the slick, superhuman night crawlers portrayed in many a Hollywood blockbuster. This only adds to the appeal as it gives the vampires a vulnerability that gives the magic ingredient of hope to the storyline. And hope is the theme that stands out starkly against the depressing backdrop of a ruined country as the subjects of the story travel North in search of a the fabled 'New Eden' But of course, like any good film maker depicting the breakdown of society knows, the 'nasties' are the least of the problems. And it's the religious fanatics who prove to be the true villains of this tale.

    It's a tense but enjoyable film, fairly straight forward, but with one or two interesting / brave moments along the way. The ending will have viewers divided though, a lazy cut and run as the plot just runs out of track and finally hits the buffers, or a clever but understated finale that leaves the fate of the world to the viewers imagination.
  • phubbs1
    June 22, 2011
    phubbs1
    Very sombre and bleak vampire/zombie flick which is straight as an arrow with no silly effects, flying through the air or martial arts nonsense. Let me key you in here, this is a vamp flick but its basically 'effectless', no glowing cgi deaths for vamps here. Based around a plagu... read moree infecting humankind leaving few survivors in a post apocalyptic world, the main two leads, one boy and one adult male, drift through the US taking out vamps whenever they can and savaging what they can on their way to Canada, not too original is it hehe.


    Well yes its not very original in any way, in fact its totally 100% not original and very predictable to be honest, the film is fantastic in looks and atmosphere for sure, its dirty, grimy, gritty, murky and quite depressing, this isn't your regular flashy vamp flick. The acting is also top notch with no huge names used which is better for the film in this case, lead hard guy 'Mister' played by Nick Damici in a performance which is quiet, understated and solid much like Jean Reno in 'Leon', in fact I kinda refer to this as 'Leon with vampires', his sidekick played by Connor Paolo is also pretty understated yet powerful in performance, little dialog from either throughout relying more on expression and action but it works, there is also a fine performance from a pretty old looking Kelly McGillis.


    Those are the plus points, cast and atmosphere, unfortunately as said the plot has been over used to death but nothing is really explained in the film, no idea how the plague started or why it turns people to vamps, there are many spots in the film where I was asking myself how or why eg. why does Mister leave the youngsters at the end? why is Canada the only safe place? (I presume because of the mention of weather temp) and the chopper sequence was pretty questionable too. There is no backstory for Mister or any hint of and whenever these kind of things happen (US specifically of course, chock full of lunatics) why do you always get groups of religious lunatics trying to kill the remaining human survivors for no real reason? haha no rhythm or rhyme it seems. On another quick note...there is always plenty of fuel in these films too haha even for a chopper it seems!

    Basically I wanted to really like this film but I just found myself rolling my eyes at the plot as it unfolded, especially the religious cult part, which is a shame as the acting is good and it looks great. I can't help but think the vampire/zombie genre may well have used up all possible known ideas and concepts now as new films are just too similar.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    September 19, 2010
    MidnightMadwoman
    This? This won the People's Choice award for a Midnight Madness movie? Hearing that, I had such high hopes for this film and it seemed to disappoint on all fronts. Imagine a post-apocalyptic road movie with vampires, with none of the fun that comes with vampires. This film, I thi... read morenk, suffers from two huge problems: the filmmakers don't seem to care about thier characters and just throw them away willy-nilly (without letting you get to know them enough to like them). The main character is a dude who's as big a badass and as good at killing vampires as Woody Harrelson was at killing zombies in Zombieland. This would be really sweet if "Mister" took any pleasure in it whatsoever. This complete and total lack of levity saps everything that should be fun out of this movie and ends up making it a big, depressing mess. Nobody in this picture has anything to live for. Except the scary fundies who act as the villains and turn out to be the film's most interesting characters. Not that the audience really gets to find that out.

    This movie isn't without merit though, and I'd like to commend the filmmakers for not being weenies when it came to putting horror on the screen. The opening sequence showing a single vampire attacking a family one by one in a barn led me to the conclusion that "this is some stone-cold shit." I kind of admire a team that is not afraid to kill not one but two babies onscreen. But man, you have to put it in the midst of a story that's worth seeing. The stone cold has to be balanced with enough warmth to give the story life, and Stake Land fails at this completely. It's like Zombieland, without all the things that made Zombieland fun (or if it took itself WAY too seriously).
  • fb704730572
    April 21, 2012
    fb704730572
    An interesting and effective blend of genres (The Road meets The Walking Dead meets the Book of Eli), with great cinematography, a smart script, and generally strong performances. Despite it's independent budget, the film does some very good apocalyptic world-building. The film i... read mores also strong on atmosphere, with a dark, meditative, introspective mood throughout. I had some problems with the ending, and the exposition felt a little sloppy, but overall it's a strong and interesting apocalyptic vampire thriller.

    3.5/5 Stars
  • ryguy4738
    October 22, 2011
    ryguy4738
    7.5/10

    Since the zombie genre is a tired one, one simply cannot get away with making derivative trash any longer; even the most uninventive, unoriginal of filmmakers are now being forced to embed a twist on the genre conventions in order to entertain. Sadly, this could still ... read moremean that their movie is nothing more than survivors blowing off chunks of undead flesh and walking through burning cities and the like. Sometimes, I'm fine with that; but in order to be credited as one with talent, the filmmaker must be at least somewhat creative. And if you still find yourself craving some zombie action even in these dark days; then I've got a movie for you. It's called "Stake Land", it's an Independent horror film produced by Larry Fessenden, who owns Glass Eye Pix; the company that helped distribute the film. With his name attached, it will someday get an audience (hopefully when the rest of the world comes to terms with reality and realizes that Fessenden is just a really radical and cool guy overall). For now, I don't expect that many will see it; but if they do, then boy, they're in for quite a treat.

    This bleak, depressing, but surprisingly involving spin on the zombie apocalypse situation/plot was written and directed by Jim Mickle, whose last film was "Mulberry Street", an eccentric horror flick that was also about zombies, but that time around, the infection was spread through rats; and passed down to the people were some of the traits of that very infamous rodent. Mickle hasn't necessarily made something terribly different here, but all-the-same, he once again proves that he can skillfully direct a movie that has both wit, substance, and material that prompts the audience to think. It's not for everyone - most depressing apocalyptic tales are not - but in a world where excessive violence, gore, themes of both the political and religious variety, and zombies themselves are constantly being abused by no-talent writers and directors, this is admittedly better than the average horror movie, zombie movie, or of course, depressing apocalyptic movie.

    A world-wide epidemic is destroying American and the surrounding countries as the characters in the film speak. The problem seems to be that somehow, vampire-zombie hybrids have become very much possible; and they are vicious, hungry, and fast to react. In a world such as this, if one does not fight back, then they are the next victim.

    The protagonists here are Mister (Nick Damici, who also co-scripted) and Martin (Connor Paolo), a kid that the older man takes in as a sort of apprentice. Over time, we learn that Martin has accompanied Mister on his journey through silent, destroyed earth and forest; in exchange for fighting experience and overall companionship. The two have plans to make it far in their journey; although in a world that appears to be constantly decaying by the moment, where will they go?

    The two walk a lot, talk a lot, drive a lot, and kill their fair share of vamps; as I think one should refer to them as. After all, it's made clear that those unfortunately infected have more Dracula in them than born-again flesh. Anyways, I am getting slightly off track. In their travels, Martin and Mister encounter about as many humans as they do vampires. It doesn't take too long for them to add a nun, a pregnant young woman (Danielle Harris), and a marine to the ever-growing and ever-decreasing group. Sadly, not everyone can survive in the end, but we know how where this grand adventure will eventually lead, we have the appropriate expectations, and for now, we wait.

    I liked Mickle's silent, observant treatment of this material. I am informed that his early intentions were to make a more excessive apocalyptic romp, which producer Fessenden disapproved of and referred to as "Terminator 5". I am glad that he set Mickle straight and led him down the right path; to make his own movie. Instead of loud noises and violence, the director cares more about his characters - and there's actually some well-written dialogue that is exchanged between a select few of them . I find it nigh impossible not to admire that; this could have easily been a dud, but it's energetic, visually accurate in its approximation of what it's like to live in a world of hell, and there are actually some brilliant little scenes that stick out in particular. In the story told, the group is captured by a religious cult; who believe that the hell-on-earth is the work of God himself. I can't say I was surprised that such people showed up; they always do in these kinds of movies. I imagine Mickle did his homework before he made "Stake Land", and while it doesn't have the best ending, or the most flawless of characters (save for Mister, who's a badass in every last sense of the word), but what it does have is a skillfully executed view of the end of days, creative and never over-the-top disgusting gore effects, and surprisingly enough, a purpose. It revives my faith in the zombie film; but then again, I suppose every year, someone's got to do that.
  • Junnerayemalinao2012
    November 20, 2011
    Junnerayemalinao2012
    Brilliant. And I thought it will be another Blade like film about vampire apocalypse with cool action sequences. But then it is not and it is good. Stake Land is well acted, beautifully written and emotionally attaching. I could even feel this being a best selling novel. This fil... read morem is another underrated vampire film that anyone should appreciate and holy crap I demand for a sequel! Which is something I know would not happen and makes me sad.

View All Stake Land Reviews

Critic Reviews

Ben Sachs
September 12, 2011
Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

Mickle's observation of a devastated working-class America is so sharp that the horror elements, though effectively handled, come to feel like an afterthought. Full Review

Ethan Gilsdorf
June 16, 2011
Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe

Other undead movies needlessly foreground the action. "Stake Land'' has its fight scenes, but here they're secondary. Full Review

Robert Abele
April 28, 2011
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

Shows that a savvy mixture of characterization, atmosphere and gore-eographed suspense can make even the most familiar fright tropes feel vaguely organic again. Full Review

Peter Hartlaub
April 28, 2011
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

"Stake Land" bursts with action, ideas and interesting characters. Full Review

Michael Phillips
April 28, 2011
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Mickle has talent, and the end credits include a character known as "French Canadian Cannibal," which is worth a half-star right there. Full Review

Roger Ebert
April 28, 2011
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Director Jim Mickle, who co-wrote the film with his star Nick Damici, has crafted a good-looking, well-played and atmospheric apocalyptic vision. Full Review

Scott Tobias
April 22, 2011
Scott Tobias, NPR

Though it has plenty of shocks, the film creates a wasteland that would be compellingly deranged even without vampires pressing insistently at every border. Horror is just the half of it. Full Review

Kyle Smith
April 22, 2011
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Some numbers are too large to contemplate. How many drops of water are there in the ocean? How many grains of sand are there in the desert? How many more apocalyptic zombie movies must I sit through? Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis
April 21, 2011
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

Ryan Samul's cinematography and Jeff Grace's score pick up the slack, smoothly maintaining an unstable atmosphere of lurking horror. Full Review

Rex Reed
April 20, 2011
Rex Reed, New York Observer

There isn't much dialogue, and most of the 98-minute running time is devoted to locking in one terrifyingly gothic encounter after another, but the characters are well defined, and director Mickle mak... Full Review

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