Boy, do I love a good apocalypse. Something about the futility of life after an Armageddon appeals to me as entertainment, an environment in which the trappings of modern life fall away and all that is left is survival and the human condition viewed through that prism. The best of these films have an agenda, a point to make about humanity under these extraordinary circumstances, and perhaps that’s the attraction. The best fiction is always about what it means to be human, what we gain, what we lose. Even when the examination is less than perfect, something may echo.
“Welcome to Stake Land,” the mysterious Mister (co-writer Nick Damici, Mulberry Street) tells the teenage Martin (Connor Paolo, Gossip Girl). Orphaned by an attack of vampires, Martin falls in with Mister, travelling ever northward ahead of the worst of the vampire plague. These vampires aren’t your sparkly, smoochy ones, either. These are monstrous, mindless, bloodthirsty creatures bent on tearing you apart for every drop of sweet, sweet blood. They even have a few distinct categories, the worst of which are the ‘berserkers,’ doubly tough to kill because of hardened bone over their heart. Have to go to the base of the skull or through the back for those puppies. Along the way, Martin and Mister pass a few outposts of humanity, trading vamp teeth for goods and services, even picking up the occasional stray. Sister (Kelly McGillis, yes, that Kelly McGillis) is the victim of assaults by The Brotherhood, religious fundamentalists who believe that the vampires have come as curative for the sins of mankind, never mind their own murderous behavior. While the vampires in Stake Land serve as the funky bass line upon which the rest of the film grooves, the real villain of the movie is the Brotherhood, represented by the fanatical Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris, Fringe), who have turned the coming of the vampires into a religious movement.
Mister, Martin, Sister and the barroom singer Belle (Danielle Harris, Hatchet II) find themselves on the run from the Brotherhood, on a seemingly-endless road trip in search of New Eden, a city rumored to have escaped the vampire plague, where a government is in place and safety is surely to be found.
There is much to enjoy about Stake Land. The apocalyptic America is convincing, the human outposts as gritty as you would expect at the end of things, and the vampires are satisfyingly grotesque. Few can speak, most drooling, gibbering monsters more animal than man. I’m good with that. Enough with these angst-y undead types who just want to be loved, so prevalent in popular culture today. This does make the vampires somewhat one-dimensional, however, and only a few variations are on display, although the ‘scamp’ we encounter is suitably creepy.
Co-writer and director Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street) puts his lead from his previous mutant rat film front-and-center for Stake Land, creating an archetypal character who says little, generally speaking in one-liners that are more ominous than funny. For the most part it works, though it doesn’t feel particularly authentic. More grounded is Paolo’s portrayal of Martin, who gives us exposition through voice-over in a monotone that has hints of real desperation in it. He is good as the teenager whose childhood has vanished with the first arterial sprays of the vampiric invasion, now a professional vampire killer seeking a safe harbor to hang up his stakes and live like a regular kid.
Mickle also aims his stakes at fundamentalism capitalizing on a tragedy, a critique that feels more relevant a few years ago, but there’s still, sadly, truth in the argument. It doesn’t feel like a particularly well-delivered message here, however, more observation than comment, and perhaps that is the intent. One wishes for a more aggressive send-up, but I always give points for any movie willing to take a stand.My biggest complaints with Stake Land come in the last act, where the final confrontation seems to come too quickly, the reveal of the villain a bit too convenient. Even the denouement at a roadside grocery feels strangely weightless against the backdrop of the previous hour of the movie. Still, there are fine moments, and the movie wastes no time in getting down to business. It’s entertaining throughout, if not completely satisfying. If you’re a horror fan like me, who pines for the days when vampires were deadly monsters, and enjoy a little end of the world in your entertainment, this makes some nice viewing. For non-horror fans, it’s going to come off a little too dour, a little too hopeless, and, ultimately, a little too transitory to be embraced.
0 Yorumlar