Stake Land – DVD Review

The Film:

It’s hard to talk about a new vampire film without canonizing the genre, something that been more of a sell-able product to teens than a source of true horror. The vampire has been a long standing image of the purest images of horror whether it’s been in literature, folklore, or early film. Much like the slasher film burnout from the 1980s and its wimpy (in every sense of the word) resurrection in the 1990s, the vampire film has followed this route. What will shake the hair gel and wimpy attitudes that have de-fanged the genre? Great stories. Pure and simple.

Mulberry Street from director Jim Mickle was a clever and fun little movie. Maybe it was even a damn good movie, but nothing there, in my opinion thanks to hindsight, was an indicator to how great his follow-up in Stake Land would be. And I loved Mulberry Street.

Much like how AMC’s The Walking Dead isn’t really about the zombies as it is about the people struggling to survive, Stake Land isn’t really about vampires. Sure, they’re there. The vampires here reek; they’re barbaric, savage, and unromantic. Picture Max Schreck as Nosferatu as an rural Alabama  citizen, instead of these sleek, emo-esque vamps of the current fare. But it’s Mister (Nick Damici) and Martin (Connor Paolo) that Stake Land follows with their surrogate father/son relationship as told in the Old West.

In fact, Stake Land is a western. The rural landscape is beautifully shot and also scored by Jeff Grace, solemnly narrated by the character of Martin, which echoes the works of Terrance Malick in Days of Heaven or Ang Lee in his criminally underrated Ride with the Devil. It’s grim, moody, and ethereal. All they want to do is to find New Eden, a religiously named colony that could be a new start. The religious elements in Stake Land aren’t there to preach or mock, but rather showcase the agenda-based faith, something that has corroded religion here in America, as well as the Middle East. In fact, vampires aren’t the film’s scariest figures. It’s The Brotherhood.

The cannibalistic missionaries are a stark contrast to a nun Mister helps out. They both believe in God, but hope and faith are two different things to them. The whole movie plays out a lot like a parable of how people lived during the Great Depression, only with vampires. Mickle has placed his stamp on a genre that seems more dead than undead now days, a rousing nickle-and-dime production. Thoroughly magnificent, Stake Land is a great mix of the zombie apocalypse by the way of a western, proving that great stories, characters, and film-making are just one clever writer/director away from making us forget the garbage the genre has been feasting on.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Dark Sky Films delivers a solid standard def release. The picture, while it would definitely benefit from seeing it in 1080p, is solid, detailed, and crisp. No issues here. The DD 5.1 mix is equally as good. Loud, moody, nice rear speaker mix, again, superb disc here.

Commentaries: Writer/Director Jim Mickle, Writer/Actor Nick Damici, Actor Connor Paolo, Producer/Actor Larry Fessenden, Producer Brent Kunkle appear on the first track, offering up a fun, chatty look at the film’s production, a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Now the second track with Writer/Director Jim Mickle, Producers Peter Phok & Adam Folk, Director of Photography Ryan Samul, Sound Designer Graham Reznick, Composer Jeff Grace is more technical savvy, which focuses on the production’s nuts and bolts, offering up a damn good how-to on a dime for budding film-makers.

Going for the Throat – Making of Stake Land: Consisting of raw footage from the making of the film, we get a rough look at low budget film-making. Runs for about an hour.

Character Prequels: Featuring seven characters, directed by Mickle, Danielle Harris, and even Larry Fessenden, we get small glimpses at the characters prior to the events in the movie. Half promo, half cool, they should be fun little things for fans.

Video Diaries from director Jim Mickle, Trailers, and Toronto International Film Festival Q&A round out the extras.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating: