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Stake Land

Play trailer Poster for Stake Land R Released Apr 22, 2011 1h 36m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
After a plague turns America into a realm of vampires, a hunter (Nick Damici) of the depraved creatures travels cross-country with an orphan (Connor Paolo) he rescued, searching for a safe haven.
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Stake Land

Stake Land

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Critics Consensus

Though the genre is well worn at this point, director Jim Mickle focuses on strong characterization and eerie atmosphere to craft an effective apocalyptic vampire chiller that also manages to pack a mean punch.

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Critics Reviews

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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. Sep 12, 2011 Full Review Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) Like Romero, Mickle has a pragmatic attitude to genre convention: even the corniest stereotypes can be turned to new purposes. Rated: 3/5 Jun 22, 2011 Full Review Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard Somehow its posse of American travellers, attempting to reach the Eden of Canada while assailed by vampires, seems a little dull. Rated: 2/5 Jun 17, 2011 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review With sure-handed direction driving a moody tone, the steadily paced and character-driven story proves to be more than your average monster fare. Rated: 3/4 Jun 7, 2023 Full Review Jason Best Movie Talk The pace is deliberately measured, with time to spare for the orphan hero's elegiac voiceover narration. When the action comes, however, it does so in savage and bloody bursts. Dec 5, 2020 Full Review Abbie Bernstein Assignment X Don't misunderstand -- if you want to follow a few tough folks battling their way through a monster-infested world, Stake Land delivers. It just could have been thought out more thoroughly. Rated: B- Feb 15, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Sam B A fairly new and fresh take on the standard vampire flick. Believable characters you care about, slow brooding atmosphere interspersed with some gory violence. I really enjoyed this. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review IrateTyrant C ZOMBIELAND meets 28 DAYS LATER The question you need to ask before watching Stake Land is how similar is it to Zombieland? The answer: Very similar, but strikingly different in many ways. It may have more in common with 28 Days Later, with the onset of the premise. But it has an imagination of its own, to be sure. As most of it takes place in the Adirondack mountains, the scenery is lush throughout most of the film. The cinematography is quite good, which helps support the framework. The acting is definitely on or slightly above par, especially from Connor Paolo who went on to have bit parts in some other movies. Paolo is mildly entertaining as the youngster who latches on to the older Mister character, deeply reminiscent of Eisenberg and Harrelson in Zombieland. Having come out a year later than Zombieland, it's clear the influence. Even the title, "Stake Land" is uttered in a clear voice-over inspired by the previous movie's success. There are really three types of vampire movies: those that focus on the victims, such as I Am Legend, those that focus on the vampires, such as Interview with a Vampire, and those that divvy up both sides, such as From Dusk Til Dawn. This movie falls in the victims category, with mostly one-dimensional monsters as the vampires until they start to evolve later in the movie into more of a From Dusk Til Dawn version. Zombieland minus the humor, 28 Days Later with vampires, or a dumbed down From Dusk Til Dawn, anyway you cut it, this movie uses other vampire movies as its stock and blends the components only semi-competently. Entertaining? Yes. Enough to write home about? Barely. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/01/24 Full Review Craig B A reasonable post-apocalyptic vampire flick. Reasonably well-acted, likeable and well-developed characters and plenty of action-filled scenes with some pretty nasty vamps. A kind of poor man's The Walking Dead is probably the best comparison here. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/19/24 Full Review M7AMD A its actually a bad movie i have no idea how people would give it more than 3 out of 10, its has maybe one or two good scenes the rest its just blatantly boring and stupid, the story felt like it was inspired by a cheap PS2 apocalypse game, good poster though. bad, boring, and pointless story bad acting bad characters awful villains bad soundtrack worst ending i have seen in a while stay far away from it! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/14/24 Full Review Alexis J Well executed take on a well worn genre. Well Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/24 Full Review David W Zombieland (but better and with vampires) meets The Road. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/27/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Stake Land

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a plague turns America into a realm of vampires, a hunter (Nick Damici) of the depraved creatures travels cross-country with an orphan (Connor Paolo) he rescued, searching for a safe haven.
Director
Jim Mickle
Producer
Peter Phok, Brent Kunkle, Adam Folk, Derek Curl
Screenwriter
Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Distributor
IFC Films, Dark Sky
Production Co
Glass Eye Pix
Rating
R (Language|Brief Nudity|Strong Bloody Horror Violence)
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 22, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 30, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$18.5K
Runtime
1h 36m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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