There have been vampire flicks and apocalypse movies since the dawn of cinema. The two horror staples have mixed before, creating their own subgenre with notable works like 1964’sThe Last Man on Earthand 2007’sI AmLegend. However, there is one such movie that often escapes notice:Jim Mickle’s 2010 Americana-flavoredStake Land. Following a modern cowboy, Mister (Nick Damici), and his pseudo-son, Martin (Connor Paolo), the two traverse the back roads of small-town America in the wake of a vampire outbreak. As they head north in their ramshackle car, they meet a nun, Sister (Kelly McGillis), a pregnant woman, Belle (Danielle Harris), and a former marine, Willie (Sean Nelson). This piecemeal family has no great destination in mind or revenge plot to enact.Stake Land’s loose narrative allows Mickle to play with his setting and world.No aesthetic choice is made haphazardly inStake Land; the nostalgic rural communities, the thoughtful rumination on religion, and the wild nature of the vampires all coalesce to paint a believable, post-apocalyptic portrait of America.
The World-Building in ‘Stake Land’ Is On Par with Any Fantasy Movie
People often forget thatworld-building isn’t just for fantasy and science fiction.Stake Land’s world-building is part of what makes the movie’s horror so believable. The film primarily takes place in rural, out-of-the-way towns inthe Southern area of the United States.Regardless of vampires, the towns Mister and Martin pass through have a certain charm to them. There are no box stores, the walls are paneled with knotty pine, and everyone wears feed sack dresses or plaid. The bars the duo stops in feature folk singers, homemade beer, and line dancing. It all screams of longing for a simpler, bygone era. The horrors of the apocalypse have forced communities back together and encouraged the strengthening of interpersonal relationships native to small towns.
A Horrible Vampire Movie Played a Part in a Horrible Real-Life Vampire Murder
The killer claimed to have watched the movie 100 times in less than a year.
Woven into these nostalgia-drenched settings are reminders of the harsh reality of this new world.Nailed to beams and lampposts are theburnt bodies of vampires. The creatures are blackened to a withered crisp and smoking in the sunlight. It is often noted that the people in the towns Mister and Martin pass through don’t know how to kill vampires. Instead, they cope with any vampires that breach the walls of their town by hanging them from modern-day crosses and letting them burn in sunlight. This form of “hunting” vampires cycles back into the idea of community care. The vampires are not dead, but as a group, these towns can neutralize the threat. Seeing how these towns operate and function, despite the collapse of a central government, helps the viewer navigate the world better. Little details color the various towns alike, like how there is always someone brewing alcohol, or how the citizens respect Mister and Martin upon learning they are vampire hunters, giving the fabric ofStake Landa grounded texture.
‘Stake Land’ Looks at the Danger of Religion in the Apocalypse
Religion is a crucial part of world-building inStake Land. Sister’s introduction effectively lays outthe dichotomy of religionin post-apocalyptic America. The only time she is dressed in proper nun attire,Sister is chased by two members of the Brotherhood,a doomsday cultthat haswarped Christian rhetoricto exert dominance and excuse acts of violence. Sister’s habit is dirtied and torn from her pursuers. The two men wildly chasing after her are dressed in a cross between medieval peasants and cavemen, wearing tunics made of tanned skins. They are the hunters and she is the prey.
About her attackers, Sister tells Mister, “They said they were Christians.”Sister is a maternal figurefor Martin, a source of comfort and guidance. She is also representative of “good” religion, which goes hand-in-hand with her care of Martin. In one scene, while laying a trap for vampires in a junkyard, Sister finds a Jesus statue inside an old car. Kelly McGillis gives a heart-aching smile as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a matching statue of the Virgin Mary. The camera lingers as she sets the two next to each other, uniting the figurines. The Mary figurine is a symbol frequently revisited, representing a moment of peace for whichever character happens to hold her.Stake Landis primarily concerned with how American religious practice might twist in the event of an apocalypse. From the start of the film, as Mister flips through radio stations, the audience is treated to clips of religious fearmongering and prophets declaring that god has abandoned America. When the Brotherhood kidnaps Mister, Martin, and Sister, they prove to be the true antagonists of the film.
Stake Landtakes arefreshing stance on religionby not preaching to its audience. America has, for better or worse, turned to religion for comfort in its darkest hour. In the hands of a lesser writing duo, the existence of the Brotherhood would signal to a viewer that the movie is decrying organized religion outright. The presence of a nun as a secondary character, and the constant allusions to Biblical figures and stories in another film might suggest the movie believes religion is crucial to surviving the worst.Stake Landdoes neither of these things. Religion exists in this world because it exists in the modern day. Mickle and co-writer Damici were clearly interested in seeing what might bethe natural progression of American worship when pushed to the limit.These questions of god and how to practice feel essential to the movie, and it’s hard to imagineStake Landwithout its exploration of religion.
The Vampires Aren’t the Main Villains in ‘Stake Land’
The Brotherhood is terrifying, far more so than the campy violence of the vampires the movie has so far been littered with.The ever-present threat of sexual violence towards Sister, and later Belle, the branding of members, and the absolute belief that what they are doing is morally right makes the Brotherhood genuinely unnerving. The moreStake Landreveals about the Brotherhood, the more the movie layers in an atmosphere of psychological horror. Willie reveals to Mister that the Brotherhood is partially responsible for the fall of Washington DC, having dropped vampires from helicopters onto the city below. Later, Mister and the gang experience this insanity for themselves when the Brotherhood targets a town they’re spending the night in. While bordering on absurd, it does make the Brotherhood a greater threat than if they were an isolated cult established in one town. Once Mister and Martin save Sister from the two Brotherhood members, the cult crops up again and again, unrelenting in their torment of the duo.
‘Stake Land’ Isn’t Your Typical Vampire Horror Movie
Ultimately,Stake Landis a vampire movie unconcerned with thetraditional trappings of vampire movies. There are no posh-accented vampires; none with abnormally pale skin or billowing sleeves. Instead,Stake Land’s vampires are feral and gross. They wear rags and often look like they’ve dipped themselves in tar. They run and attack in out-of-control, jerking movements. There is none of the expected classiness or relishing in their blood drinking. They are wild and unthinking in their violence.
This gritty rendering of the vampires better situates them in the world established byStake Land.How bizarre it would have been to see the gothic, fashion-forward vamps ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, or the refined and cultured vampires ofInterview with a Vampire.Taking the vampires and making them akin to wild animals strengthens the world-buildingStake Landtook such pains to create. These nonverbal, crazed vamps serve more as canon fodder for the film. They exist to give the world a reason for being post-apocalyptic and to give the audience fun kill scenes. These vampires are hard to kill, and their deaths are often drawn out. A brief flashback to the initial outbreak shows a vampire licking blood off a window as his victim slides to the ground. It is one of the few times the movie bothers to show a successful kill committed by a vampire.The monsters are background noise effectively utilized to elevate the themes ofStake Land.
Stake Landdisappeared under the radar after its initial release. Dismissed as yet another apocalypse flick, audiences never latched ontoStake Land.With the recent rise in interest in Americana imagery, specifically, visuals drawing on the Midwest and Southern regions,Stake Landmight find a new life. The cozy, small-town vibe of most of the movie’s setting paired with the ultraviolence of the vampire kills makesStake Landa fun watch. It’s not a particularly complicated film, but there are no loose ends or plot holes that often plague campy horror movies.Stake Landis the perfect movie for someone looking for a little bit of found family and a lot of bizarre kills.
Stake Landis available to stream on Roku in the US.
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