Stake Land II (2016)

aka: The Stakelander
Dir: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen

I would not have guessed that the vampire apocalypse film STAKE LAND would get a sequel. The film does offer a different take on end times, and does a wonderful job of world creation, but its deliberate pace and inward reflection (think Terrence Malick directing a vampire flick) did not lend itself to becoming a franchise. I found the film to be above average, a tad too slowly paced for the material, but recommend it to viewers looking for a fresh take on bloodsuckers rampaging across a broken country. Here we are six years later with a follow-up.

Martin (Connor Paolo CAMP HELL), his family destroyed by The Mother (Kristina Hughes FEROCIOUS), the leader of a vampire pack, searches for his former mentor Mister (Nick Damici who also wrote the script). His plan is to find the vampire slayer extraordinaire and team up to crush The Mother and her minions. His journey takes him across North America pitting him against vampires, the malignant cult The Brotherhood and other humans who seemingly have given up hope for a better world and have turned to cannibalism for sustenance and redneck gladiatorial combat for entertainment. The world is shit, humans are no longer working together.

Finding Mister the two do team up and find a community that does work together. They also learn that they have fallen into a trap laid by The Mother who's forces are gathered to destroy the community and Mister.

Most of the navel-gazing of the first film is gone leaving the basic framework of the post-apocalyptic road film (MAD MAX II, THE ROAD, PHANTASM series). The pace is picked up, this film runs a scant 81 minutes, with an emphasis on action rather than characters. Unfortunately the low budget, it is a Syfy Channel feature, hampers the action. A few of the action set pieces left me scratching my head as to why they were shot that way but in the context of not having the funds I can understand. Fortunately the world building carried over from the original film goes a long way to elevating this film. I found the world to be that rich in ideas. It would make for an interesting role playing game where there is no limit to the imagination's budget.

Steve Williams plays a veterinarian turned doctor in the community under siege by the vampires. Look for producer Larry Fessenden in a small role as a guard who isn't as perceptive as he needs to be.

For those who enjoyed the first film, keep in mind the tonal shift of the sequel. I found this film to be just as entertaining as the first but in a different way.

** 1/2 out of ****