Director: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
Writer: Nick Damici (Screenplay)
Starring: Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Laura Aramsen, A.C. Peterson, Steven Williams, Bonnie Dennison
Plot: When his home of New Eden is destroyed by a revitalized Brotherhood and its new Vamp leader, Martin finds himself alone in the badlands of America with only the distant memory of his mentor and legendary vampire hunter, Mister, to guide him.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Solid Sequel to Underrated Vampire Film
Story: Stake Land 2 starts as we see Martin (Paolo) trained through the first film now a leader of a community that survives vampire attacks but his new life is shattered when he loses everything including his wife and daughter, left with only visions of his former mentor Mister (Damici) he roams the world alone searching for Mister.
Martin wants to take down the new leader of the brotherhood of the vampires, known only as The Mother (Hughes) he knows that only Mister has the skills to get the job done. Once Martin reunites with Mister the two must continue their battle with the vampires but also face the human enemies in the world.
Thoughts on Stake Land 2
Characters – Martin has lost his family to a vampire attack, now he seeks his mentor to get revenge and put an end to the vampire problem in the world, he is now capable to fight and this time he has more to fight for than ever. Mister is the mentor that taught Martin everything he knows and he has continued fighting his own way and now he is ready to join arms with Martin. Lady is a feral woman the guys find and take her under their wing to protect her against the common enemy. The Mother does make for a good villain, we know she is heartless and will kill anyone who didn’t obey here.
Performance – Connor Paolo is good as the kid of the partnership, he shows the emotionless stage you would expect his character to be in. Nick Damici is good as the Mister character, he did also get the writing credit here so you would expect his character to get the best lines, which he does but otherwise this is a good aging hero performance. The rest of the performance are also good through the film even if we don’t get much development from the villains side of things.
Story – The story follows the reunion between mentor and student as they look to kill a new deadly vampire leader that can control other vampires making them deadlier than ever. This is fine as a story, the problem I found was main about just how easy Mister was to find, it felt like just a couple of days but it is designed to feel like it should be longer. The battles themselves also come off too easy, find a place, get invaded, find a new place get invaded, there never seems to be a settled moment in the locations that feel like they are settled. When you do look into the deeper plot things feel rushed but otherwise it is a fun to watch.
Action/Horror – The action used through the film is fighting the vampires, most you can’t see too much but otherwise nothing overly fresh. The horror is the attacks happening at night which should add terror.
Settings – The settings are just designed to feel like safe holds in the battle but seem to always have one big weakness.
Special Effects – The effects are only used when needed which is nice because we don’t need too much from this side of everything.
Scene of the Movie – The opening walk Martin goes on because it shows just how alone he feels now.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Night fights are nearly impossible to see what is happening.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun action horror but in the end it just feels like it is hard to watch because of the lighting through the most part.
Overall: Solid sequel for the fan base of the original.
Rating
