This Underrated Vampire Horror Movie Doubles as a Brutal Apocalypse Film

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 1964s The Last Man on Earth and 2007s I Am Legend. However, there is one such movie that often escapes notice: Jim Mickles 2010 Americana-flavored Stake 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 in Stake 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.