‘Two worlds… one deadly evil!’
Stakes is a 2002 American horror film about vampire hunters on the trail of Alyssa, the vampire queen and her vicious bodyguards. Also known as Vampire Stakes
Directed by Joe Ripple (Jebediah; Dead Hunt; Crawler; Vampire Sisters; Harvesters) from a screenplay co-written with producer, cinematographer and editor Don Dohler (director of Alien Factor 2: The Alien Rampage; The Galaxy Invader; Nightbeast; The Alien Factor).
The TimeWarp Films production stars Jamie Bell, George Stover (Manos Returns; Camp Blood 666; President’s Day; et al), Steven King (Alien Factor 2: The Alien Rampage; Harvesters), Erin J. Corsair, Ashira Zimra and Leanna Chamish (The Maker of Monsters; Swarm of the Snakehead; Fear of Clowns 2; Vampire Sisters).
Plot:
Imagine a parallel earth where vampires have cut a swathe through humanity. The disease is so bad, the ravenous bloodsuckers begin feeding on each other. Three surviving humans create a jump gate to our earth.
However, Alyssa, Queen of the Vampires, and her evil bodyguards use the gate to come to our earth as well. They arrive to feed and breed. Now, the number of vampires here is growing and the humans are running out of time!
Reviews:
“Stakes is the lowest sort of low-rent home video moviemaking. I’m sure there are some out there who enjoy this sort of amateur hour in precisely the same way enjoys a good street brawl – but it’s tough to find much legitimate entertainment value in a production of such subpar quality.” eFilmCritic
” …as a whole the performances were enjoyable. The story was also pretty good. The pureblood vampires could walk in the daylight and stakes had no effect on them. It was quite a creative solution on how to kill these seemingly indestructible vampires. As far as the special effects go, I have only one minor complaint. Stakes should not have used CGI for blood.” Horror DNA
“Despite its inherent laziness, the incompetence on display under the direction of Joe Ripple is truly a spectacle which blurs the line between intentional and inept. It’s no Last Vampire on Earth (and Joe’s no Vitaliy Versace), but I have to give a modicum of respect to any lameo movie that rewards the mulleted hero not with a buxom babe, but instead leaves him with an old Irish priest.” Minion Max
“Stakes has an awful lot going against it with its use of SyFy Channel style CGI effects and the saving of the splattery gore for the film’s second half […] yet it succeeds in being an entertaining film by guilty pleasure standards, with Ripple making the film rapidly move along in its short 81 minutes time span while keeping it fast-paced that helps overlook half of the stale acting…” Steven Millan
“It has its moments and mostly keeps the action coming. Cheesy CGI, weak choreography, and a woman in a pleather goth outfit but a hair-do that belongs on a Karen. It was fun.” Uncouth
Main cast and characters:
Jamie Bell … Jake Bishop
George Stover … Father John O’Grady
Steven King … Doctor Brian Smithers
Erin J. Corsair … Elizabeth N. Fleming
Ashira Zimra … Shannon Wallace
Leanna Chamish … Alyssa, the Vampire Queen
John Michaelson … Dragus
Syn DeVil … Raven
James J. Waltz … Billy Strebb
Darla Albornoz … Vampire 1
Wayne Althoff … Bar patron 1
Steve Backus … Vampire 2
Glenn Barnes … Vampire 3
Jerry A. Bazensky … Detective 1
Frederick E. Bouchat … Detective 2
Mike Carrico … Hot Dog Vendor
Deborah Claridge … Detective 3
Frank P. Claridge … Detective 4
Michael J. Covahey … Bar patron 2
Donna DeVilbiss … Barmaid
Richard Dyszel … Count Gore De Vol (as Dick Dyszel)
Carl Ellison … Detective 5
Chelsea Leigh Ernst … Mindy
Jason C. Evans … Detective 6
Technical details:
83 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.33: 1
Audio: Mono
Trailer:
YouTube reviews:
Our own rating:
