At Stake: Vampire Solutions (2012) Poster

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7/10
Fun Little Film
Athanatos1735 January 2020
I would suggest that if you don't like low budget films, then don't bother with this film. Now that that disclaimer is out of the way we can get to the review.

I had absolutely zero expectations going into this movie, fully prepared to turn it off at a moments notice, yet the next thing I knew I was watching the end credits.

A fun little film that although about vampire hunters, doesn't have any scares, but what it does have is some moments of laughter.

The vampire effects and makeup are reflective of the budget, meaning they simply look like someone lathered the actors up with ketchup, and it is shot on a single cam in the found footage genre.

Despite this, I thought the acting to be more than passable, especially people seeming somewhat nervous and correcting themselves mid dialogue, which only adds to the sense that it is an actual documentary and not scripted.

Although most of the actors did a fairly good job, Joshua Brunson stands out for his portrayal of Roy the hick.

Be sure to stay for the credits, where the filmmakers made sure that you get a good last chuckle.

Recommended for those not put off by extremely low budget films.
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7/10
Flat Out Fun!
jkh-0253723 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
( I checked off contains spoilers, but I don't really think I'm giving anything away here... so, don't worry too much )

I just went from watching one of the worst low budget vampire flicks to the best! AS:VS is flat out fun! I'm going with 7 stars, because I can absolutely see myself watching this movie again... and it's my understanding that this was done on a micro-budget...

So... what to expect from this movie? It's a college film students documentary ( fictional obviously )... it's filmed almost exactly as how a college thesis would be filmed, except they went ahead and added vampires and a team of vampire hunters... Because of the "poorish" quality of acting, it REALLY feels like a completely legit documentary.

All of the characters are fun / likable. The pace of the movie is done perfectly... ie, cut scenes from 1-on-1 interviews to getting a report of vampires in the graveyard and checking it out... Believe it or not, some of the special effects were really pretty amazing for a micro-budget film. They did a good job of being able to convey the tension / suspense while out in the field... really solid performance...

The documentary style interviews discussing vampire myths was done flawlessly... Not only did it work well in terms of interest, but it set the stage for what to expect from the vampires you do see in the movie... and the movie held true to its own "idea" of what vampire are... again... totally believable...

I also loved the touch of briefly discussing government intervention, red tape, budget cuts and the economy during the movie... It added 100x to the "realism", and really made it feel again like a legit documentary...

Note: you will get a little bit of the "shakey cam" syndrome as well as some overly "dark" scenes... it's not nearly as bad as I've seen in other movies, but they do exist in this one in a couple scenes... that said, I think they kind of played it off well in the movie...

When it comes to low budget vampire flicks, this is it... two thumbs up, and will probably watch again in the near future...
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5/10
Not great but could be worse
noah-6573210 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
At Stake: Vampire Solutions could have been a lot better with just a slightly higher budget. It was basically a mockumentary about an organization that hunts vampires being shot by an aspiring young film student. The group is basically a low level militia tasked exclusively with killing vampires utilizing upgraded paintball guns that shoot marbles and other creative weapons. The characters are likable, the story is semi-original and the acting is passable. However, the camera work is sloppy and overall the film is severely lacking in scares and gore. Another thing that drags the rating down is that most of the vampire hunts take place in the dark and are a bit too reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project. I do give the filmmakers credit for presenting so many unique concepts that aren't common to the Vampire Genre. For instance, these vampires don't have actual fangs, just broken teeth from biting into their victims bones. The Vampires also go down fairly easy, just like zombies you just need to take out the brain. This film was a fun addition to Chicago Fear Fest. I really only recommend this movie to fans of the genre who can appreciate a low budget mockumentary. It's not exactly a bad film, it's just really low budget and not very scary.
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3/10
Indie mockumentary
Leofwine_draca18 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
AT STAKE: VAMPIRE SOLUTIONS is an indie mockumentary in which a student filmmaker follows a bunch of vampire-killing employees around as they clear their locality of vermin in much the same way as pest control. This is a low-fi production in which the lack of technical expertise works well in some respects, making it feel quite realistic. Unfortunately the ad libbed dialogue is poor and things get very repetitive before long, leaving this nothing more than a nice idea.
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8/10
Hidden gem
devilsrejexxts19 July 2022
I love found footage films so I'm constantly tryin to find these hidden gems .... This one caught my attention and I loved it .... The story the characters ( somewhat cheesy but in a good way ) it was a movie I'll prob watch over and over again on late nights.... Sad that the second one was a huge disappointment.
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10/10
Great movie!
hermanalbright17 March 2018
I just watched this on Amazon Prime. I really enjoyed it. Nicely done for a low budget movie. Great job!
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10/10
Really cool indie film!
ajbondssurfs1 January 2018
Wasn't exactly sure what to expect on this one but it completely caught me off guard. Loved this film, funny as hell, can't wait to see the 2nd one.
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10/10
Really enjoyed the film!
ajbondssurfs1 January 2018
Watched this a while back and thought I posted a review on here. Guess I didn't? lol Anyway, really fun film! Lots of laughs!
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