The Movie
Warping to earth through a dimensional crack in time, Alyssa, Queen of the Vampires and her two accomplices take advantage of a hole left in time by three escaping mortals from their planet. The trio commence to feast on the population with the intent of repopulating it with their own kind. Teaming up with a local cop, the three mortals from that parallel reality go about the task of saving the planet. They make good progress, with a nice resume of converted vampires under their belt until they come across Alyssa and her bodyguards. Being pure-blooded descendents of the original vampires they can't simply be killed with an ordinary wood stake to the heart. What was routine soon becomes the impossible until our local cop (Jamie Bell) finds the answer is as close as your own refrigerator.

Fresh off their previous film (Harvesters) Joe and Don present us with a low budget flick paced with rock and roll music starring the entertaining George Stover, Leanna Chamish (Alyssa) and Jamie Bell. Mitch Klein handled the special effects, almost entirely on computer, from fake teeth and decapitated heads to full body disintegrations. The movie gets its R-rating from some language and one semi-nude scene.

Stakes premiered this summer in Maryland and was a sold-out success. Attending were Don Dohler, George Stover, a veteran of many Dohler films, and Mike Clarke, CEO of Key East Entertainment. Located in Perry Hall, Maryland, Timewarp Films was formed in 2000 when horror cult legend Don Dohler teamed up with actor/director Joe Ripple. Ripple does the directing while Dohler does the cinematography and editing. Dohler is most notable for The Alien Factor, Fiend, Night beast, Galaxy Invader and Blood Massacre. Ripples main accomplishment is Harvesters.

With most low budget films local talent is used and this one is no exception. George Stover, the green beret priest, lives in Towson, Maryland. Leanna Chamish, the Vampire Queen, is from Baltimore. The other leads also hail from Maryland, including Steven King, Jamie Bell, John Michaelson, Erin Corsair, and James J. Waltz.

DVD
Full screen 1.33:1 spanning 83 minutes.

Video
The quality of the DVD is nothing special, typical of a low budget production. It appears to have been taken on 16mm and has an overall semi-soft focus to it. Shot entirely in Maryland, a lot the action takes place on the residential properties of Don and Joe. There is a substantial amount of pixelation in the dark areas and since Vampires are mostly out at night, there is quite a bit to go around. Colors are muted, even in brightly lit scenes but really doesn't detract from what you used to seeing in these B flicks.

Sound
There is no provision for sound selection. It is Dolby Stereo and they do a fine job with it. Rock music is present in the majority of the action scenes and could be cranked without adverse affects. It is clean without pops or hiss.

Extras
Bloopers - standard mis-takes and nothing really humorous here.

Making of featurette - 30 minutes of interviews, discussions, cast make ups, scene discussions, scene shootings and other aspects surrounding the making of the film. Klein shows and describes how Illusion and After Effects were used in the making of the special effects.

Chapter selections - titled and animated.

Commentary - Don and Joe describe the film in total. The original voice and music tracks are knocked down low enough to hear the producer and director talking throughout. This is a quite interesting extra and all the little tricks are explained, easter eggs are revealed and explanations given on how each scene was set up.

Trailers - Two trailers. Stakes and their prior work, Harvesters.

Final Thoughts
This is a low budget production and it's evident in how it was filmed and acted. This in itself does not make it bad if you understand that, and what Joe and Don had to work with. It takes the overused concept of vampires and does a good job of putting a new spin on it and making it interesting. The pacing is brisk and is supported by the rock tracks, helping to maintain your interest. Special effects are more than you would expect for the dollar and do an excellent job of supporting the scenes that require them the most. They are also done in a way that gives definition to the various types of characters and their differences from others.

I own a lot of B movies. Although this one has a bit of sci-fi backing to the plot, it is primarily a horror thriller. Fans of blood and guts, Night of the Living Dead at the Drive-Ins types should enjoy this one.. I did. But I wouldn't recommend seeing it right after a big buck production like, let's say, "Interview with a Vampire."