Quintology II: Subspecies 4

We have made our way to Part Four, true believers. Did you think that you would make it this far? Our Romanian journey is nearly at an end, but we still have a little ways to go. If you are just joining us, what's your problem? I bring you a Quintology and this is what I get from you? Ahem, where was I? Oh right. What you need to know is that Radu is evil, Michelle is conflicted and everyone else around her can live or die at any moment. The best part: their deaths barely ever register as a blip on the radar. Take, for example, the love of Michelle's life. He dies at the beginning of two and is never spoken of again. Don't cry about it too long, Michelle. By the way, the beginning of this movie will be extremely polarizing. This is...

You recall how Radu was shot with several silver bullets, was lit on fire by the sun's rays and fell over the precipice, getting impaled through the head as he landed? Well, he fucking survives this! His body slips off of the tree and into a tiny pool of water, putting out the fire. He grabs the Bloodstone and shambles away, looking angrily at the sun that set him aflame mere minutes ago. He makes the cultist from Q: The Winged Serpent look like a slouch! After this bout of implausibility, the ante is upped. A no-name blond woman sees a wrecked car off of the side of the road with three bodies laying strewn about it. That's right- they killed off most of the cast off-screen in a car crash! As an aside, the only survivor was the one in a body bag- score one for irony. To make things even dumber, the car is found upside down and against a tree, with no obstacle that could have been in their path to cause it. How the hell did they do that? Did they hit a giant spring that disappeared seconds later? Oh right, I should mention the plot. In a nutshell, Michelle is taken to a local laboratory where the creepy doctor seems all too familiar with the idea of a vampire. I don't feel safe.

Back in the countryside, nobody is all that bothered by the death of an American citizen and an envoy to the American Embassy. This leads us to another ridiculous plot event: the return of the detective. After being stabbed to death by Radu, he is now a vampire. I'm sorry- what now? This gives us a scene where he is found sleeping in a closet and mistaken for being a drunk. Other than that- plus a scene where gives plot information to Radu- this goes nowhere. Moving on...we get the creepy doctor- a dead ringer for the villain from No Country for Old Men- acting, well, creepy. He takes blood samples from Michelle and asks her all about the Bloodstone. I should also mention that he drugs his assistant and sucks her blood, shouldn't I? Meanwhile, Radu sulks and just sort of wanders around. Early on, the doctor says that Radu can only come into the hospital if invited, thanks to it being a former Church. Nice of you to bring up that famous lore in Subspecies and have a character ignore it (really) and then finally bring it up again three films later! He finally comes to get Michelle, but walks into a trap. He is surrounded by extras with fluorescent lights and doused with holy water by the doctor. After he is stabbed, Michelle comes to his rescue, but scorns him again. Mixed messages!

The awkward part of the movie really comes into play now. In 1997, Nicolau made a film called Vampire Journals (tomorrow's review), which is not to be confused with The Vampire Diaries! The next year, he made this film and decided to cram the two together. Radu goes to the city and takes over his old domain, quickly making an ass of himself. Of course, as the powerful leader, he can do this. His allies, however, scheme against him. They give our heroes (the blond girl and the doctor) the key to the mausoleum that Radu is in. He has nearly turned Michelle- again!- and is resting when they get there. Of course, they get to the crypt at about 4:30, so they get there too late. The doctor tries to sell out the girl, but gets decapitated in one silly effect. Michelle turns on him again and helps the girl stab him to death. Early, they finally explained what the Bloodstone does- it makes its drinkers only killable by mortals. That's all well and good, except that the father drinks from it in Subspecies and Radu survives being decapitated by his half-human brother. They cut his head off, burn the body and stick the object out in the sun. The other vampires try to have their cake and eat it too, but are driven away by the sun. The End?

This movie is not bad, but definitely has some iffy writing. The awkward re-writing of events hurts things, as does the co-mingling of the two films. This also produces a major plot hole in Vampire Journals, which I will address tomorrow. That said- Radu is still a good character, although he really should learn his lesson by now! Michelle has more material, but is overshadowed by the doctor. What a strange character! He was apparently born to a vampire clan, but rejected it and mutated his body for good via science. Mind you, this was made the same year that vampires in Blade got around death via sunscreen and dark glasses! The way they killed off most of the cast is still damn ridiculous! I could have almost forgiven them if they had a scene where Radu cast some sort of spell on them. Anything but what they did! In spite of this, the atmosphere is still solid and you can definitely do worse when it comes to low-budget vampire films.

We conclude with Nicolau's story about snobby vampires. Not only that, but it has more than three vampires! Stay tuned...