Tubi Thursday: Subspecies V- Blood Rise (2023)

 Well, I promised Ted Nicolau I'd review this, so I have to.  I mean, do you want him to sic Radu on me?!?

After 25 years, they made another one- why not?!?

Right off the bat, here's a weird thing- this is a Prequel.

After constantly restarting the Story after Radu dies for the last 3 times, they decided that 4 times was too many.

Anyhow, the Plot involves a Vampire lady who bears a child...and Knights Templar immediately show up.

Honestly, if this turns out to be a crossover between The Blind Dead Films and Subspecies, I'm down!

It's not.

Instead, the Knights take the child- Radu- and make him look human (with oils, apparently).

We pick up with Radu when he's, being generous here, 60 years old or so...since Anders Hove is in his '60s.

He, of course, doesn't know that he's a Vampire and is eventually confronted with the truth when he manages to storm, you guessed it, the same Castle he was born in.

Transylvania sure is a small Country!

He rescues a woman and child from the Castle.  Naturally, it is Denice Duff!

As Radu embraces his true self, he'll bring others down with him.

On top of that, we might as well introduce a few random Sub Plots and Characters.

To find out how this all plays out, stream or buy the Film now.

It has many good points, but the Plot is pretty much the equivalent of firing buckshot at a wall.  Let me explain...

We get the Intro with Radu and then a fairly quick build to his initial corruption.  After a big moment, let's jump ahead 100 years and introduce new Characters.

Another time jump- why not?!?
That lady from 40 minutes ago- she's back.  Why not?

This is one of those cases where there is too much Plot for what the Film actually needs to be.  Any of the setups- Radu's discovery, Radu's fall, Radu and his 2 captives or Radu and his family- could be expanded into Films.

Instead of that, however, we get all of them fighting for time in the Film like that 60-Man Battle Royal that WCW did.  I didn't hate the Plots- I just wish that you'd picked one.

Never mind the idea that you're doing a Prequel 25 years after you shot the last Film!  Did we need one?
Did we need one that contradicts key elements of the original Film- how the Bloodstone works, the fate of Radu's Father, etc- to boot?

I'm happy for Nicolau and company for getting to make the Film.  I just wish that they had picked one idea for the Film and not all of the ones they thought of.

A Film with great atmosphere and plenty of neat ideas.  Unfortunately, nobody said 'no' to any of them, so they are all in this Film fighting for time.

Year in Review: Subspecies Quintology

Full Moon is a company that I both love and hate.  On one hand, they make decent movies on a low-budget and manage to turn enough of a profit to keep running.  On the other hand, they often make crappy films that defy explanation like The Gingerdead Man trilogy (Part 3 is in-production now) or Evil Bong 1-2.  Where does there vampire series from the early to mid-90s stand?  Find out in these reviews...

Subspecies: This movie is good, as long as you can appreciate some low-budget horror.  Filmed on location in Romania, the producers made good use of their location and their one crazy-looking vampire (Radu).  The film is not without it's flaws, mind you.  It starts out a bit slow and wastes a talent like Angus Scrimm in a cameo role as the head vampire.  It also inadvertently sets up some plot holes that would come later.  Even so, it is a good movie that any fan of unique vampire films should check out.

Subspecies II: Right from the start, this movie pulls out some blatant cheats, lazy writing and recasting.  When you get past that, you get a decent vampire film that manages to work most of the time in spite of these flaws.  Even so, it is hard to get past the beginning.  This is especially true when you do like I did and watch them both on the same night.  Either way, it is not as good as its predecessor and also suffers from a tacked-on 'To Be Continued' ending.

Subspecies III: We're back again in the second part of a group of movies filmed at the same time a la Lord of the Rings.  For the third time, Radu is back from the dead and is evil mother has some plans for our heroine.  The film is oddly juxtaposed between two plots: one dealing with the newly-vampiric heroine and other dealing with her sister trying to get her.  The film is weighed down a bit by ancillary characters, most of which are just there to die.  As a whole, it is a touch better than two though.

Subspecies IV: The movie starts off- like most of these restarts- with a big cheat and some lazy writing.  Basically, the happy and conclusive ending of Part III is crapped upon by Radu's unexplained resurrection and the death of 99% of the main cast.  If you can get past this, you get a decent movie, but one that retreads a lot of the same locations.  At this point, they have shot every angle of that castle they've been using since the first film.  They do through a new angle in with an evil half-vampire doctor, but it never ends conclusively.  They also introduce some major plot holes and a pointless sub-plot involving the police chief.  It's definitely not the best of the series.

The Vampire Journals: While not officially part of the series, this is by the same director and references events and characters that would show up in that series.  The plot is pretty simple and hampered a bit by an ineffectually-written lead character.  They also address one of the series' silly effects like its real science in a laughable scene.  If this film fits in the series, good luck finding out where.  There's no place for it, unless you stretch logic farther than super-fresh taffy!  It does have some differing story elements in it that make it stand out a bit from the other films though.

That's the series in a nutshell.  Is it consistent?  No.  Is it logical?  No.  Is it better than the admittedly-low bar of low-budget vampire movies?  For the most part, yes.  If nothing else, it is worth seeing one of the films to see Radu in action.  Damn, is he ugly!

Quintology II: Vampire Journals

You might be a bit confused here, but let me explain. Despite Radu finally being dead in Subspecies IV (so far), I did this review last. Why, you ask? Well, for a couple of reasons. For one, I thought you might be pissed at me for interrupting the narrative of the series just to stick to chronological order. Second, doing this one last exposes it to one major plot hole that came from making Subspecies IV. Lastly, well, you'll understand that part. After doing the epic story of Subspecies II and III, Ted Nicolau took a break. But his longing to return to Romania (really- he says it) is too strong. He decided that not all vampires (read four of them) would be a group that hides out in the Romanian Mountains. As such, he made this film about a new group of vampires. A couple bits connect this to Subspecies, aside from it being a vampire film made by the exact same director in the exact same country. Let's get our fangs out and finish up the Quintology with...

The movie begins with a woman being attacked by a vampire! Wow, don't rush the story on my account, Ted. She is bitten, but her man shows up to help. He decapitates the vampire, but is too late to save her from turning and kills her too. The End? No, it's only the beginning. We next see a woman playing piano in front of a large audience. In the crowd is...a man that is clearly a vampire. I'm sorry, I know this is Romania, but does that not attract attention? This man is apparently our lead, since his narration is beginning to drone over any action on the screen. He's not bad, but he's just 'eh.' Up in the balcony, another creepy man is watching her as well. This is why it does not pay to be a cute, virginal young woman in Romania! Apparently, the other man forces our hero to not bother him via the power of his mind. Mind power = low-budget powers. After the concert, the man begins to follow her, using the shadow effect that Ted just freaking loves. He corners her, but the other creepy man shows up to scare him off. She starts to liking to him, but gets a little 'weirded-out' when he talks about how she needs to leave. The next morning, an emissary of the Club run by the other vampire meets with her and hires him to perform for them. Dun dun dun!

He meets with her the next night before she goes. He gets a little bossy, which rubs her the wrong way. To note from her dialogue, however, she would not mind it if her boyfriend bossed her around. Um, okay. She goes inside and is warmly greeted by the vampires. That is to say that they stare at her like the girl who shows up to Prom with a mustache. Our hero ponders about whether or not to help her, but decides to abandon his Punisher-like mission of revenge to help a cute girl. Who hasn't been there? He uses his vampiric mental powers- which, again, marks the only time that they will appear in the entire series- to get all the way to the Inner Sanctum, but runs into the club's human owner, whose will is already controlled by the head vampire. Watch our limp-wristed hero...leave our heroine to be prey for the vampires! Oh the excitement! She gets bitten by the lead vampire- which draws more cheers than the music did- and locks her in a room. Our hero...does nothing. I'm sorry, but why are you here again?

Much like Michelle, our heroine is constantly antagonized by the villain to convert of her own free will. 'No 'means 'Yes' to Vampires, apparently. The next night, while our hero sulks around the outside of the building and narrates about his indecision, he is approached by the villain and his apprentice vampire. He gets invited in and immediately loses his one advantage when the Sword of Laertes is stolen by the villain. Good job, jackass! By the way, in Subspecies IV, this guy actually has the sword, but it gets stolen by Radu! What is it about this sword that inspires so much theft?!? Our villain locks up our hero and tries to turn him to the 'dark side' as well. Do all of these guys just need acceptance so badly?!? In one of my favorite pseudo-science moments, our hero explains that he can't do the 'shadow' trick to escape a locked door because no light is able to enter the room. Riiight...anyhow, the villain tricks our hero into drinking some blood right as the girl enters. Soon after this, our hero escapes, engages in some alright stage-fighting and kills our villain by slashing him with the Sword. He fall and explodes into ash. He and the girl escape to a crypt to live happily never after. The End...for real this time.

This movie is honestly not bad, but it is a bit too in love with itself for its own good. The setting is pretty good, but could do with some castles or two. With just dank buildings and streetlights, it could very well be Detroit instead of Bucharest. Let's get to the heart of this though, shall we? Is this a prequel to Subspecies 4 or a sequel, albeit one made a year earlier? It can't be a prequel, since the villain is dead here, but not addressed as having come back from the dead. But it can't be a sequel, since he does not have the Sword of Laertes at the beginning. Maybe there is a deleted scene from the fourth film in which Radu just hands the Sword to a random goth guy. As an aside, the Sword plays no part in Radu's death in IV, making you wonder why you have a 'vampire-killing sword' in a film and do nothing with it. Whatever spot this film has in the series, I can tell you what it means to me. It means that I am done with Full Moon vampires. Thank you and good night.

Up next, a blatant rip-off film comes to you via Blockbuster Trash. Oddly, it is ripping-off a Disney film and not the one it looks like. Stay tuned...

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...

Quintology II: Subspecies 3

Since there are more vampire tales to tell, I have returned. This movie again picks up right where the last one ended. Only, this time, they actually filmed the movies at the same time, so our heroine is not going to become a blond all of a sudden. As the director explains later, they attempted to make this like one long story, as opposed to two films that just come back-to-back. An interesting idea, but how feasible is it? Well, despite being stabbed more times than Sweeney Todd's cutting board, Radu is back in this tale, along with the sister, the police detective (who I just sort of glossed over last time) and the Embassy envoy. This continues to be a story about Michelle, so it's sort of a make or break thing. If you don't care about her at all, you will really have no connection here. We do get some new characters, but more on that later. Let's just pick up where we left off in...

Subspecies 3: Bloodlust

We begin with a fairly-lengthy recap of the last movie (about three minutes) and get into things. First things first, Michelle is taken to the witch's laboratory and is apparently unconscious. Thanks for not showing us how the tiny burn victim overtook the full-grown adult with vampiric strength, movie! We switch perspectives briefly so that the movie can show us the sister's ass in a thong as she changes out of her dress right out in the open. Thanks, but was that necessary at all? She goes to a bar and calls the police, who apparently rush over, despite the movie not showing us her actual call. In the lab, Mummy takes some blood from Michelle and drips it in Radu's big, gaping maw. This, along with some chanting, brings Radu back from the dead. This guy is two for two when it comes to resurrections, so you may be stuck with me as I review Subspecies 53: Blood-drained. The police look around, but find nothing, thanks to the others being in a weird room behind a false wall. Well, they do find the dead professor, but who cares? Using some silly smoke effects and chanting, the trio of Mummy, Radu and Michelle escape to the new crypt.

Michelle's sister refuses to give up, although nobody believes her story. It does not help that the one person who did is an impaled corpse now, does it? This whole portion of the film revolves around two things: Michelle fighting the urge to become a corrupted vampire and her sister trying to find her. The latter starts to get closer to the man, but he gets cock-blocked by a montage of scary moments played in the woman's head. So close! On the other side, Michelle is waning in her resolve. She even gives in for a moment and feeds on a woman that is brought in by Radu. This is, of course, after her top is pulled down for the camera. You do have to prioritize, Mr. Nicolau. At this point, you also see just how thrifty the production is. Not only do they re-use the castle from Part 1, but they even re-use the 'Mouse Trap'-style cage! Radu and company figured that it would be good to hide out in a place that our heroes already know about and can sneak into. After some mysterious killings and a sighting, the sister finally manages to get the cops on her side. That and the fact that Radu stabs the lead detective to death with a dagger.

The sister, the Embassy envoy and some police are preparing to siege the castle. As a bonus, they get a CIA operative with a cocky attitude and no characterization. I smell a 'Red Shirt.' Rather than going in like before, they decide to climb up the face of the castle because...um, why do they do that? The envoy and the new guy go in alone-save for a handgun full of silver bullets,- leaving the sister down below. The CIA guy insults Mummy and fires his machine gun at her, but she counters by launching a knife across the room via improbable science and it goes into her. Holy Kano-move, Batman! She locks our male lead up in the cage with the random woman who was 'on the menu' and wants to make Michelle feast on him. Her sister desperately tries to coerce her through the radio, but that gets smashed. It all turns when Radu rejects his mother's attempt at having him finally kill Michelle and rips her arm off! He kills her, but Michelle turns on him, making his move all the stupider. She shoots with with the silver bullets, but he still follows them! Despite never doing this before, the morning sun sets Radu on fire and he falls off the precipice and gets impaled on a sharp tree. Our heroes wrap up Michelle and leave, but neglect to take the Bloodstone. Dun dun dun!

This movie is a bit juicier than Part II and has a better ending. They definitely amped up the gore here and that is a good thing. Of course, as shown above, it can get a little over-the-top. The plot is good, but definitely feels like the second part of a story, as opposed to a sequel. Why not just call them Subspecies: Part 2 and Subspecies: Part 3? That is the inherent flaw with this movie- if you don't watch the others, you will have no emotional connection to it. The acting is good and *most* of the characters are well fleshed-out. It is at this point that the Radu make-up gets a little too 'messed-up looking' & Mummy is as exaggerated as ever. Given that our only other vampire is Michelle in heavy powder make-up, they just stand as a bit out of place. That said, I would rather have monster vampires than guys that glow in the sunlight. I say 'viva los monstruous!'

Is Radu really dead? Will Mummy return? Will Michelle find an emotion between anger and sadness? Stay tuned...

Quintology II: Subspecies 2

Here we are again, this time with Part 2 (aka Bloodstone) of the series. This one stands out in a couple of ways. First off, Full Moon did not plan this out as a series, hence the reason for this being made two years later. This leads to a couple of problems that will be addressed early on. What has stayed the same is the director and lead actor (Anders Hove as Radu). They also went back to Romania, although they use some newer locations on top of the castle. We also get a ton of new characters, some of which have staying power and some that don't- more on that later, as well. It also bears mentioning that this was made in conjunction with Part III (aka Bloodlust), showing some planning on their parts. With all that out of the way, let's return to the world of vampires with...

Subspecies 2: Bloodstone

The film begins with a short recap (about 2 minutes) and our villain managing to come back to life. The tiny 'subspecies' monsters help him put it on, but the real worker is his spinal column, which extends itself, hooks his head and pulls it back on. Just to be anti-climactic, he gets up and skewers the hero from the first film. The man explodes into fire...for some reason and becomes a really strange effect. He even manages one more 'pop-up' moment before his real death. He goes over to the other coffin and opens it to discover...a different actress in a more revealing outfit. What the hell? You book-ended the films, but did not keep the same cast?!? The rising sun scares Radu away, since he can't just close the curtains. This gives us the most anti-climactic suspense scene ever as Radu goes downstairs to his coffin and rests, while our heroine does the same. Being an early riser, she gets up before the monster, runs to her old room and flees to a train. The dumb guy is always right behind her, now with the aid of some weird 'shadow' effects that will become cliches for the series from this point on. Fleeing to Bucharest, she checks into a hotel, but is taken for dead in the morning. Maybe you shouldn't take a nap in a bathtub when you are pale and have no pulse. Fortunately, her sister is on her way to help out.

Our new heroine arrives in town to help out her sister, but is too late. She woke up in the ambulance and ran away in mid-day, since the sun does not affect her that much, apparently. She takes refuge in what appears to be a prop warehouse, but is never actually explained. Her sister is given the hard facts and shown the Bloodstone, which our heroine made sure to take with her when she left. Radu is pissed about this, but mostly just appears in random places and lurks. For a long time, only Michelle (the newbie vampire) sees him, which does not help her case. In the film's sub-plot, the sister and an envoy of the American Embassy investigate the events of the first film. They meet up with an old professor who tells them about the Bloodstone, which the guy does not believe to be more than just a piece of junk. Incidentally, the look has vastly improved on this artifact in the last couple of days- hm, I can't imagine how. They go into the castle via a secret entrance and come across the chaotic remains of the Subspecies finale battle. Another sub-plot introduces the mother of Radu, who vastly resembles the evil witch from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, albeit if she was a zombie. She pushes Radu to kill Michelle and regain the stone, but he has feelings for her. At least, as much as he can muster.

Finally, the two sisters reunite, but it does not last long. Radu appears and takes the vampire girl away, with Bloodstone in tow. He tries to coerce her to his side, but she resists. This pushes the sister to really try and save her sister, now with the knowledge about Radu and the Vladislaas clan. The envoy does not believe it and chooses not to go, leaving it down to the woman and the old man. They find the crypt with Michelle and Radu, but the man is killed by the mother, who apparently is not bound by the normal vampire rules for some reason. Michelle awakens and learns that her sister is going to be used as a sacrifice to get rid of the woman's last aspects of humanity. Desperate, she manages to find her convictions and stabs Radu in the face! The mother fights back, but gets lit aflame by a torches and does the 'Wonder Woman spin' to exit. Radu is stabbed many times, the last one coming from Michelle's sister (a point for later). They both go to exit, but the morning sun forces Michelle to stay. As she backs up into the crypt, the mother pops up and grabs her! To be continued...

This movie is not bad, but definitely suffers from some casting shock. The whole idea of the film is that you invest in the Michelle character, since she is the only connective thread of the series aside from Radu. I applaud them for this, but question the re-casting of the role. This is actually never addressed in the Making Of segment, which is a strange omission. As a story, it is solid, even if there are some questions left unanswered still. Radu is an effective villain, although his mother (credited as Mummy) is too over-the-top for this movie's tone. There are still very few vampires in the movie (the mother never acts like one), which works as a highlight for the vampires appearances. At the same time, a film like this could use more vampires. One of the films in the series manages to address this, but most of them stick to just Radu and Michelle. No matter how many times they do it, the shadow effects are still silly. I will leave you today with this illogical effects shot...

Will Michelle escape with her soul? Will her sister save the day? Will the movie include a pointless ass shot of our heroine? Stay tuned...

Quintology II: Subspecies

Vampires are often the subject of low-budget, horror movies. Why? Because they can be just about anything, depending on how much money you have. 

Scary monster- sure, if you have the cash. Guy with $20 fangs and eye liner- also a vampire!

 In the case of today's movie, they manage to scrounge up enough money to make one really scary vampire...and that's about it. I will discuss the whole villain situation in the actual reviews, but the fact that the series has one monster vampire alone is a bit curious, is all. 

 All of these films were made on location in Romania, a fact that takes up most of the time on the DVD Making-Of features. 

These films are also the brainchild of a man named Ted Nicolau, who is also responsible for the Leapin' Leprechauns series, Bad Channels & Puppet Master vs. the Demonic Toys. 

 The man is not Orson Welles, is what I am trying to say! 

So, we have a small budget, a lazy choice of monster and a questionable director. Let's jump right into...

Subspecies

The film begins with a silly-looking old man sucking on what looks like a pacifier. He hears someone coming and hides it behind a false wall. In walks...the ugliest damn vampire of all time! 

 It's like if the monster from Castle Freak got in a car accident and got reconstructive surgery from the worst doctor ever. 

 The best part is that he will get even more ugly as the films go on. In a bit of lazy exposition, we learn that the weird old man (Phantasm's Angus Scrimm in a nothing role) is the King of the Vampires, and the freaky guy is Radu, his bad son. 

 His good son is coming as well, but Radu wants the Bloodstone, an artifact of great power that does different things in the different films. The King drops a 'Mousetrap'-like cage on his son, but our villain has a plan. 

 He breaks off the ends of his super-long fingers and they form into tiny demon-looking monsters out of Ray Harryhausen's dreams. They go into the wall and pull the cage away, allowing Radu to stab his dad to death- remember this for later films. 

Our heroines show up just in time for the villain to be thirsty.

The crux of the movie involves three woman- two of them American tourists- who are in Romania to do a thesis paper on ancient folklore. Well, you came to the right place! 

 They stay at a castle which only has one other guest, a mysterious man who works long hours and never comes out during the day. Hmm...I wonder. They look into the area around the castle & find that the people don't want to talk about the Vladislaas Manor, despite it being the biggest place in the country. 

 They meet the mysterious man, who is a dashing guy surrounded by mystery that will be addressed later. Meanwhile, Radu makes himself seen around the area, culminating in a bit where he pursues our heroines into the woods, which they run through after napping too long. 

No, really. He also talks about how he can't find the Bloodstone, despite it being in the same room that he now lives in. Things get bad when he decides to feast on one of our heroines, which the doctor cannot figure out. You're a doctor in a land of vampires and can't see what this is? 

 She dies and the friendly native (the only one, really) tells her that she must decapitate her friend. Yeah, I'm sure that she'll do that...

Of course, the man was right and Radu recruits the young woman to work for him. He has plans for the mysterious man, who it turns out is...Radu's brother!

 Dun dun obvious! 

 After being deserted by our heroine at a festival, the remaining heroine is captured by Radu and kept in his dungeon. He leaves his weird finger monsters to guard her, which leads us to some of the worst optical effects of all time. I mean, they're real bad! 

 Both of our heroes get captured by Radu, after a rescue attempt ends in the second victim being revealed as a vampire. They take the woman away so they can put her in a different outfit (off-camera, for some reason). Through some luck and determination, the good vampire manages to free himself, leading to a battle. One girl is crushed by a falling chandelier and another is lit on fire. 

Radu himself is stabbed with a spear and decapitated by his brother. At her request, he turns the only girl left into a vampire, in order for them to be together forever. 

 Yeah, good luck with that in Part II. The teaser ending reveals that Radu is still alive...somehow. To be continued...

This movie is not bad, but it does suffer from being the first of a Series. They have to introduce everyone and explain all of the back-story. 

That said, they leave a lot of it unexplained. 

 What is the Bloodstone? 

 Why are there only three vampires- all of them related? 

 Why does one native like the good vampire and the King? 

 Why is there a King for three people, two of which don't live there?!? 

 Our heroines don't fare much better, save for the lead. Even then, all of her expansion is done in the later sequels. All that said, the movie is saved by its use of real Romanian locations. While they don't always make great use of them, the Gothic wonder can distract you. Radu's make-up is interesting, but not all that logical. He is the only Full Moon vampire that looks so monstrous and bizarre. 

 By the way, his weird off-shoot monsters were changed in post-production (as says the Making-Of). Originally, they looked interesting and seemed like they were off of the same creature. Thanks for the change, guys.

How will things change in Subspecies 2? Will Radu look even freakier? Will this movie ever explain this fact? Stay tuned...