Pretty Good

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A few months after seeing the first Subspecies, I saw this one, and once again loved it. Here's a small summary of it for you: Michelle assumed that Radu died from his decapitation at the end of the first, but like every awesome vampire, he can never truly die. The subspecies reattach his head to his neck, and he rises. He opens Stefan's coffin and, raising a stake, says, "Forgive me, brother. But the Bloodstone is MINE!" Then he plunges the stake right through his heart and drinks the blood spraying out while Stefan rots away. When he's done with his little feeding, he opens Michelle's coffin and prepares to kill her, but the sun rises and he runs back into the darkness. On the way, Radu dropped the Bloodstone, which Michelle grabs and runs from the castle. As the film progresses, her metamorphosis into a vampire is complete, and her sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner), an old professor (Michael Denish), and a lawyer (Kevin Blair) must save her.Once again, I was amazed at this movie. Great effects, great plot, badass main antagonist, and a nice blend of eroticism with horror and vampires. We're even introduced to Radu's mother, who was mentioned in the first film and whose background will be explained more in Bloodlust: Subspecies III. Recommended for fans of vampires and B-movies (again).10/10

As with most movies of this type (i.e. B-grade horror), my hope is to find one that is unintentionally hilarious, every step of the way. One that promotes constant riffing from me and my friends. Picking a good "bad movie" appears to be more difficult than picking a good "good" movie (if that makes any sense). Unfortunately, "Bloodstone: Subspecies II" [B:S2] is neither bad enough to be good, nor good enough to be good.This might sound weird, but B:S2 was written, directed and acted by folks with a modicum of intelligence. I will also begrudgingly admit there's a small degree of artistic talent exhibited as well. The best bad movies are made by people who have no business making movies (for an example of what I'm talking about, rent "Troll 2" or "The Keeper of Time" -- those movies are priceless. Nay, they're National Treasures).Don't get me wrong, this movie is bad. But it's not bad enough. The brand of "bad" portrayed in this movie is the slow, plodding, monotonous variety -- not the "insanely stupid bad" that I crave. It's for the same reasons that it's not "good" either. The pacing is too slow for a B-grade horror (IMO). It starts on a strong note, and then slowly dwindles into nothingness -- until its brief resurrection near the very end. I believe this came about due to Mr. Nicolaou's attempt at "creepy/moody atmospherics". There's very limited dialogue, and what little there is makes no attempt at driving the story. Most of the movie centers around Michelle Morgan (Denice Duff) shambling around Bucharest looking scared and sedated. I also got the strong impression that Mr. Nicolaou wanted to make the most of his "on location" shoot, by shoe-horning every piece of gothic architecture he could find into the movie. Another thing we found weird was the "Bloodstone" itself. Ostensibly it's the centerpiece of the story, even though they never mention, or discuss it, for a good 2/3rds of the movie. Huh? Apparently the Bloodstone can dispense the "blood of the saints" for a vampire to suckle on. Okay, so what? They never really describe why it's so important to Radu. Does it make him into a super vampire? No. Does it give him extra powers? No. What the heck does it do?I've wasted enough time discussing this.Good movie score: 5/10. Bad movie score: 6/10. In short: mediocre... no matter how you look at it.

This is a straight-to-video vampire movie. Were some of you expecting a masterpiece? I wonder why people take such a perverse joy out of bombing a film like this! It really is much better than its low rating would suggest.Moody directing, lush Romanian locations, and deliciously over-the-top villains like Radu and Mummy add up to a gruesomely wonderful viewing experience. Denise Duff gives a sympathetic performance, and it sure doesn't hurt that she's a "10" on the Brian scale. The folk music score is another highlight.I've shown this movie to a number of people - gals and guys of different professions, with varying levels of sanity - and all of them have liked it. If you want to rent a horror movie that's violent but not repulsive, and clever enough to hold your attention when there aren't killings on screen, then "Subspecies II" is the flick for you (sorry about the bad poetry there!).

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Full Moon certainly has a well-deserved reputation for cheesey (and sometimes truly CRAPPY) movies, but I'm happy to say this isn't one of them! This vampire movie was filmed on location in Romania (seems it started a Full Moon trend as a few other Full Moon pics such as Lurking Fear, Dark Angel: The Ascent and Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 were also filmed there) and has a truly unique atmosphere that I've seen nowhere else. The lead character is Michelle, played by the lovely Denice Duff (who totally rules!), who has been made into a vampire by Stefan, a good vamp who mingled his blood with Michelle's to save her life (this takes place toward the end of Subspecies 1). Unfortunately, Radu (magnificently portrayed by Anders Hove, who is well known for his work on General Hospital), Stefan's evil brother who supposedly was decapitated at the end of Subspecies 1, has been reassembled by his Subspecies, apparently little creatures that form out of his blood and are seldom seen in the Subspecies series. Radu kills his brother and sets out to kill Michelle when he is stopped by the sunrise. When the sun sets Radu sets out to find the Bloodstone - a supposed holy relic that fills up with "the blood of the saints" - this is apparently very potent blood which can drive weaker vampires insane with it's power - but it also assures a vampire of an unlimited supply of blood. Michelle makes a break for it, taking the Bloodstone with her, and heads for Bucharest (capital of Romania, as if you didn't know). Radu fails to find the Bloodstone on his brother's now-skeletal remains, and simply loses it - ripping his murdered brother's skeleton apart, throwing it to the floor and then stops on it repeatedly (THAT'S brotherly hate!). Radu assumes correctly that Michelle will head for Bucharest so he heads that way as well. Michelle checks into a hotel and calls her sister Becky(played by the lovely Melanie Shatner, daughter of William Shatner of Star Trek fame). I don't want to spoil the rest of the film, but basically Michelle has to struggle with her newfound vampirism, Becky goes to Romania to rescue Michelle, and Radu falls in love.....it's well worth the watch, as are Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 and Bloodstorm: Subspecies 4. These are the finest films Full Moon has ever produced.