Subspecies II: Bloodstone

Having sensibly disposed of Stefan and focused on the far more interesting Radu, the Full Moon crew really gets this series rolling with its second film. Michelle (Denise Duff, replacing the first film's Laura Tate) escapes Castle Vlad and flees to Bucharest, taking with her the precious Bloodstone. Desperately battling her own developing vampirism, she begs her sister Rebecca to take her back to America, but when Rebecca arrives, Michelle - ashamed of her condition - finds it near-impossible to face her. This sets up the film's central game of cat-and-bat-and-mouse, as the worried Rebecca and the resurrected Radu hunt Michelle through Bucharest's night time streets and Rebecca assembles a motley gang of Fearless Vampire Hunters [TM] to pursue her sister's tormentor. A terrific mixture of macabre and down-to-earth characters, with Duff standing out as the terrified but strong-willed Michelle, Melanie Shatner fine as brave and concerned Rebecca, Michael Denish enjoying the Van Helsing-esque role of Prof. Popescu and Ion Haiduc especially good as the pragmatic Romanian cop Lt. Marin. The movie, however, *belongs* to Anders Hove as Radu. Hove brings a completely unexpected level of sympathy and emotion to the character. He gets under the skin of the monster makeup to wonderfully suggest the childlike nature, terrible loneliness, and unfed craving for love that offset Radu's displays of cruelty and sudden violence. The scenes with his horrific mother are genuinely affecting, as he tries desperately for even a moment of her approval. Hove's performance is certainly the core of this film and bids to become the main reason for further Subspecies films.

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.

Oh wow, I stumbled upon this movie on Sci-Fi channel and fell instantly in love with it! The shadow effects were the most amazing I'd ever seen, and the actress, Denise Duff who plays Michelle was so awesome! Also Radu,Anders Hove was superbly chilling yet lovable at the same time. Awesome eerie, gothic vampire movie!!! A bit gory, on the blood and cutting off of body parts, but all in all the rest is awesome. When you crave a dark, gothic, chiller, this is the one to see!:)

Terrible? No this is not terrible. Actually Subspecies 2 is the best of the 4, soon to be 5 films. This time Michelle the survivor of the weaker part 1 seeks the help of her sister to escape her stalker, vampire Radu. Good story, acting, and effects. ***1/2 out of *****.

Didn't Radu die in the first Subspecies? Well, yeah. But now his minions have simply reattached his head and taken the stake from out of his heart, allowing him to Hicks and Newt the hero of the first film, Stefan, killing him within moments of the film's opening, sending heroine Michele to Bucharest with the titular Bloodstone in the hopes of getting help from her sister Becky. Meanwhile, Radu's mother - yes, known as Mummy - comes on the scene and tries to help him turn Michele to the side of the vampires, which leads directly into Bloodlust: Subspecies 3, which was shot at the same time as this film. A rare sequel that is even better than the original, this starts strong and gets even better, with actually scary moments and a multi-layered antagonist. I don't own the box set and action figure of Radu for nothing.

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!).