★ 6 / 10
**_Atmospheric Gothic horror set in Romania_** Michelle (Denice
Wuchak
**_Atmospheric Gothic horror set in Romania_** Michelle (Denice Duff) escapes the castle of Radu (Anders Hove) with the sacred bloodstone, which contains the…
**_Atmospheric Gothic horror set in Romania_**
Michelle (Denice Duff) escapes the castle of Radu (Anders Hove) with the sacred bloodstone, which contains the blood of the saints. In Bucharest, she contacts her sister for help (Melanie Shatner), who flies in ASAP, but Radu has followed Michelle to the city, coveting the artifact and her.
"Bloodstone: Subspecies II" (1993) is the second of four films released between 1991-1998, not to mention a spinoff flick. A fifth installment finally surfaced in 2023. They’re gothic horror in the modern-day similar to Dracula flicks, just with a different antagonist. “Subspecies,” incidentally, was the first American film to be shot in Romania after the breakdown of the Iron Curtain, filmed in September-November, 1990. This one was shot in 1992. Romania, incidentally, was the sole country in Eastern Europe to overthrow its socialist government with violence.
"Bram Stoker's Dracula" was released the year between the first movie and this one. The difference is that Coppola's blockbuster had more money to work with and was shot in the studio in Los Angeles whereas these “Subspecies” flicks used actual ancient ruins, castles and woodland areas of Romania. In short, they’re great Gothic flicks for authentic Carpathian atmosphere.
Like Coppola’s movie, the tone is totally serious and the vampires are revolting. Radu is like a meshing of "Nosferatu" (1922/1979) mixed with Marvel's Morbius. He could’ve been the lead singer in a black metal band in the 90s. Speaking of metal, the band in the nightclub is 13 Ghosts and the two songs they play are “Death of Innocence” and “Beneath the Gravestone.”
As far as the women go, Irina Movila stood out in the first movie as Mara, but she’s absent here. As such, Denice Duff carries the story on the feminine front, replacing Laura Tate as Michelle from the 1991 film. There are a couple tasteful bits of nudity concerning Michelle, but no sleaze. Melanie Shatner, William’s daughter, plays second fiddle to Denice, but she’s strapped with an unappealing short haircut. Meanwhile Pamela Gordon as the grotesque “Mummy” is a creative touch.
The diminutive stop-motion creatures from the first movie only appear near the beginning.
Of the first two movies, I prefer the first, but this one is a quality continuation of the story, albeit very simple. Of course, simplicity is the composer’s greatest tool.
The film runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot entirely in Romania, including Corvin Castle in Hunedoara and Bucharest.
GRADE: B-/B
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★ 7 / 10
Better than the original
angelynx-2
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.…
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.
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5.9/10
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