Las criaturas del mal

I love this one due to the beautiful scenery and castle. This one, Sub II and III were my favorites. Excellent for any gothic movie lover! Radu makes for an excellent vampire, sort of 'old-style' vampire what with the long hands. Laura Tate was pretty good, but I personally like Denise Duff as Michelle better. (In Sub II-IV). The actor who portrays Stefan is very handsome and does an excellent job.

It's the classic story of good brother vs. bad brother as the vampire sons of old King Vlad - handsome, noble, boring Stefan and hideous, jealous, scheming, fascinating Radu - battle over the rights to their inheritance. At stake (sorry) are ancient Castle Vladislas, played to perfection by ancient Castle Hunedoara, and the family's prize, the mystic Bloodstone; a holy relic that drips the blood of saints. (What a unique invention! I wish the movie said more about its nature and history.) Into the middle of this gory sibling squabble wander the obligatory clueless bunch of cute American students, doing a research project on local folklore, and we're off to the races.

Has its weak spots, especially the awkward animation and matting-in of Radu's tiny demon servants, but its energy, enthusiasm and imaginative ideas - such as the "shadow transit" by which the vampires travel, and the reptilian relish of Anders Hove's performance as Radu - easily carry it over these gaps. Add in some gore and nudity for the high-school crowd, and the pleasure of seeing a vampire film actually shot in Romania and using its wonderful medieval locations so central to Western vampire lore, and you have a thoroughly capable and enjoyable little horror film. Those who appreciate bloody but clever small-scale horror such as Brian Yuzna's Lovecraft films should have no trouble adopting this one.

(If you enjoy my reviews, you can read more of them under my previous name - just plain "angelynx".)

From the director of TerrorVision- Ted Nicolau- comes the epic vampire series Subspecies...straight to video!!!

It all begins when 3 college roommates meet in Transylvania for a research vacation.

Little do they suspect that it would coincide with a coup in the vvampire world.

A son has murdered his father, to inherit the blood stone- his birthright- and seize power.

Apparently, his father was going to forgo passing him the reigns, due to his insatiable bloodlust.

But now that this salad-fingered vampire is in control...nothing can stop him from pursuing making his darkest desires a reality.

Except, maybe, his more benevolent brother, who may just intervene to stop him...

Considering that the student girls study folklore: this is clearly a parable of love vs lust.

For, in his monstrous form, the evil vampire seeks only to lust after- and feed on- as many young women as possible; while his brother- who retains a more human presence- is more of a romantic, driven by love.

Anyways, the woman that the good brother has fallen in love with eventually discovers his true nature...which leaves her both repulsed and allured.

Encouraging a reading of the storyline in regards to the female gnostic sexual fantasy of the beauty and the beast.

The sets, scenery, and special effects are all very well done.

And the Kinski-inspired lead does an excellent job as the Nosferatu character.

The claymation demons- which act as the vampire king's minions- are pretty badass too...showing you that they didn't skimp on the special effects budget for this film.

As the first entry of a quadrilogy (with the fifth film currently in production), it's a pretty solid little vampire flick.

I look forward to the rest of the series.

7 out of 10.

King Vladislav (Angus Scrimm) of Romania is a vampire, but a vampire of light who wants nothing more than to live in peace and harmony with mankind. But his son, Radu (Anders Hove), is a cruel creature to his very heart (which is pretty obvious as soon as you see him). Three lesbian students have come to study local folklore, but find themselves drawn into the vampires legends at just the wrong time: Vladislav has been killed.

Who can say anything bad about a film featuring a cameo from Angus Scrimm? Not me. I mean, I had some low expectations after seeing other Full Moon pictures ("Puppet Master" in particular, and "Demonic Toys"). But despite the really bad animated effects of the demons, this film was actually really well done and very fun to watch. Plenty of blood, a good plot and back story (the Bloodstone story was surprisingly refreshing) and even some new angles on the vampire mythos, which you would think would be dead by now. (Maybe I am wrong, but this is probably the first film to feature rosary beads being fired from a gun.)

Aside from vampires and blood, you get a share of nudity (gratuitous, but welcome) and I had to notice the excellent score from the composers (not sure who deserves credit, but those involved include Stuart Brotman, Richard Kosinski, William Levine, Michael Portis and John Zeretzka). This is Horror 101 all the way. Heck, you even get two sequels, which is the sign of a true horror film. (Of course, some bad films get sequels, too -- did I mention "Puppet Master"?)

The Romanian theme was well-done, and the film even seems to have been made by Romanians if I am guessing their name origins correctly. And the score -- the music -- really stood out for me as a nice change of pace, very mood-setting. I like Richard Band, but I am glad another composer was given a shot because he nailed the atmosphere on the head. If you like vampire films and want a slight variation (one of the Eastern European variety), this is worth seeing.

"Subspecies," like many other horror films, gets a raw deal on IMDb. The majority of movie-watchers have a hearty contempt for horror, and when they occasionally rent horror films, they either want to laugh at them or cringe at excessively gory scenes. Unfortunately, "Subspecies" is not particularly laughable, and not that bloody, so it gets a low rating. That's too bad.

Of course, there's plenty to criticize here. The non-actors are flat, the subspecies are a poor special effect, and the nighttime scenes are too brightly lit. But what do you expect? For a straight-to-video horror film, "Subspecies" boasts decent production values and more integrity than you might anticipate. The film's Romanian setting is virtually unique (I believe it was the first American movie made in that country, post-Communism), and the locations, both interior and exterior, are beautiful. The script has moments of intelligence, especially when it delves into local folklore (all bogus, I'm sure). Somehow, the location filming and smartish script work well together - "Subspecies" has its own very distinctive world. To risk damning with faint praise...it could be a lot dumber.

Fans of the more gruesome aspects of horror will no doubt get a kick out of the blood-drooling vampire villain, Radu. He's pretty effective in this movie - powerful, with a memorable raspy voice - but I like him better in the sequels, when actor Anders Hove gives a more self-parodying, campy performance. A totally sincere Radu is somewhat silly. Other silly aspects include gratuitous nudity and the subspecies themselves, who are clearly only in the movie because producer Charles Band has a fetish for evil little creatures (see also Puppetmaster and Demonic Toys).

But I linger too much on the movie's flaws. For what it is - straight-to-video vampire horror - "Subspecies" is perfectly fine. The sequels boast better production values, more violence, and somewhat more thoughtful story lines, so I recommend them even more highly. Still, this isn't a bad start for the series.