Subspecies: The Awakening

I couldn't believe that Ted Nicolaou could resurrect the evil master vampire Radu one more time and make it work, but he did it! Continuing directly after part 3 left off, Radu goes off to Bucharest to claim his old stronghold from his old fledgling Ash and reclaim his reluctant fledgling Michelle. An awesome movie incorporating Vampire Journals and Subspecies lore. A must see!

...I must say, the Subspecies series is one of Full Moon's better series of pictures. It was kept dark and gothic and bloody. I was not as happy with this one as I was 2 or 3. Which, were made 6 years previous to this one. I do feel the elapsed time helped make the movie less enjoyable. This one picks up after 3, and in my opinion, Radu was dead in 3. He was impaled on the tree after he was burning from the sun. This ressurection just wanted us to throw too much to the winds and just except Radu was back. Still a good, stylish movie looking forward to 5 later this year.

8 out of 10

In a generally consistent franchise as far as quality is concerned, this one is probably the best of the lot. As all movies in the franchise it has a thick atmosphere, excellent music and adequate performances from most actors. Personally I found Anders Hove's Radu to be in his best form in all the franchise, missing most saliva-dripping face-making that made the character a bit ridiculous in the previous movies. In any case, Subspecies IV is a worthy straight-to-video horror that in my opinion is the best of the 5 (Vampire Journals included) together with Subspecies 2: Bloodstone. All in all, a worthy 81 minutes for fans of cheap horror and Full Moon productions

I will admit that I am a fan of the Subspecies Series to start with. The enjoyable movie was greatly added to with the Commentary tracks on the DVD. The director, Ted Nicolaou, was surprisingly candid about the problems with the Site, budget, and some actors. Denise Duff's commentary was funny and at times a bit sarcastic. This movie looks much better than the other movies, I don't know if it was the production or because I was viewing it from a DVD. LOTS of blood and twisted humor.

Over six years ago I happened upon an unknown vampire series called Subspecies. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed them and have missed them ever since. Now, here is a way to revisit Romania and our favorite vampires portrayed by Denice Duff and Anders Hove.

Overall a classic. If you like Full Moon Pictures, a must see. If you've followed the Subspecies movies, ditto. If you are a fan of vampire movies double ditto.