Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm

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

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.

...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

I admit, without shame, that I'm a big fan of the first three Subspecies films. They're tacky, exploitative, silly movies, but somehow they transcend these typical limitations of straight-to-video horror. Writer-director Ted Nicolau elevates the material with some thoughtful dialogue and characterization, and he uses Romanian locations and folklore to create a truly unique and compelling universe for his vampire films.

That said, he trips up a bit with Subspecies 4. Whereas Nicolau's previous vampire films had a rather polished look, considering the budgetary restrictions he labored under, this movie is crass-looking all the way, right from the silly montage-o-clips opening credits. The lighting, SFX, and set design are a noticeable step down from previous Subspecies films, and a huge step down from Nicolau's exceptionally slick-looking effort "Vampire Journals." I can only assume that Full Moon, or one of its descendant companies, was pretty low on cash when it came time to make this final entry in the series.

The film has plenty of problems that have nothing to do with the scarcity of cash, though. Our heroine, Michelle, is sidelined for too much of the story, leaving the campy Dr. Blood and his comely companion to carry the movie. These new heroes simply aren't charismatic enough to replace Michelle or her buddies from Subspecies 2 and 3. Even the mighty Radu has a diminished role, as he spends much of his time slinking about in a death robe and looking really old. On the whole, the movie simply lacks verve - the characters are static, and so is the action. And the actors have visibly aged, despite being immortal members of the undead realm! How depressing.

I do enjoy the middle of the film, though. Things pick up when Ashe begins to conspire against Radu, and Michelle's surprise rescue of her master is great stuff. But it collapses again at the end, when Radu is slain too abruptly and too easily. I think it would be more interesting if Michelle actually became his ally at last; if she's not going to be the hero anymore, she might as well be another villain.

Still, this is a cut above the norm for the genre. It's perhaps just too depressing for me; a lot of nice characters are killed off right away, and Michelle descends into complete vampire savagery. "Dark" is the operative word here - also "cheap." And "anticlimax." It's a shame they never got around to making Subspecies 5, which I believe was intended to be a period piece about Radu's origin.

I d'know, this one just didn't grab me like the wonderful second and third films of the series. Maybe I'm not quite sure the crossover with Full Moon's other fang epic, "Vampire Journals", worked smoothly, or maybe I'm reacting to the loss of several of the series regulars. But Huff and Hove are again just terrific as Michelle and Radu, with Ion Haiduc reprising the likable role of Lt. Marin (with a twist!); and the creepy Vitalis Institute, where vampires are strapped to tables and experimented on like lab rabbits, is a nasty notion indeed.

The big payoff of this one for fans of the series, though, has to be Radu's unswerving devotion to Michelle, and seeing it *finally* returned by her, however briefly. Michelle desires to be cured of her vampirism but is terrified by the Institute's agonizing treatments, and Radu, hearing her psychic cry for help, instantly shadows to her rescue. The moment in which he appears like an avenging spirit at the Institute's gate and swears, like Mick Jagger's Satan, to "lay your souls to waste" unless his fledgling is released, is simply magnificent. The real gem, though, is Michelle's own response on realizing she was used as bait to lure Radu into a trap. If you're like me and have been agonizing over their relationship through the first three movies, respecting her but aching with sympathy for her spurned paramour, you will just stand and applaud when you see and hear what she does. OK, it doesn't last, but it wouldn't be in character for her if it did; and for that moment I forgave her a lot of her past offenses against one of my all-time favorite vampires.

This ending sure looks final, but check out Ted Nicolaou's comments in the attached "FM Videozone"! There's hope!

(Postscript: by now we know that the term "Subspecies" refers not to vampires but to Radu's little blood-born servitors, who are responsible for several very timely rescues. We only know that, though, because we read the tape boxes/laserdisc sleeves; they're never called that name by anyone in any of the movies, and indeed are scarcely noticed or referred to at all. Wouldn't you think that if they're deemed important enough to name the entire series after, they should've gotten a little more attention by now?...)