SUBSPECIES (1991) & BLOODSTONE: SUBSPECIES 2 (1993) Dir: Ted Nicolaou U.K Blu-Ray Review

Shawn Francis brings us his look at 88Films U.K Releases of vampire flicks Subspecies 1 and 2, from Charles Band's Full Moon entertainment. These films have vampires that don't sparkle so please check out Shawn's words after the jump...

Written By Shawn Francis
When I think of Charles Band’s Full Moon studio my mind goes straight to their Puppet Master franchise, I Subspecies flicks. I remember seeing Subspecies on cable back in the early 90s and didn’t care for it much. It’s one of those flicks that didn’t get in my good graces until decades later, when one day I just remembered thinking about it, and having this desire to want to see it again.

then think of one of their other signature series, the

I ended up buying a copy of the standard DVD from Band’s site a year ago, and even though I think the movie still holds up, and enjoyed it, I didn’t much care for the actual transfer. It had a weird “PAL thing” going for it. Every time the camera moved around, the image wasn’t smooth, which reminded me of an early PAL DVD. I was always meaning to upgrade to a blu-ray copy until the unexpected opportunity arose for me to review 88 Films (UK) version, which came out this past March.

Before I get to that let’s talk about the movie. For those not aware it revolves around one of Band’s, and director Ted Nicolaou’s, more popular creations—Radu, the vampire. At its core Subspecies is basically about family dysfunction. King Vladislav, Angus Scrimm in one of the worst wigs I have ever seen in a movie, calls back home, Stefan, one of his vampire sons. He wants to hand down the family heirloom, the Bloodstone, to him, but Radu, Stefan’s evil half brother, thinks it would be more at home in his care. Before Vladislav gets a chance to do this, though, Radu kills him and takes possession of the stone, thus setting off a “blood feud.”

While this whole “blood feud” is going on three girls, Michelle (Laura Tate), Lillian (Michelle McBride) and Mara (Irina Movila) arrive in Romania to research the local culture, and get pulled into it.

The vampires in this movie do not turn into bats, or wolves, or mist, or do any kind of shape shifting what so ever. The main influence for their depiction, especially where the character of Radu is concerned, is Nosferatu. The Subspecies of the title actually refers the little minions Radu can create by breaking off his fingers, and letting them mutate into these cool, David Allen created, stop-motion critters.

Keep in mind I have not seen Full Moon’s US blu-ray release of this movie, only their standard DVD, so I can’t compare it to that. But compared to the stateside DVD, this UK blu-ray is a lot better looking. Colors are nicely rendered, especially one scene where Radu’s pale face stands out in stark contrast to his dripping, bloody lips after a recent “feeding.” The transfer is at a 1.78:1 anamorphic aspect ratio and the 2.0 Digital Stereo audio was good, as well.

First up for extras is a 2009 commentary with Charles Band, moderated by Chris Gore; most of the talk centers on what it was like to film a movie in Romania, which at that time was virgin territory. They also discuss vampire movies in general, the effects of Subspecies, and the prequel they all want to make, but know it’s gonna cost an arm and a leg to do it right. I should note this commentary only exists on the 88 Films version. The US version does not carry it.

There are also 2 featurettes exclusive to the UK blu-ray and DVD: ‘Making Subspecies: The Recollections Of Ted Nicolaou, Anders Hove And Denice Duff’ (8:38): All three talk about their experiences. Of note, Hove drank a lot and threw a lot of temper tantrums; Ted and Anders became buddies on the second; Denice Duff was genuinely frightened during her scenes with Radu in the sequel, Bloodstone. ‘Killer Montage’ (1:45) is kind of similar to the Snake Bites montage on MGM’s special edition of Escape From New York (1981), which means it’s basically a collage of images from the first and second movie set to music, in this case creepy music.

Ported over from the US version is the Videozone (9:55) behind the scenes featurette, which are always fun to watch since it’s a making of taken when the movie was being made. The disc also comes with a collection of Full Moon trailers (Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama, Castle Freak, The Dead Want Women, Puppet Master, Puppet Master III, The Pit And The Pendulum, Tourist Trap, Meridian, Zombies Vs. Strippers and Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death).

Bloodstone: Subspecies II literally picks up right where the first one left off. Radu’s minions help in his

resurrection, after which he goes to Stefan’s coffin and stakes his half brother. Unable to withstand the sudden approach of dawn’s light, he flees to the bowels of the castle to sleep. In the interim, Michelle wakes up before Radu does and finds what would have been her new lover dead in his coffin. She steals the Bloodstone and flees into the night eager to get herself and the stone as far away from Radu as possible.

This second part continues to tell the severely dysfunctional tale of the vampiric Vladislas family. In this one, that “dysfunction” is ratcheted up a notch with the introduction of Radu’s mother, whom he simply refers to as ‘Mummy’ (Pamela Gordon), and, now that I think about it, she does kind of look like what you might expect to see after unwrapping the bandages of a mummy. His interactions with her give us the impression she is a more twisted and evil creature than her son. Most of the movie follows Michelle as she copes with her new, undead nature and Radu’s pursuit of her, for she still has the Bloodstone, but once he reclaims it, his interest with her does not dissipate. He wants her for his own to torment endlessly.

Michelle’s sister, Becky (Melanie Shatner) is eventually pulled into the picture, along with a Romanian cop, Lieutenant Marin (Ion Haiduc), American Embassy agent, Mel Thompson (Kevin Blair) and a Professor Popescu (Michael Denish).

Since Bloodstone and Bloodlust were filmed back to back, the ending of Bloodstone is essentially a cliffhanger where we see Mummy assaulting Michelle and dragging her deeper into the bowels of the castle.

Bloodstone is a much more accomplished movie than the first. And I mean in all aspects, the plot is more engaging, the very look of the film is more polished, and even the effects have evolved. Radu’s facial appliances are different, making him looking creepier than he did in the first flick. There are some really nice practical effects on display in this film where Radu’s body accepts it’s severed head back into it’s fold in the opening, the death/disintegration of Stefan is quite an impressive animatronic spectacle, and as usual David Allen’s stop motion of Radu’s minions are just as impressive as they were in the first. Unfortunately they are only seen very briefly in the beginning of the film.

Like the first one, the film is in a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, but comes off more polished. Colors and black levels are better looking. The audio is different as well. Along with the Dolby Digital 2.0, which was also included on the first, you get a DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks.

Features from the first disc have also been ported over, with only the included Videozone (20:01) being new and focusing on the filming of Bloodstone. Note that these extras are also on the US version of the DVD and blu-ray.