Editorials
Remembering Ronnie James Dio
Today bears no anniversary for the metal legend Ronald James Padavona, known to the music world as Ronnie James Dio. It’s a month before the anniversary of his passing and his birthday isn’t until July 10th. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Dio‘s influence is felt every day, with every modern day metalhead owing him tribute.
Lately, I find that I’ve been listening to a lot of Dio’s work over the years, which stretched from well before his time in Rainbow with Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple) until his final days, which saw him in both Dio and Heaven & Hell, the group comprised of Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice, who recorded and toured as Black Sabbath in the early 80’s. In fact, Dio’s legacy stretched over five decades, the man tirelessly touring, recording, and promoting the metal community. It’s a life full of trials, difficulties, and accomplishments.
Dio was born July 10th, 1942 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he lived for a short while before moving to Cortland, New York. He stated, “My childhood was safe and sane. No abuse and no traumas. I was surrounded by a large and loving family who taught me the importance of hard work and a meaningful education.” [Source]
Dio got his start musically at an early age, cutting his teeth on the trumpet while also listening to a lot of opera in his home, which almost certainly contributed to his iconic vocal prowess. His first rock and roll band was formed in high school and was the beginning of a nonstop career in music, one that would shape and define the metal genre.
Surprisingly, Dio has stated that he, “…never had vocal training” [Source], instead attributing his vocal talents to the breathing control he learned while playing trumpet. Despite this lack of formal training, Dio’s voice has won him spots on countless “Greatest Metal Vocalists” lists, all focusing on his range, his strength, his presence, and his lyrical output.
The first real rise to fame was Dio’s first major band Elf, which regularly opened for Deep Purple. This would ultimately lead to the formation of Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, which featured Dio as the vocalist for three studio albums and one live LP. Dio and Rainbow would part ways in 1979 and soon afterwards joined one of the greatest heavy metal bands in the history of the genre: Black Sabbath.
The relationship between Dio and Black Sabbath wasn’t a long one but it did result in the release of two studio albums before he moved on to form his own solo project, the now infamous Dio. He would ultimately return for one more album, 1992’s Dehumanizer, but it was a short-lived reunion, Dio ultimately being the more important project in the singer’s eyes.
In his final years, Dio once again joined forces with members of Black Sabbath to form Heaven & Hell. Taken from the name of the first album Dio recorded with Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell not only toured the world but also recorded a new album, The Devil You Know, which received positive reviews and landed on charts across the globe. A follow-up album was planned for 2010, but never materialized.
On November 25th, 2009, Dio’s wife Wendy released a statement saying that her husband was diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer. Less than a year later, on May 16th, this illness would take his life.
His death was one of those moments that rocked the music community. It was the loss of an icon, someone that seemed larger than life. When the phrase “Rock Gods” is uttered, Dio’s legacy proves that he belongs in that pantheon, alongside Hendrix, Darrell, and countless others who came and went before their time.
May 15th through 17th, the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund will be held and will feature special attendees like Tenacious D, Christian Martucci and Roy Mayorga (Stone Stour), Chris Broderick (ex-Megadeth), Sean McNabb (Lynch Mob, ex-Dokken), and more. The event will be held in Los Angeles, CA and event details can be found via the official website.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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