Editorials
Is This One of Cinema’s Most Horrifying Sequences?
We as horror fans have been subjected to some of the most terrifying, horrifying, and sickening scenes in film history. After all, that’s kinda the purpose of a horror film, right? It’s meant to shock viewers, to scare them and make them feel unsafe. The problem is that after seeing tons of horror movies, it’s really hard to make me feel not only uncomfortable but actually genuinely horrified much these days.
As it turns out, a recent film offered me that experience and it’s stuck with me ever since. In fact, it’s a scene that actually makes me cringe and squirm every time it comes up in discussion because the very thought of it is so horrifying. That film is 2012’s Looper and the scene I’m referring to is Seth’s death.
Let’s watch the scene and then below the video I’ll explain why this is such a horrifying scene for me.
Okay, made it through? Let me explain what’s happening before I get into specifics.
The universe of Looper allows for time travel. I mean, that’s a given, considering the nature of the film but it helps to have a foundation here.
Old Seth is sent back in time to be killed by Young Seth, who hesitates and ends up letting him go. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) turns Seth in so that he doesn’t lose his cut of the money but makes it clear that Seth is not to be killed. Instead, what happens is far, far worse.
In order to retrieve Old Seth, Young Seth is tortured and mutilated, his limbs and extremities removed one piece at a time. As a result, Old Seth begins losing the same pieces of his body, only they happen immediately and without warning. One moment he has all four fingers, the next he has two. Then his nose is gone. And so on. Desperate to stop this horrifying sequence of events, he travels to the address that has been carved into his arm and accepts his fate.
Many people wondered why Young Seth simply wasn’t killed. After all, wouldn’t that make Old Seth disappear? The answer is yes but they were unsure what Seth would do with his life in between the years of Young Seth and Old Seth. Killing him off might drastically alter the future in ways that they couldn’t even begin to expect. That’s why they had to keep him alive, even if in a state such as the one he is now forced to live in.
And that’s what is so horrifying. Not only does Old Seth live in absolute terror while his body literally falls apart on him, Young Seth is now going to live his life minus all the extremities that were surgically removed. No tongue, no nose, no arms or legs… This was his punishment for wanting his own self to live. And that’s why Old Seth was so desperate to make it back. He knows that for every piece he loses, his younger self will be forced to endure a lifetime of even greater hardship. His cries of “Wait!” aren’t for him as an old man. They’re for the rest of his younger self’s life.
What do you think? Is this a horrifying scene or am I just being too sensitive? If you’ve got a better sequence, share it in the comments below!
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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