Editorials
A Dive-In Screening of ‘The Shallows’ Cements the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s Status as the Best Theater in the Country
One of the best things about living in Austin is that we are the home of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, aka the best movie theater chain on the planet. So long have I been a patron of this fine establishment that it often boggles my mind when I see people complain about the movie-going experience. Then I quickly remember that not everyone lives in a city where the closest theater has policies like:
- Ordering food and drinks during the movie. Simply write your order on the order cards provided at your seat and stick it up and a server will come by and grab it.
- Kicking out people who talk or text during the movie. If you witness someone in your theater talking or using their cell phone you just write a complaint on your order card and a server will give the people one warning. If it happens again they get kicked out without a refund.
- No children under the age of six are allowed in the theater (unless you are attending a “Baby Day” or one of their Kids Camps).
- Anyone under the age of 18 must attend with a parent or guardian (keep those kids in check!).
Add to this the fact that they never show ads before a movie, just preshows featuring clips (be it YouTube clips or TV/movie clips) that relate to the film you are waiting to see and frequently screen older films as well (I live for their Terror Tuesdays where I have been able to see many horror films on the big screen for the first time) and you’ve got the makings of the best movie theater in the country. This is an establishment that truly cares about their patrons and is the reason I refuse to go to another theater. It’s just a shame they’re only present in 21 cities nationwide (nine of which are in Texas).
One unique thing about the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is their Rolling Roadshow screenings. What they do is screen classic films in outdoor venues, be it in a park or, as many of you may already know, on the water with films like Jaws. Since it is so rare for a killer shark movie to hit the big screen, the Drafthouse gifted us with an on-the-water screening of the new Jaume Collet-Serra film The Shallows, starring Blake Lively. This entails watching a screening of the film (which is projected on a large inflatable movie screen) while floating on inner tubes in the water. It’s as awesome as it sounds.
We’ve already posted two reviews for The Shallows (Kalyn’s and Jess’) so I won’t bore you with another one, but I’ll just say that it’s a fun little aquatic horror film with some great set pieces, nifty special effects and a fantastic performance from Blake Lively. I could have done with a longer running time and one or two more set pieces, but it’s a highly enjoyable film. Oh, and anyone who criticizes the film for featuring a shark that doesn’t behave like a normal shark must direct the same criticism toward Jaws. Bruce jumped on a boat, you guys. C’mon! 3.5/5 skulls for me. The purpose of this article is to tell you about the one-of-a-kind experience the Drafthouse has so graciously provided audiences with “Dive In to The Shallows.”
Whether you’re seeing The Shallows or Jaws on the water (the venue is designed specifically for Jaws screenings since they show it multiple times during the summer), your ticket (a steep $45, but hear me out) grants you access to the space for nearly five hours. The water opens at 8:30pm and the movie starts at 9pm, but you’re able to arrive as early as 6pm. After you park and get checked in, you are given a complimentary glow necklace and tank top and greeted with the jaws of a shark (sponsored by Lone Star Beer, in case you couldn’t tell). Then you begin your trek to the water.
Along the path you will be treated with such sights as a familiar-looking billboard from Jaws and some blood-stained lifeguard posts (see the image gallery below). Once you travel a little further down the path you’ll come to an open area filled with food trucks, bars, games and other activities to fill your time until the water opens up. I would advise you not grab your tube until they open up the water, as hauling that thing around for two hours is a real chore. Did I mentioned you get to keep the tube? Well, you can. And it looks pretty awesome too!
My first stop was the Garbo’s food truck, which specializes in lobster rolls. After that it was straight to the bar. I chose to skip the games (I’m terrible at anything that involves throwing objects into a hole) and relaxed for a bit to take in my surroundings.
It’s impossible to miss the body of water that you’ll soon be sitting in to watch the movie It comes complete with a warning sign from Amity P.D. and a clear view of the inflatable screen on the opposite shore. There was also a large inflatable shark fin in the water for good measure. For those who are wary of the water, there are complimentary lawn chairs and pool furniture situated on the shore so that you can enjoy the movie from there.
At 8:30 it was announced that the water was open and we could begin finding our “seats.” After a quick run back to the bar I headed for the water. Once I got over my initial squeamishness from the mud in between my toes (I’m not what you would call “outdoorsy”), I floated over to the center of the lake. At 9 o’ clock we were told that the movie would be starting shortly but that there were a couple of rules in addition to the standard Drafthouse theater rules:
- Always keep your glow necklace on so the lifeguards floating around can see you.
- If you get out of the water, make sure to take your tube with you otherwise the lifeguards will see your empty tube and assume you have drowned. They will then stop the movie, pissing everyone off, and search for your body.
- When you finish your beer, let it float on the lake and the staff will clean it up later. Do not fill it with water and let it sink to the bottom.
It was all fairly simple and ensured a positive movie-going experience. I can’t say I wasn’t worried about forgetting rule #2 though. It would be just my luck to have the movie get stopped halfway through.
The Verdict
So how was the experience of watching The Shallows on the water? It was quite a bit of fun! I will say that it may not be the best idea to watch a movie for the first time in that environment, as you will frequently be concentrating on not floating away due to the weak current (both sides are blocked by a rope barrier, but we kept slowly floating toward the rope on the right). It’s the perfect setting to watch Jaws since many of you have probably seen that film a countless number of times and don’t need to pay full attention to the film, but it was a little distracting during The Shallows. Not so distracting that it took away from the experience, but it’s something to keep in mind. Other than that one minor quibble I would highly recommend it! Besides, how many times will you get an opportunity like this? They even had a surprise in store for us when ***SPOILER ALERT*** Lively’s character caused an explosion with a flare gun. Upon impact, fireworks went off above the movie screen and everyone appropriately cheered.
“Dive In to The Shallows” (and Jaws On the Water) firmly cements the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s status as the best movie theater in the country. There just isn’t a theater chain out there that shows its patrons as much respect as they do. If you’re ever visiting a city that has one, make it a point to see a movie there. You’ll never want to go to another theater again!
Here is the full gallery of pictures. Please note that the final two images in the gallery below (and the header image at the top of the post) were pulled from the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow Facebook page. The rest reflect my and my partner’s expert iPhone photography skills.
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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