Editorials
4 Patriotic Fright Flicks to Help Celebrate the 4th!
When it comes to horror films centered around the 4th of July, there just aren’t that many of them. It’s surprising that in a world where we have a slasher film for every holiday that I struggled to put this list together. Yes, there are several obvious choices for either Independence Day-centric flicks or political horror fare. Those films, such as Jaws (a surefire classic), I Know What You Did Last Summer (my favorite post-Scream slasher), and The Purge series (I’ve got nothing to say) would fit right in with any BBQ, booze, and movie watching 4th of July party.
Instead, I’ve decided to challenge myself just a little bit. While the four films on this list might not all take place on July the 4th, they have something to say about America and the political climate in which they were made.
Uncle Sam (1996)
Uncle Sam was a video store mainstay in the late 90’s. It also had one of those awful covers that had me avoid renting it like the plague. It wasn’t until my mom made a solo mission to the local Video Xpress and returned with this in hand saying, “This looks scary,” that I finally gave it a chance. As I hung my head low in disappointment, I took the tape and popped it into the VCR. I never finished Uncle Sam…not until today, that is.
The bottom line is Uncle Sam isn’t a great movie, especially considering it comes from the minds of two horror greats (William Lustig and Larry Cohen). Moreso, it bares a lot of similarities to their far superior team-ups on the Maniac Cop films. The movie isn’t a total wash. The cinematography surprisingly belies the low budget (which can now be appreciated on Blu or the high-def version available on Shudder), there’s some fun roles for P.J. Soles and Isaac Hayes, and it’s really the 4th of July slasher flick, through and through. No list of this type would be complete without it.
The Bay (2012)
The Bay is a terribly overlooked found footage flick that will truly crawl under your skin. Director, Barry Levinson, was originally researching the environmental problems surrounding the Chesapeake Bay for a proposed documentary. After learning Frontline covered the same material, he decided to take everything he discovered and funnel it into a horror film.
In the picture, a small bay town is preparing for their 4th celebrations when a couple of researchers uncover a massive threat coursing through the town’s water. Of course, the government wishes to keep things on the hush-hush. That never goes well, does it? What makes this a unique entry in the FF sub-genre is that fact that we’re not locked into one particular point of view. The story plays out amongst various forms of media and different characters’ perspectives. It’s a chilling film based on a lot of facts, which makes it all the more horrific.
Masters of Horror: Homecoming (2005)
Masters of Horror was far too short lived. After two seasons, the show moved to network TV as Fear Itself and died a quick death. Nonetheless, for the two years we had it, multiple hours of awesome horror were gifted to us fans. Joe Dante’s first season segment, Homecoming, was a seething takedown of political news media and the war on Iraq. This is the first of two zombie tales to make this list. That just goes to show the power of the living dead as created by Romero. They’re the perfect stand in for various social and political unrest.
In this story, the undead are all soldiers who were killed at war. They’re not loafing around trying to munch on brains, though. The zombies here are interested in one thing, voting. The episode balances a number of different tones from camp style comedy, satire, drama, tragedy, and ultimately horror. Once the returning soldiers realize their peaceful campaign isn’t getting them anywhere, things take a decidedly more traditional zombie approach.
Land of the Dead (2008)
The truth of the matter is that any one of George Romero’s Dead films probably could have made this list. I honed in on Land of the Dead for a few reasons. First of all, the film was made towards the end of the George W. Bush administration and the world was still dealing with the aftermath of 9/11. This undead opus makes no qualms to try and hide the political subtext…I mean, it’s really just text. Dennis Hopper was supposedly channeling Donald Rumsfeld, but it’s quite clear Romero had the then POTUS in mind when he wrote it.
It’s interesting to watch the film now as it tackles class divides head on, feeling like a prophetic call to the Occupy movement (which is probably an entire article in and of itself). But more than all of that sociopolitical mumbo-jumbo, Land has one quality that truly makes it feel like it belongs on a 4th of July watchlist: it’s got lots and lots of “sky flowers” (fireworks). The heroes continuously rely on blasting fireworks into the sky as a means of distracting the living dead. Again, the metaphor is not lost on me, but it lends to a beautiful final shot in the film and makes for a glorious choice in celebrating our Independence.
Happy 4th, everyone!
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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