Editorials
George A. Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ Turns 40!
George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead is often considered the best film of his game-changing zombie series. This time Romero embraced the political reputation of Night of the Living Dead and opted to aim for the jugular with his statement on the consumerism of American capitalism. He upped the gore and the humor, too, delivering a memorable classic about four unlikely allies holed up in a secluded shopping mall amidst the zombie apocalypse. Dawn of the Dead was released in Italian markets on September 1, 1978, due to a surprising partnership, before finally making its way to the U.S. six months later on April 20, 1979, meaning that this Romero favorite turns 40 not once, but twice.
After the release of game-changing classic Night of the Living Dead, co-writers George A. Romero and John Russo had a disagreement over where the series should head. Thanks to the film being in public domain, the pair branched off to deliver two very memorable zombie franchises. Russo wrote the novel Return of the Living Dead that served as the loose basis for the 1985 horror comedy, and Romero eventually continued with beloved zombie favorite Dawn of the Dead. Between not wanting to be pigeonholed in horror, working on a string of other films, and struggling to find the funds needed to make Dawn of the Dead, it wasn’t an easy path for Romero to create this sequel.
An unfinished script was passed on to an Italian distributor, who passed it on to Dario Argento. A fan of both Night of the Living Dead and the unfinished script, he flew to New York to meet with Romero and the pair struck up a deal; Argento and his partners would secure half of the budget in exchange for all foreign rights in non-English speaking territories except South America. Argento had final cut of the version released in Italy, while Romero had full control over the cut released in America that was released a half of a year later. Argento’s cut is a shorter run-time; he trimmed jokes that he felt would go over the heads of Italian audiences. He also replaced the score with music by Goblin.
The script for Dawn of the Dead was a whopping 253 pages long. Romero wrote everything in lengthy detail so he could communicate everything to the various departments as he didn’t have time to make storyboards. Filmed at the shopping mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, which Romero had discovered while securing financing for Martin, the crew had to shoot after hours and clear out every morning in time for customers’ arrival.
Romero had a clear vision for his film, but he also gave creative freedom to the 1,600 extras that came in to play zombies. He just instructed them to be the best zombie they could, with no direction on how they should move or look. Also given creative freedom was effects artist Tom Savini, whose only direction from the script was to make it look as realistic as possible. Nearly half of the gore gags in the second half of the film were improvised. One of the most celebrated zombie kills of all time, the screwdriver to the zombie ear (played by composer John Harrison), took Savini roughly two minutes to come up with.
Of course, the gore meant Dawn of the Dead earned an X-rating. Instead, Romero and producers opted to release it unrated. In the end, only one theater refused to play the film for being unrated. The film was trimmed down to receive an R-rating in 1982 so it could play in drive-ins on a double bill with Romero’s Creepshow, but fans were having none of it and it was quickly pulled from theaters.
Dawn of the Dead traded the gloomy, depressive black and white aesthetic of its predecessor in favor of something bold, over the top, and humorous. There was no subtlety at all about the social commentary here. Dawn marked Romero’s full embrace of the political, but of his zombie world as well. These zombies weren’t just faceless killers, but distinct characters. Some of which he couldn’t bring himself to kill, like the zombie nun. He didn’t intend to have anyone survive the end of the film, but found he loved Fran (Gaylen Ross) and Peter (Ken Foree) too much and rewrote a more uplifting conclusion.
Dawn of the Dead was a critical and box office hit, and it solidified Romero’s rank as a master of horror. There’s really no wrong version to watch; all cuts of Dawn of the Dead work and it’s easy to see why it remains a steadfast favorite among fans. It was this film in the series in which Romero fell in love with his zombie world, and so did we.
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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