Editorials
[Butcher Block] ‘Eden Lake’ Remains One of Horror’s Bleakest Films
Butcher Block is a weekly series celebrating horror’s most extreme films and the minds behind them. Dedicated to graphic gore and splatter, each week will explore the dark, the disturbed, and the depraved in horror, and the blood and guts involved. For the films that use special effects of gore as an art form, and the fans that revel in the carnage, this series is for you.
In the early aughts, mainly between 2003-2009, a subgenre of horror dubbed “torture porn” emerged thanks to a string of brutal, gory, and extreme horror films released during the period. This darker, more violent and torture filled style of horror was global in scale, too, not just relegated stateside. In the U.S., films like Hostel, Saw, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake were drawing large crowds at the box office. France was making waves with a series of transgressive horror films, like High Tension and Martyrs, dubbed New French Extremity. And the U.K. ushered in possibly the bleakest of them all in Eden Lake.
Written and directed by James Watkins (The Descent Part 2, The Woman in Black), Eden Lake follows couple Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and Steve (Michael Fassbender) as they set out for a romantic camping trip in the countryside. It quickly devolves into a harrowing fight for survival that begins with a group of delinquent teens messing with their stuff that escalates into a bloodbath. Watkins grounds his film in realism, and has absolutely no interest in offering the viewer a reprieve from the tension and violence. If you want a happy ending, you won’t find it here.
It’s not just the ending that leaves viewers cold, but the entitled ruthlessness of the teens terrorizing the couple. They laugh as they torture Steve and Jenny, all the while the female member of the group records their exploits with her phone. It’s this brand of feral youth that frightens to the core, and that has been classified in a specific subgenre of horror known as “hoodie horror.” Hoodie horror arose as a reflection of British middle-class fears of hoodie-wearing disadvantaged youths. Films like Citadel, Cherry Tree Lane, Heartless, F, and even Ils (Them), all classify as hoodie horror, but Eden Lake remains the most notable and infamous. It’s a subgenre that’s come under scrutiny in the U.K. for what it might be saying about the lower class from which these vicious delinquents hail. Whether Watkins intended to infuse social commentary into his mean-spirited horror film or not, it sparked an intense debate regardless.
On a wider scale, the entitlement of the gang in this horror film feels a little too real for comfort, and their behavior chills to the bone; the group even burns one of their own alive. From the unflinching torture of Steve to Jenny’s injuries amassed from desperately trying to escape, Watkins only coils the despair tighter as the story progresses. The special makeup effects further sell the grim reality of this couple’s crisis. Special effects artist Paul Hyett (Attack the Block, The Descent, director of Howl) handled prosthetic makeup design, and notable special effects artist Stuart Conran (Grindhouse, Shaun of the Dead, Doomsday) was also on the team that handled the gorier elements of the movie.
The desolation and bleakness of Eden Lake means it’s a divisive entry in extreme horror. There’s no reprieve from the onslaught of torture, and the evil ultimately goes unpunished. The orchestrator, gang leader Brett, actually is rewarded for his heinous activity in a way. All of which makes for a film that serves to upset and anger its audience. Even if you’re among team “love it,” Eden Lake isn’t the type of film that makes for an easy revisit. The hyper-realistic gore, the themes, and the refusal to offer any redemption for its characters makes this film arguably the darkest horror movie to emerge from the extreme “torture porn” craze post-turn of the century.
Editorials
‘Bloodstone: Subspecies II’ Revisited: A Bigger, Bolder Follow-Up to Full Moon’s Vampire Cult Classic
Horror sequels are a peculiar thing. In most cases, follow-ups to scary movies tend to retread the same formula with different victims and more over-the-top scares. This is because audiences tend to be more interested in the antagonists of these pictures than anything else, with even main characters becoming disposable when the time comes to produce a sequel.
That’s why some of the most memorable horror sequels are the ones that actually manage to hold onto interesting survivors from previous films while also pushing the story forward instead of having the same thing happen again to a different group of people. From Scream 2 to Dream Warriors (and arguably even The Exorcist III: Legion), there are quite a few of these innovative sequels to go around.
However, if there’s one franchise that deserves more attention when discussing bigger and better continuations that make the most of episodic filmmaking, it has to be Ted Nicolaou’s Subspecies.
The Full Moon classic spawned an indie horror icon, but bizarre sequel Bloodstone: Subspecies II is even more beloved than its predecessor.
Building a Bigger Vampire Saga
While the film itself takes place almost immediately after the events of the first movie, Bloodstone only entered production a couple of years after the release of the original as both Charles Band and Nicolaou weighed the pros and cons of returning to Romania to continue the series. In an effort to maximize efficiency, the team decided to invest in a trilogy where parts II and III, now fully written by Nicolaou, would be filmed simultaneously over the course of a single grueling shoot.
Much like the first Subspecies, Bloodstone’s low budget meant that the filmmakers once again had to cut corners and re-use as many of their resources as possible. Thankfully, the process was much easier this time around as Nicolaou, with the help of Romanian cinematographer Vlad Paunescu and his wife Oana, became more acquainted with local customs and made new friends. Shooting abroad still came with its own unique set of challenges due to a lack of translators and the occasional safety concerns, but the crew managed to make things work by filming things guerrilla-style and setting up shop in abandoned caves and real medieval ruins.
The director’s newfound contacts, coupled with the relative success of the first movie, meant that he was basically given free rein over an assortment of shooting locations usually considered off-limits for indie horror. That’s why Bloodstone features insanely ambitious lighting and effects work even during scenes shot in the middle of a bustling Bucharest. The filmmakers went so far as to project Radu’s Nosferatu-like shadows over local monuments as if he were a Romanian boogeyman, an idea that was actually encouraged by local cinephiles.
In fact, many of the more elaborate scenes here had originally been planned for the first movie before being discarded due to the lack of available resources. It was only with the support of Romanian fans and filmmakers that Bloodstone was able to give Radu a chance to be even more menacing the second time around.
Michelle’s Transformation Takes Center Stage
However, when it came to the American part of the crew, not everyone was able or willing to return for another round of Romanian adventuring. That’s why Radu’s human-loving half-brother Stefan (Michael Watson) is unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of the film while the role of Michelle had to be recast. Denice Duff took over for Laura Mae Tate, with the character now being joined by her sister, Rebecca, played by Melanie Shatner (yes, that Shatner).
In the finished film, we follow Michelle as she awakens to her new life as a vampire and discovers that Radu has murdered her lover. Struggling with grief and her newfound bloodlust, Michelle contacts her sister overseas, with Rebecca soon travelling to Romania on an ill-advised rescue mission. Meanwhile, Radu (Anders Hove) reaches out to his undead Mummy (Pamela Gordon, underneath heavy layers of impressive makeup effects) and promises to deliver her the coveted Bloodstone artifact while also making Michelle his eternal consort.
Revisiting the movie, I was impressed with how introspective this story is when compared to the original. The sequel assumes that you’re already familiar with the previously established characters, so the story wastes no time in exploring the immediate aftermath of the previous film’s events. From Michelle’s reluctant transformation into a creature of the night to Radu’s obvious mommy issues, Nicolaou is way more interested in pushing these characters into new and uncharted territory rather than recycling existing plot points.
Practical Effects and Gothic Atmosphere Still Impress
Yet, much like the first film, it’s Romania itself that makes the movie worth watching. The ruins of Castle Vladislav are even more majestic now, and visiting the moody streets of Bucharest with its surprisingly punk-rock nightlife made for a nice change of pace when compared to the original film’s quiet village setting. Once again, the abundance of interesting locations makes the movie feel much more expensive than it really is, with the filmmakers surrounding our characters with a living, breathing environment that would be impossible to recreate in a studio.
The increased freedom also allowed Nicolaou to flex his filmmaking muscles and tackle more ambitious blocking/composition in the sequel. The low budget and tropey script mean that the visuals don’t always work, but it’s consistently clear that this neo-expressionist style could only come from a passionate team attempting to pay homage to the shadowy horror classics of yesteryear. If the retro atmosphere isn’t enough for you, there’s enough practical gore here to satisfy even the most demanding of horror hounds!
Radu himself is also far more interesting now that Hove is more comfortable working alongside an international crew, with the actor having gone on record explaining that, while he spent more time drinking vodka than working while shooting the first movie, the sequel was a much more creatively satisfying experience for everyone involved. The character’s relationship with his abusive Mummy is also a highlight of the expanded mythology, especially since the practical effects that bring her to life are just as freaky now as they were back in ’93.
My only real gripe with the horror elements of the picture comes from the glaring absence of the diminutive stop-motion minions from the first film, though I guess the surprisingly entertaining addition of Professor Popescu (Michael Denish) and his archeological antics mostly make up for that.
Bloodstone: Subspecies II is obviously the middle chapter of a trilogy, with the ending feeling a lot less definitive than its predecessor as several plot threads are left to dangle in the wind, but I appreciate how the flick explores new ground while remaining faithful to nearly all the ideas that made the original such a good time. While I don’t think it’s as big of an improvement over the first movie as some fans make it out to be, Bloodstone is definitely worth revisiting if you’re a fan of old-fashioned vampire yarns.
Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion to this initial trilogy, Bloodlust: Subspecies III!
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