Editorials
“The Simpsons”: 30 Years Ago, the Annual “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween Special Was Born
There are few Halloween traditions in the realm of television as reliable or long-running as the annual Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons. For almost as long as the animated series has been on the air, so too have the anthology-style Halloween episodes that see the beloved cartoon family explore all facets of pop culture, with a holiday and genre slant. The inaugural “Treehouse of Horror” aired on October 25, 1990, marking the start of a thirty-year Halloween institution on television that’s still going strong.
The third episode of the second season, “Treehouse of Horror” begins with Marge Simpson standing in a spotlight on stage relaying a warning that the next half hour may not be too scary for children. Cut to the title card for “The Simpsons Halloween Special,” and opening credits rolling through a stormy graveyard scene. It’s the spark of the Treehouse of Horror’s best recurring motif; the opening credits animated sequence decked out for Halloween.
In the decades since, the opening credits have become far more elaborate, most notably in Guillermo del Toro’s Easter egg-stuffed intro to “Treehouse of Horror XXIV.”
Once warnings are out of the way, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie gather in the treehouse to tell each other scary stories on Halloween. It’s the wraparound that connects the three separate tales, “Bad Dream House,” “Hungry Are the Damned,” and “The Raven.” The first segment parodies haunted house horror, spoofing The Amityville Horror, The House of Usher, The Haunting, and more as the family discovers a portal to an alternate dimension in their bargain-priced new home.
Segment two introduces Kang and Kodos, the man-eating aliens that became “Treehouse of Horror” stalwarts. The pair have appeared in every single Treehouse of Horror episode to date, even if not playing a significant role in one of the segments. It’s this segment that most wears the special’s EC Comics influences on its sleeves. The alien design is inspired by an EC Comics cover, though the story borrows heavily from the famous Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man.”
Lastly, “The Raven” adapts Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem, albeit with a hefty “Simpsons” twist. In true EC Comics fashion, the episode concludes with a morality lesson; only Homer, the trespassing eavesdropper on the tales, comes away terrified.
It’s easy to see why Treehouse of Terror is an enduring Halloween favorite from the first episode. The endless references, loving spoofs, and Easter eggs are packed into every single frame. Marge’s opening warning mirrors the opening scene from Universal’s Frankenstein; both narrators stand in front of stage curtains and directly address the audience. Then, of course, the nods mentioned above to a slew of haunted house horror movies and literary classics. As is often the case, what started small eventually snowballed as popularity grew, which means that the horror and pop culture references packed into Treehouse of Horror episodes became even more detailed and intricate throughout the years. A treasure trove for horror fans, in particular.
It’s not just a primetime sitcom reveling in Halloween and horror that contributed to the enduring success of Treehouse of Horror, but that the annual concept allows for creative freedom. There are no rules when it comes to the Halloween special; anything goes. That even includes animation style. For a casual viewer uninterested in following this cartoon clan’s everyday adventures, Treehouse of Horror exists outside of canon. You don’t need to be familiar with the current season or Springfield’s residents at all to enjoy their Halloween exploits. And the fact that the show is animated makes it an easy entry point for those not usually interested in the macabre. It’s never scary, but it’s also not afraid to indulge in some bloodletting here and there.
Treehouse of Horror started small and allowed for new avant-garde storytelling the series’ usual format might not have allowed. The passage of time embedded it into the pop culture collective as its audience grew. Much like the show itself, it’s hard to imagine a spooky season without this annual Halloween special.
This year’s “Treehouse of Horror XXXI” airs on November 1st.
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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