Editorials
“Whoever Wins… We Lose!” – Reevaluating ‘Alien vs. Predator’ 18 Years Later [The Silver Lining]
In this edition of The Silver Lining, we’ll be discussing Paul W.S. Anderson’s ambitious crossover, Alien vs Predator.
At first glance, Alien vs Predator sounds like an incredibly obvious idea. After all, both intellectual properties are conveniently owned by the same parent company and occupy equally iconic spaces in popular culture (they’re also simultaneously aliens and predators, adding to the similarities). Of course, the deeper you dig, the more you’ll realize that these franchises are fundamentally different in ways that really make you appreciate how writers had to creatively bend and twist decades of lore in order to combine the cosmic horror of Xenomorphs with the ritualistic bloodshed of the Yautja.
That’s why it’s not surprising that it took so long for this crossover to hit theaters. While AVP comics have been published since the late 80s, a cinematic adaptation was originally teased back in 1990, when a Xenomorph skull showed up at the end of the underrated Predator 2. This simple easter egg sparked years of rumors that we’d finally see a version of this epic confrontation on the big screen.
Unfortunately, despite the crossover franchise finding massive success in the world of comics and videogames, a proposed film would become trapped in development hell for over a decade, with Fox unsure of what direction to take the story. During this time, AVP passed through the hands of several accomplished writers and filmmakers like Peter Briggs and Roland Emmerich.
It was only when Paul W.S. Anderson showed up with a pitch powered by concept art by famed creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos that 20th Century Fox finally decided to greenlight production. This led the director to abandon Resident Evil: Apocalypse in order to focus on what he thought was the bigger project, recruiting Shane Salerno to cowrite the script.
Like several other Alien-affiliated spin-offs, the plot borrowed elements from H.P. Lovecraft and Erich von Däniken, following a group of explorers funded by Charles Bishop Weyland (played by the legendary Lance Henriksen) as they venture into a long-forgotten pyramid buried under Antarctic ice. Unfortunately, their expedition unwittingly leads them right into the middle of a centuries-long battle between the titular Aliens and Predators. And like the tagline says: “whoever wins… we lose!”.
When the first trailer dropped, audiences were genuinely stoked to finally see these intergalactic titans face each other in a proper cinematic showdown combining the best elements of each franchise.
SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
AVP raked in a solid $177 million on a $70 million budget, but the flick’s dismal 21% score on Rotten Tomatoes tells you everything you need to know about its critical response. Back in 2004, the film was actually considered the worst entry in either franchise (which I think was wrong even then), with reviewers lamenting its cartoonish script and general lack of tension.
Even the holy trinity of James Cameron, Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver were famously opposed to the movie, thinking that the crossover sounded like an awful attempt to milk both franchises to death. Curiously, Arnold Schwarzenegger offered to show up for a brief cameo in the picture if he failed to be elected as the Governor of California, though we all know how that turned out.
Of course, the most common complaint about the film was about how tame it felt when compared to previous entries in both franchises. It’s strange that a studio would decide to greenlight a project about creatures known for brutally skinning their victims alive and forcefully impregnating them with flesh-eating parasites only to refrain from showing these things in the finished picture. At one point, there was a rumor that the studio had forced Anderson to cut the film down to PG-13, but the director and screenwriter have since revealed that the theatrical cut was always the movie that they had intended to make.
There are other issues as well, such as the controversial decision to depict the Predators as somewhat sympathetic figures, with even their reptilian designs being toned down in order to help audiences to bond with the lead hunter when he ends up partnering with Sanaa Lathan’s final girl, Alexa Woods. It’s also a shame that the Predalien was relegated to sequel bait rather than being used for a unique final battle.
It may have been better received than its 2006 sequel (though the messy production of Requiem could be an article in and of itself), but Alien vs Predator ultimately devolves into a sci-fi themed wrestling match that doesn’t quite capture the eldritch horror of Alien or the balls-to-the-wall action of Predator.
THE SILVER LINING
The Silver Lining is usually reserved for finding the worthwhile elements in less-than-stellar movies, but in this case, I’m thoroughly convinced that Alien vs Predator is a legitimately fun sci-fi romp that just had the bad luck of releasing during the wrong age of blockbusters. It’s still a shame that the film is so mild when compared to its predecessors, but the PG-13 rating is also responsible for allowing the filmmakers to go all-out on this big-budget adventure.
The scope of this story was unlike anything we’d seen from either franchise before, and it even touched on some of the same fringe ideas that would make Prometheus such an interesting Alien prequel 8 years later. And while many critics compared the picture to sci-fi-themed wrestling, I don’t see that as a bad thing. Anderson knew exactly what audiences expected from this clash of extraterrestrial titans, and he did his best to craft a crowd-pleasing shlock-fest.
Time has also been very kind to AVP’s effects work and production design, with the film relying on impressive sets and costumes that still hold up nearly two decades later. This was actually the last time that we would see believable Xenomorphs on film (though I’m happy to say that the Predator franchise still mostly rely on practical monsters), and the flick also featured a life-sized Alien Queen that was the most advanced animatronic monster of the early 2000s.
With the creative dilution of modern blockbusters, I’m certain that Alien vs Predator would have been a much bigger hit had it been released today. In fact, even James Cameron eventually changed his mind about the movie and placed it third on his ranking of the Alien films, accepting it as a big-budget B-movie.
To be honest, I kind of wish that Alien vs Predator had spawned a long-running franchise like other big 2000s action/horror hybrids in the vein of Resident Evil and Underworld, especially if the filmmakers could have gotten away with more blood and guts. The way I see it, the flick’s PG-13 rating is the only thing holding it back from being a classic midnight movie, but the experience is still charming enough to be worth revisiting as is. At the very least, it should keep fans entertained until Disney decides that it’s time to bring these heavy hitters back for another round of extraterrestrial bloodshed.
Watching a bad movie doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad experience. Even the worst films can boast a good idea or two, and that’s why we’re trying to look on the bright side with The Silver Lining, where we shine a light on the best parts of traditionally maligned horror flicks.
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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