There’s a moment in every long-running franchise when real life begins to interfere with production. Be it cast members aging out of their roles or maybe the filmmakers themselves running out of ideas to turn into stories, there are plenty of signs that indicate it’s time to let go of a beloved intellectual property.
This phenomenon is precisely what makes Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm such a fascinating feature, as this strange entry in Full Moon’s fan-favorite vampire series is an undeniably satisfying farewell to Radu and the old-fashioned evil he represents despite being compromised by real world production issues. That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow horror fans to join me as we continue our journey through the Subspecies franchise and explore a film that feels torn between letting go of the past and exploring brave new heights.
As we discussed in our previous retrospective, the gothic romance of 1997’s underrated Vampire Journals may not have been an all-out failure, but it was clear that Full Moon fans were more interested in Radu’s villainous exploits than the undead plotting of his slightly less monstrous fledgling. That’s why it was only natural that Charles Band would once again approach series co-creator Ted Nicolaou with an offer to return to Romania and bring Radu back for one final vampiric romp.
Interested in the idea of developing a horrific coda of sorts, where the director could combine the Anne Rice-inspired politics and theatrical aesthetics of Vampire Journals with the more overt horror of the original Subspecies films in order to give his extended cast the farewell they deserved, Nicolaou soon came up with a script meant to get the band back together for the most ambitious Subspecies film yet.
Reuniting the Subspecies Team…Almost
Unfortunately, enough time had passed at that point that many of the series regulars couldn’t commit to another trip back to Transylvania. Not only did this result in the hiring of a different effects supervisor this time around (with the absence of genre icon David Allen explaining the lack of the stop-motion demon minions in this sequel), but it also meant that both Melanie Shatner and Kevin Blair had to be hastily written out of the story despite the new film taking place immediately after Bloodlust. Hell, the team even lost the original Bloodstone prop, leading to the use of a digital replica in this sequel.
Released in 1998, the finished Bloodstorm takes place immediately after the events of the previous film and once again follows Denice Duff as Michelle – an American student in Romania who was turned into a reluctant vampire after encountering the undead Radu (Anders Hove). When an unexpected car crash kills Michelle’s sister and her lover, the well-intentioned Doctor Ana Lazar (Ioana Abur) rescues the surviving vampire and takes her to the secluded hospital where she works. Unfortunately, Ana’s enigmatic boss, Doctor Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale), harbors secrets of his own, and his treatment of Michelle’s condition once again puts her at the mercy of Radu.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Radu has decided to permanently relocate to Bucharest in order to expand his empire against the wishes of his conniving fledgling Ash (Jonathon Morris, who reprises his role from Vampire Journals.
While it’s a little jarring to see the “definitive” death of Radu be so easily undone in the opening moments of Bloodstorm, the film at least gives us an explanation for the vampire’s stubborn refusal to die (he can apparently only be permanently killed by a mortal who is pure of heart). Of course, the most interesting ideas here come from the juxtaposition of science and the occult as Dr. Niculescu experiments on Michelle and slowly reveals his own villainous nature as a “reformed” vampire.
Combine these themes with Radu’s plans to invade a modern metropolis and wrest control of the city from his more urban fledgling, and you get the most Dracula-adjacent entry in the entire Subspecies franchise.
Practical Gore Still Saves the Day
Speaking of modernity, this is also the first Subspecies film to be shot entirely on video. This is something of a mixed bag, as the near-impressionistic visuals and artifacting can be aesthetically pleasing in their own ’90s way, but this cheaper approach often clashes with the established gothic setting – especially when compared to the gorgeous cinematography of the previous two movies.
Some of the effects also feel a bit rushed this time around, with Radu’s makeup varying from homemade Halloween prop to the scariest it’s ever been, often within the very same scene. Thankfully, a healthy amount of practical gore effects and plenty of narrative intrigue help to make this an effective send-off for the series even if it lacks the old-fashioned polish present in the original trilogy.
In fact, the absence of Blair and Shatner’s budding romance means that the film is free to explore its more speculative side with few distractions, with Ana Lazar being the only real human core of the movie until she realizes that she’s destined to become a vampire slayer. Romanian actor Mihai Dinvale also returns from Vampire Journals in a brand-new role that comes the closest to dethroning Radu as the de facto worst person in the franchise.
His scientific study of the vampire infection also makes for the most interesting addition to the franchise’s mythology in any of the sequels, with all of these seemingly contradictory ideas combining to make the best-paced Subspecies film so far. There’s never a dull moment as we switch between vampiric mutinies and bloody kill scenes in the blink of an eye – all without the need for exposition since we dealt with all that in previous films.
The digital imagery and more fast-paced approach to storytelling may not please hardcore fans of the early Radu movies, but this definitive exploration of everything the character stands for manages to be an impressive send-off despite years of existing near-death experiences involving impalings, burnings and decapitations.
Of course, you can’t keep a good vampire down, so stay tuned for the final entry in our Subspecies retrospective as we tackle 2023’s legacy prequel in the near future.
