Movies
‘Subspecies V: Bloodrise’ Playing at These Alamo Drafthouse Locations for One-Night-Only on May 15
Full Moon’s Subspecies franchise returns with brand new fifth installment Subspecies V: Bloodrise, a prequel that’s getting a one-night-only theatrical release on May 15.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Full Moon Features have announced the limited theatrical premiere of the fifth frightening entry in the venerable Full Moon film franchise.
The movie – which tells the origin story of the immortal bloodsucker Radu – will play at 26 Alamo Drafthouse locations for a special engagement on Monday, May 15th, 2023 as part of the company’s fabled Graveyard Shift series. The special Graveyard Shift presentation will include an exclusive introduction and pre-recorded post-screening Q&A with members of the cast and director, Ted Nicolaou.
Nat Brehmer raves in his review of the new movie, “This isn’t simply a great Subspecies movie for modern day Full Moon, it’s a great Subspecies movie.” Nat continues, “All I asked of Subspecies V was to rekindle at least some of that feeling I had, watching these movies for the very first time. It does that, and then some. Subspecies V isn’t just a worthy entry in the series, it is absolutely in the running for best Subspecies movie, full stop.”
Tickets are available now at drafthouse.com for the following locations.
Austin, TXSlaughter LaneVillage
Central VirginiaCharlottesville
Chicago, ILWrigleyville
Washington D.C.Crystal CityDC Bryant Street
Denver, COWestminsterSloans LakeLittleton
El Paso, TXMontecilloEast El Paso
Houston, TXLaCenterra
Los Angeles, CADTLA
Lubbock, TXNew York City, NYBrooklynLower ManhattanStaten IslandYonkers
Northern VirginiaLoudounWoodbridge
Raleigh, NC
San Antonio, TXStone OakPark North
San Francisco, CANew Mission
Springfield, MO
St. Louis, MOCity Foundry
“We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership,” says Charles Band, Full Moon Features founder and Subspecies V: Bloodrise producer. “This is a rich, Gothic, visually striking horror movie and I’m thrilled that our fans will have the chance to see it on the big screen, where it belongs!”
“It’s a real honor to be able to present a theatrical screening of this new Full Moon Features film”, says Robert Saucedo, Alamo Drafthouse programmer. “Horror hounds have a real love of Charles Band, Full Moon and the Subspecies series. I’m very excited that we will help give fans the chance to see the newest entry in the franchise on the big screen, where it deserves to be seen.”
Subspecies V: Bloodrise follows the descent of Radu (once more played by series regular Anders Hove) from a noble warrior of the Church to a depraved, blood-hungry creature of the night. Stolen by crusaders on the night of his birth from his demon mother and vampire father, Radu grows up with no knowledge of his monstrous bloodline. Trained and exploited by a brotherhood of mystic monks to slay all enemies of the church, fate brings him back one night to his father’s castle, armed with the monster-slaying Sword of Laertes, to destroy the vampire Vladislas and reclaim a holy relic, the Bloodstone.
Filmed in Serbia, in and around historical castles and ruins, and co-starring original series star Denice Duff in a surprising role, this sensual, violent, and operatic exploration of evil marks a stunning return for one of the screen’s most beloved monsters.
The Subspecies franchise began with Full Moon’s original movie back in 1991, followed by Bloodstone in 1993, Bloodlust in 1994, Vampire Journals in 1997 and Bloodstorm in 1998.
New shark movies these days often come with an overwhelming, not to mention frustrating sense of déjà vu. That’s largely because filmmakers have resigned themselves to rehashing the same ideas, over and over again. Something in the Water treads familiar waters, seeing as the characters here also find their vacation in ruins once they leave the beach. To be fair, this movie starts out differently than most others made in recent years; the main character is dealt a rather unfortunate card long before stepping into shark-infested waters. However, nothing that follows ever quite feels as scary or effective.
Something in the Water does what a lot of modern genre movies do now: they preface trauma with more trauma. A deadly shark encounter should be traumatic all on its own, but director Hayley Easton Street and writer Cat Clarke don’t think that’s enough for Meg (Hiftu Quasem) to endure in one lifetime. A year before the present-day story, the main character barely survived a vicious street attack after she and her then-partner, Lizzie (Lauren Lyle), crossed paths with a gang of homophobes. This moment, while coming across as a bit forced into the story, is damn brutal.
Fast forward and Meg is on her way to a coastal wedding — not her own, though, because she and Lizzie have since split up. The latter felt responsible for the incident; somehow she didn’t expect these strangers to react so violently to hers and Meg’s PDA. Of course, it didn’t help how Lizzie aggravated Meg’s attackers rather than just walk away. So it should come as no surprise how the wedding poses a challenge for Meg. Not only must she go out in public, but now she’s forced to find closure with her ex. Lizzie is in attendance as well, and because the wedding’s bride can’t stand the awkwardness, the former couple is left on an island to talk things out. Which brings the movie to its shark element.
Die-hard shark-horror connoisseurs will be happy to learn Something in the Water takes itself seriously. Very much so. And beyond the usual illogical behavior assigned to these creatures on screen, the sharks don’t act especially silly. The fish would even be fearsome if they actually had more to do in the movie than be the means to an end.
Those looking forward to pure sharksploitation will be disappointed; the sharks are used sparingly once they finally factor into the story. That underutilization, at the very least, helps limit the use of unsightly VFX (yet the movie isn’t completely devoid of it, either). If anything, though, it’s Meg who’s being exploited here. From that horrendous display of gay-bashing shown early on to then having to witness her friends succumb to either sharks or the sea, Meg suffers an undue amount of physical and emotional pain. The apparent objective is to show humans’ capacity to withstand the worst that life has to offer, but it would be remiss to ignore how awkwardly Something in the Water handles that message.
Something in the Water will show in select theaters and hit Digital May 3.
Image: ‘Something in the Water’ poster courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films and StudioCanal.
‘Infested’ Review – One of the Best Spiders Attack Horror Movies in Years
5 Deep Cut Horror Movies to Seek Out in May 2024
Limited Edition Morticia & Wednesday Addams ‘Monster High’ Dolls Releasing Next Week!
‘The King Tide’: An Island Town Rots with Moral Decay in Canadian Folk Horror Fable [Review]
‘Baby in the Basket’ – First Look at Gothic World War II Horror Movie [Exclusive]
You must be logged in to post a comment.