Editorials
The Dark Majesty of Depeche Mode’s ‘Playing the Angel’
In October of 2005, UK electronic group Depeche Mode released their 11th studio album in the form of Playing the Angel. Featuring 12 brand new tracks and coming four years after their previous release Exciter, Playing the Angel was the #1 album in several countries, including France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden, peaking at #7 in the United States.
I love Depeche Mode and while I knew of many of their songs before I listened to this album, Playing the Angel was my gateway into their discography. Furthermore, I have absolutely no qualms or hesitations in saying that it lands high up on my personal Top 10 Albums of All Time list. So, for no reason other than the fact that I love this album, let’s dive headfirst into Playing the Angel.
The first track I heard from the album was the single “Suffer Well”, which hooked me through its infectious beat and strangely disjointed synths. Dave Gahan swoons and careens his vocals, hypnotizing and entrancing with every syllable. From there, I somehow stumbled across a stream of “Macro”, which I have to admit made me feel uneasy and almost afraid. It was this track that made me realize Playing the Angel was a different kind of beast, something I wasn’t used to hearing from Depeche Mode. So, in the spirit of it being 2005, I went and bought the CD. Being able to hear the album from beginning to end is what ensured that this album would remain a favorite of mine.
From start to end, the album has no filler tracks. It’s one of those albums that you put in, hit ‘Play’, and let it play from beginning to end. For me, it’s a journey of beautiful tones, unsettling melodies, and flat out excellent music. It’s one amazing song after another, from the shocking, almost abrasive opening of “A Pain That I’m Used To” to the pulsating “Precious”, the ethereal instrumental “Introspectre” to the haunting “The Darkest Star”, which, side note, was featured in the Alan Wake DLC “The Writer”.
Speaking of creepy games, one of the things I notice every time I listen to Playing the Angel is how much “horror” is in each track. There are these subtle tones and sounds in the background of every song that creates an air of unease, permeating the track from within. It takes multiple listens to begin peeling back these layers and exposing the darkness contained inside but the trek is a magnificent one. There are few albums where I feel that I hear something new every time I pop it on but Playing the Angel is certainly one of those.
The album is known by many for seeing the band utilize a more organic, analog sound, which I can agree with. There is a depth and texture to the music that feels warm and safe. Many electronic albums have a very harsh air about them, making them difficult to listen to for long periods at a time. I don’t feel this is present at all with Playing the Angel. Rather, once I put it on, I find that I have issues shutting it off. I put the album on repeat and let it go, sometimes for hours at a time.
Depeche Mode have a long and storied career. When this album came out, it was nearly 25 years since the release of their first album Speak & Spell and a dozen years after their wildly successful Songs of Faith & Devotion. For many bands with that amount of time behind them, it’s easy for fans to question if anything new is going to actually be interesting or if it will be rote and predictable.
For me, I say that Depeche Mode released an album that will become the dark horse of their career, one that people will look back upon and recognize its genius. Until that day, I’ll sit back and enjoy it in my own way, darkly and fully.
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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