Editorials
[Editorial] In ‘Purge’ We Trust
Last year’s release of The Purge shocked audiences worldwide in many ways: not only did the relatively low-budget dystopian thriller score impressively at the box office, but its concept of a chillingly realistic future society sparked a wildfire of post-movie conversations, online fan theories and haunting speculations about the possibility of a real-life “Purge Night.” Needless to say, fans hungered for a follow-up, and this summer the grander, more ambitious sequel Purge: Anarchy premiered to even more impressive numbers (taking in $110 million worldwide), expanded the Purge mythos first established by writer-director James DeMonaco to vast proportions, and delivered on the ominous promises of the original.
The basic premise, for those who have yet to experience it, involves a seemingly idyllic USA of the not-too-distant future (the first film is set in 2022), where crime has been nearly eradicated… except, that is, for one selected night of the year during which citizens can carry out virtually any crime – including murder – with absolutely no legal repercussions. The “New Founding Fathers” proclaim that “Purge Night,” a twelve-hour window from 7pm on March 21st to 7am March 22nd, allows every American a chance to unleash their animal instincts any way they like, with the rationale that they would then be more passive and law-abiding during the other 364 days of the year. The even darker side to this policy is revealed in the stipulation that high-level government officials are the only citizens who cannot be targeted during Purge Night; all others are fair game… or are they?
Even now, fans continue to debate the film’s troubling concept of government-sanctioned anarchy and self-imposed class cleansing, with many people speculating as to whether the Purge would actually work in real life… but the epic sequel poses even more ominous questions.
Own The Purge: Anarchy now on Blu-Ray
[Here be spoilers!]
While the budgetary limitations of The Purge kept the focus on the upper-middle-class Sandin family, Anarchy has fewer monetary restrictions (though the budget is still low by studio standards), and turns its unblinking eye on the vast legions of poor people who are most vulnerable to the purgers’ roving militias. By the following year (2023), a growing movement of armed anti-purge rebels seeks to expose the genocidal truth behind the New Founding Fathers’ plan, and they cross paths with a secret society of corrupt rich people who round up the poor to auction off as human targets.
Into this bloody conflict comes tormented cop Leo (Frank Grillo), who is using Purge Night to seek revenge on the drunk driver who killed his son. Though he ultimately finds himself unable to carry out his revenge, Leo’s new path as a member of the resistance is temporarily cut short after a bloody confrontation with a government death squad, and he learns the horrible secret behind the Purge: its main purpose is not to give citizens an outlet for their animal urges, but to exterminate the poor – and the Founders are working on new, more deadly efficient ways to implement their plan.
Following the recent announcement that a third Purge film has now been greenlit (with DeMonaco returning as writer and director), the buzz is already escalating to new levels, and the web has caught fire with theory and speculation about the plot of the next installment. In a recent interview, Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions told us that Purge 3 may in fact be a prequel, and might focus on the foundation and execution of the first Purge. It’s also expected that Leo will return, having barely survived the final battle with Big Daddy (he’s being taken to the hospital at the end of Anarchy), which would suggest a more direct sequel. Personally, I’d be most interested in learning about the circumstances that enabled the New Founding Fathers to seize power, amend the Constitution and implement the Purge, with a parallel plot focusing on the origins of the resistance. Anarchy opened up the landscape in so many ways, revealing more of the social chaos only hinted at in the original.
It’s not a failing of the first film that we only get glimpses of the national impact of the Purge; it’s a pretty sensible move for a film with a limited budget. Legendary directors like John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino took a similar approach to their earliest features (Assault on Precinct 13 and Reservoir Dogs, respectively), which are set almost entirely in one location, driven by dialogue and character interaction more than action sequences or special effects. While it’s obviously a practical consideration, this tactic also tightens the focus on a small group of besieged characters, and gives the film an oppressive atmosphere of claustrophobia. The Purge accomplishes a similar goal, as the steel gates covering the Sandins’ doors and windows turn their home from a high-tech fortress into a prison. In the second film, once we’ve seen the impact of Purge Night upon its most vulnerable victims – the poor and homeless – we not only witness the horrifying scope of coast-to-coast anarchy, but discover the diabolical workings behind it.
Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the Purge films is their basis in history, with murderous purges occurring in both ancient and modern times – and the prospect that history may indeed repeat itself. Back in August, a rumor spread like a virus across social media that a real-life “purge” was about take place in Detroit, Houston, Louisville, New Orleans, and several other cities. It thankfully turned out to be a hoax, but apart from a quick check on Snopes (something I do quite a lot these days), there wasn’t much information out there to dispute the possibility that it might happen… and the current climate of social unrest didn’t exactly put my mind at ease. I won’t dig into the politics of the issue, but I will say that the friction between the haves and have-nots seems to be increasing, and the fears that grow from that realization are the main reason Purge: Anarchy chilled me to the bone.
As more and more dystopian epics (e.g. The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner) are sharing high-profile attention with the franchise, Blum has revealed there could feasibly be a new Purge sequel every year. It’s an interesting prospect, but with the right scripts and more complex world-building, I think there are quite a few more stories to be told. What do you think the future holds for the Purge series, and what would you most like to see happen in the next film… and beyond? Share your views with us in the comments!
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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