Movies
[Review] ‘Mohawk’ Proves Man is the Most Dangerous Monster
Man is the most dangerous monster. Demons possess and trick their hosts into committing stigmata upon themselves, vampires suck their victims dry and pick their teeth clean with their bones, and werewolves transform everyday people into ferocious beasts hell-bent on destruction by way of tearing innocent patrons apart, but no creature is as deadly or deranged as an animal that would use its thumbs to forge a fatal weapon which can end lives with the slight pull of a trigger. Creatures of the night pale in comparison to the entities lurking in the woods waiting for well-timed capture, surveying the land with greedy gold-speckled eyes, plotting how best to kill what stands in its way of profit. In this New World where the man with the biggest gun wins, no Native is safe from the destruction that the white man wields. No Indian goes to bed at night fearing the supernatural creatures lurking under his bed – they dread the chaos that the sun drenched day brings, when their Aryan brothers finally decide once and for all that they want this land for themselves.
The follow up to his 2015 crowd pleasing debut feature We Are Still Here, Ted Geoghegan is back furious vengeance in his latest film, simply titled Mohawk. Set during the War of 1812, the film follows the story of Oak, a strong Native American Mohawk princess who will do anything to protect her family from the white settlers slowly encroaching onto their land. At her side is her Indian lover Calvin Two Rivers, and her Red Coat lover Joshua – yes, that’s right, Oak is in an open bisexual relationship with two men from polar opposite sides of the globe. Despite the madness around her and all of the men seeking to divide her world into factions based on race, Oak manages to find the grace in the little community she has crafted here through her romance. The three people in this relationship succeed where strategic pioneers have failed – they look past surface skin color and find love nestled within each others’ eyes.
In the movie, a group of peaceful Mohawk Native American live in humble coexistence with New England settlers in their little corner of colonial America. That is, until one day when the white man has decided he’s had enough of this cohabitation and seeks to snatch up the land all for himself and himself only – even if that means killing every single Indian currently residing on this land in order to achieve it.
Undeniably, Mohawk has its issues – watching these characters race over the seemingly same patch of grass (where it was apparently filmed in upstate New York) makes the journey feel somewhat hard to follow after a while, as if these people were almost running around in circles, and the production value makes it quite apparent that this is a low budget film, especially when one stops to take a gander at some of the costumes. However, despite its small shortcomings, where Geoghegan succeeds is in his brave attempt to create a universe in which the settlers of the New World are not the heroes we’ve come to believe, but in actuality, thieves lying in wait to pillage and maim everyone in their path until they’ve snuffed out an entire group of people and their culture from existence. Where some filmmakers play it safe by crafting crowd pleasing universes in which everyone in the audience will adhere to and agree with what they’re witnessing onscreen, Geoghegan casts normality aside in favor of some hard truth – we white people stole this land, and our history isn’t as romantic and gratifying as some of us have been led to believe. It’s an intriguing story, not only because it’s one we haven’t heard very often, but also because it’s a flip on perspective, turning the “savages” we’ve grown accustomed to into innocent prey, and turning us, those who would rather dust the unfortunate truth under the rug, into the ones to fear. It will be interesting to see what this atypical filmmaker can conjure up next, especially given his already impressive track record thus far.
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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