Playing at 26 Alamo Drafthouse locations for a special engagement on Monday, May 15th; the presentation will include an exclusive introduction and pre-recorded post-screening Q&A with members of the cast and director, Ted Nicolaou. Tickets available now at drafthouse.com
I have to give it to director Ted Nicolaou, he really does give his return to the “Subspecies” series what seems to be his very best. The “Subspecies” vampire series was one of the crowning jewels of Full Moon Films back in their heyday and cult director Ted Nicolaou re-visits it once more to complete the story of the villainous albeit tragic vampire lord Radu.
“Blood Rise” follows the descent of Radu 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 known as the Bloodstone.
Most of the Full Moon films have looked like they were shot out of someone’s back yard, confined to one setting, but “Subspecies V” thankfully takes us out of the small scale trappings. Now we’re transported backward a few centuries to explore the origins of the series’ trademark master vampire. What’s more is that Nicolaou also explores the beginning of the Blood Stone, as well as introducing vampires to the lore of “Subspecies” to widen the scope of Radu’s mythology. Apparently, “Blood Rise” was filmed in Serbia, in and around historical castles and ruins, and it shows big time.
Despite some sub-standard CGI and green screen here and there (I wish Nicolaou would have shot with traditional film instead of digital), “Subspecies” is a well made film steeped heavily in dark fantasy and vampire horror. It’s pretty obvious that Nicolaou (who also wrote and edited “Blood Rise”) derives a lot of inspiration from Anne Rice, as “Subspecies V” feels very much inspired by the whole tale of Lestat. Anders Hove returns as Radu, portraying the demon slayer with the enigmatic back story with as much gusto and enthusiasm as possible. There’s not a lot of explanation for how he looks so much younger in the first “Subspecies” or why he aged backward.
Thankfully there’s much more interesting material to latch on to where that caveat can be overlooked. I quite enjoyed a lot of the interplay between the various foes and vampiric monsters that ensued, and how Radu evolved from slayer to vicious vampire. Although short, “Subspecies V” is a fine installment in the surprisingly long running series after twenty years.