Between 1991 and 1998 the American film company Full Moon Pictures
created the
most entertaining, attractive, lovingly made and emotionally engaging
continuing series of Gothic vampire films
in the Institute's collection. The series began with
Subspecies (1991), followed by Bloodstone: Subspecies II
(1993),
Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994), and the film that closes this arc,
Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (1998).
(Subspecies V, the much-awaited prequel, seems unlikely to ever be made at this late remove.)
All feature able and stylish yet unobtrusive direction by
Ted Nicolaou,
who also directed FM's "Vampire Journals" (and actually
reads his fan e-mail =)..
The series concerns the
fortunes of a strikingly cadaverous and charismatic nosferat named Radu Vladislas, and of Michelle Morgan, the
American girl he initiates into the mysteries of the undead. A thousand years old, the last survivor of a 9th-Century
aristocratic family (having killed all the others off himself), Radu is a revelation: not just another formula bloodsucker
drawn from one of the typical templates, but a complete
character, understandable and even pitiable, played with ferocious
energy and deep compassion by the gifted Anders Hove. Hove's Radu combines the appearance and sinister air of Max Schreck's
classic Count Orlock
(and even more closely, of Klaus Kinski in the exquisite 1979 remake) with a
heartbreaking loneliness
and poignancy which remind one of Charles Laughton's pathetic and touching
Quasimodo, and a wicked relish that is his alone.
The result is a true vampire fan's vampire, a creation that deserves immortality.
As for Michelle, her portrayal by Denise Duff is simply wonderful, and deserves much more praise than it seems to get.
A brave and strong-willed woman, Michelle fights her developing vampirism and the vampire who made her with single-minded
intensity,
but even when she yields, yields with an intelligence and grace of spirit that is downright inspiring: determined
that if she cannot regain her mortal life she will keep as much humanity as possible in her vampire life.
She's the one
who ends up in possession of the Bloodstone - with which a
vampire can survive without human blood - and she deserves it.
(Besides, she answers her fan mail, too. =)
You can read my reviews of these films posted to the Internet Movie
Database:
Subspecies
Bloodstone: Subspecies II
Bloodlust: Subspecies III
Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm
and of Vampire Journals
Or you might enjoy my extended, personal (read: drooling fangirl) reviews:
Subspecies
Bloodstone: Subspecies II
Bloodlust: Subspecies III
Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm
See my handmade "Bloodstone Rosaries" for Radu and Michelle.
Here's my Incomplete History of the Blade of Laertes.
My (also incomplete) collection of Radu action figures.
(Film images borrowed from
Full Moon Technomancer, with loving gratitude.)
Some Subspecies links:
Full Moon Direct
(Check out their cool Radu mask and accessories!)
Full Moon Fiend's Guide to the FM Universe, a super fan page! now defunct, but available thru the kind offices of the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.
(...see pix of the unproduced 12" Radu figure! *sob*)
Radu's Bloodbath - still an excellent fan site.--
--and the greatest engagement ring ever!
Film reviews by Mother Dark
Denise Duff's own homepage
--buy "Song of the Vampire" from her directly and have your copy personally autographed.
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