Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Vampires Reborn: Subspecies II: Bloodstone


Welcome to Vampires Reborn and I hope we have some fun this week. The tempatures are not very seasonal and constantly changing so that is a teensy bit baffling. That being said we make our way back to the ambicious duo Charles Band of Full Moon Pictures and Ted Nicolau where the series that brought them the most notation is underway and all we have to do is find out what is what. This is Bloodstone: Subspecies II


TURN DOWN THE FLOOD LAMPS!!!!















Picking up right where the original left off Radu (Anders Hove of Subspecies, Critters 4, The Silencer, Family Passions, Bloodstone: Subspecies II, Cagney & Lacey: The Return and Dark Horse) was staked and beheaded and one would normally come to the conclusion job well done (Personally, I would have burned the body and buried the head 60 some miles away from each other but that is just me) but his blood spawned stop motion creations manage to draw the carved oak stake from his chest while his head becomes fused with his spinal column once again. Yup, douse them in holy water, then kerosene and flame on! Arising from the final death nearing dawn, Radu stakes his brother Stefan and prepares to claim Stefan's lover Michelle (Now, Denise Duff of Martial Law II: Undercover, Silk Stalkings, Frogtown II, Dark Vengeance, The Silencing and Song of the Vampire) for his own but the sun rises in time and Michelle is safe for now. As she has been recently turned she was given the relic, the bloodstone for safe keeping. The stone that drips the blood of the saints and more than a drop or two is empowering.

Michelle rises to the night before Radu, flees the castle and hightails it back to the fort with relic in hand. In spite of Radu having to drag his carcass all the way upstairs from the dungeons, he checks on the clearly done for Stefan and cannot find the bloodstone. Michelle makes her way to Bucharest, checks into a hotel and calls directly home reaching her sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner of Star Trek, Knots Landing, The First Power, The Alien Within, TekWar and Mercy Point) trying to explain the power Radu has over her and how she is changed. Rebecca trying to track Michelle down, must rely on both Lt. Marin (Ion Haiduc of Bloodlust: Subspecies III, Amen, Mimic: Sentinel, My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure and Vineri seara) and American Consulate Mel (Kevin Spirtas of The Hills Have Eyes Part II, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Valley of the Dolls, Voyeur II, Apt Pupil and Daredevil) to guide her around this ancient city and shed some light on what could have possibly happened to Michelle.

Yes, I am cliche wise professor of these vampire movies.
















Radu in hot pursuit of Michelle, stops in to say hi to his "mummy" an ancient necromancer almost lich like creature hell bent on using the bloodstone herself and delights at the news of both the Vampire King and Stefan's death but is most vexed with Radu for not producing the bloodstone.

Will Rebecca reach Michelle in time while she still holds her humanity? Will Radu slay the countryside? Could Mummy be any more creepy?



It is unclear why Laura Mae Tate did not want to reprise her role as Michelle but honestly Denise Duff really brought life to that role as she was terrified, conflicted and experiencing changes of mind and body, you felt her fear. Hoves as Radu is slightly sadistic, alone because of his appearance being almost Nosferatu's Orlok and you almost feel sorry for him.

The atmosphere is eerie, the musical score chills you to the bone and the performances are pretty sound for a "B" movie. Bloodlust was intended to be all one movie but production was done up similar to Puppet Master 4 and 5 diced and added additional scenes, filmed back to back.

BEHOLD!! THE MAGUFFIN!!!!

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