vampire films – Horror Ghouls

Vidar the Vampire (2017)

Posted on January 17, 2025January 17, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Vidar the Vampire is the first, and for the time being, the last vampire flick from Norway. A low-budget independent production that came and went in 2017. Yes, we cavemen gnomes have come a long way, haven’t we. And later this year, we’ll have our first sea monster flick with Kraken. Skål!

The film starts with a local news report by the broadcast company NDK (Norsk DrittKringkasting) that tells us that a Satanic ritual has occurred in the middle of the God sacred bible belt in Norway, at a place called Jæren, a middle-of-nowhere land not so far from Stavanger (which also happens to be the hometown of Horror Ghouls) . Then we cut to our man, Vidar (Thomas Aske Berg), a skinny guy in his early 30s with a thick Burt Reynolds mustache and dressed in a silver protective suit as he starts a session with his psychiatrist. And he also wears sunglasses. Not because he’s got a severe hangover, but because he’s Vidar the Vampire. He’s frustrated and ready to tell his life’s story, a deep glory rabbit hole that will even get the shrink raising his eyebrows.

Like any therapy session, we start from the beginning where we see Vidar as a young boy as he lives with his strict religious mom at the farm we saw earlier in the news report. He does most of the work at the farm while he gets bullied by some classmates because he’s a loner and not able to get a girlfriend. We jump twenty years forward where Vidar is still stuck on the farm with no girlfriend, friends or future aspirations where the days consist of cleaning pigsties while his mom lies in bed and chewing pills. The only form of dopamine is hidden in Playboy magazines in his small, cramped bedroom. Vidar prays every night to get away from here, and one holy night, he gets heard. Hallelujah! And now it’s where it starts to get a little weird. We have a weird moment with a succubus before, one night, he finally meets the Savior himself in the barn. And here comes the big shocker: it appears that God is actually Satan. That’s how blasphemous we can get in modern times, I guess. After Vidar gives him a blowjob and swallows the unholy juice, he becomes a vampire, of some sort.

And there’s no surprise that things doesn’t get better for Vidar from here on. His God-fearing mom makes Vidar meet an evangelist in the local church in hope to exorcise him. Doesn’t go that well either. Even more crazy shit happens, and nothing can prepare Vidar for when he finally gets to break free from the isolated farm life to dive into the nightlife of urban Stavanger.

So, yeah, It’s crystal clear what the film is really about: a satirical middle-finger to Christianity, a statement that feels more fifty years-or so too late, and was already ridiculously outdated in 2017. If Vidar the Vampire was made in the 1970s, or even in the 1980s, the film would surely stir some controversy before it would be banned completely, and be regarded as an exploitation cult-classic years later. The filmmakers would also probably be put in jail for violation of the blasphemy law. I’m not kidding. A harmless, silly comedy such as Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) was banned in Norway for over a decade, and that should speak for itself. Things have changed radically since then with the rise of black metal bands in the early 90s, church burnings and Playboy, which was upgraded with porn on VHS, first imported from Sweden, of course. Good times. Hail Satan.

But the film is more than just poking fun of religion and clowns like Bob Larson. Chronic loneliness is the red thread here as we follow Vidar from one dire scenario to the next where things go from bad to worse, and he loses himself into an empty and hopeless existence of pure black-pilled nihilism. He walks around the streets of Stavanger at night in a farm suit while he tries to score, where he’s already completely damaged and a lost case. He becomes more desperate as his bloodlust also rises and he needs as much pussy as he needs the red human syrup. How about both? He stalks a young woman after closing time to her apartment where he chews her pussy and slurps her dry of period blood after she’s blacked-out. He almost swallows a tampon. Yum. This woman’s name is listed as “Drunk Cunt“ in the end credits (yes, in English for whatever reason). He then gets chased by her pimp as Vidar runs through the back alleys buck naked. We shouldn’t sympathize with a rapist, but still. It’s tragic, cringe, absurd, artsy at some times, and morbidly amusing to say the least, also much thanks to some solid acting and likewise dialogue. To lighten the mood, the film is filled with the most depressive and monotone folk songs that just make you want to kill yourself. Rest in peace in advance.

Vidar the Vampire is overall a weird and unique film, plain and simple, that will appeal to smaller audience as the vampire elements is used more as metaphors where the big question lies: is he really a vampire or just a raving mad incel who’s met the breaking point? And then of course we have the Norwegian language with some inside-jokes. If you can handle subtitles, the film is released on Blu-ray in America by Dread Central/DiabolikDVD. So have yourself a Drunk Cunt and enjoy the misery.

Writers and directors: Thomas Aske Berg, Fredrik Waldeland
Country & year: Norway, 2017
Original title: VampyrVidar
Actors: Kathrine Jünger Ims, Thomas Aske Berg, Marit Sanden, Sigve Aasland, Ingvar Skretting, Kim Sønderholm, Ruben Jonassen, Martha Kristine Kåstad, Astrid Braut Øksnevad, Balder Scheen Jacobsen
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6147514/

Renfield (2023)

Posted on January 10, 2025January 11, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Who’d think that Dracula was actually a full-blown narcissist? Wuut? Mr. Renfield, Dracula’s primary source of supply, which also includes being a scapegoat, slave, bitch, punching bag etc., can tell some stories. We’re in present day where Dracula (Nicolas Cage) has moved to a condemned hospital in New Orleans where he plans to turn the whole humanity into his slaves. USA is the big, great land of opportunity where dreams come true, after all (s a r c a s m).

Renfield (Nicolas Hoult, who also plays the Jonathan Harker version in the recent Nosferatu) is still his servant who’s been cursed with immortality, so Dracula can use him as long as needed. His self-esteem is down the toilet and his guilt for bringing his boss victims to satisfy his constant need for human blood, is eating him alive. So what he does next is to attend a therapy group for Co-Dependency / toxic relationships to hunt down the victims’ abusers to then hand them over to Dracula. What a wholesome idea. I guess he just watched Dexter.

The more he attends the group session, the more he realizes that something has to change, and Dracula (or just let’s call him Narcula) is not good for his mental health. No, you don’t fucking say. He starts reading self-help books like “How to Defend Yourself Against a Narcissist“, while I bet he’s already deep in the YouTube-rabbit hole of the subject. Narcula won’t have any of this, of course, and does all the familiar mindfuck games to distract him, such as the classic phrases like: I am the REAL victim here, YOU are the monster, and my dog stepped on a BEE..! Anyway … Plot thickens when Narcula joins forces with mafia queen Bellafrancesca Lobo (Shohreh Aghdashloo) while Renfield only has the frustrated police officer Rebecca (Awkwafina) by his side and gets the ability of super powers when chewing on bugs.

It’s a big understatement to say that Nic Cage has a fun time here, as he’d dreamed about playing Dracula on the silver screen since he was a kid. Rumors also say that he at some point visited Dracula’s ruins in Romania and spent a night there to get a sense of the atmosphere and its surroundings. All that being said, I must admit that I didn’t see much of The Prince of Darkness here, but rather the opposite of Dracula playing Nic Cage, something that only Cageula could get away with. A lot of fun regardless, as Cage is a top-shelf showman who’s always putting out a unique performance with high, manic energy. And with the make-up and the sharp razor teeth, I also kept wondering when he’s finally going to play Marilyn Manson in an X-rated biopic.

Renfield is co-written by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, which also explains the gore, which goes from solid old school to pure, mushy CGI slop. Most of the latter, unfortunately. I’ve seen way worse, as said in the trailer. A subtle hint that the film is fully aware of what it is and goes full in on the silliness and wild over-the-top action scenes that made me think of some of the manga-splatter films from Japan.

Renfield is far more a parody of the Universal Dracula films than a respectful sequel. And parodies are very hit’n miss, comedies in general for that matter, especially in these days when modern, mainstream humor is nothing but a cringe and painful endurance test to sit through, even in a small trailer. Yes, I’m pointing at you, Marvel. Renfield has the right balance, which the amputated runtime of 90 minutes is maybe to thank for, as there’s more action and pacing than pause segments with insufferable jokes. More of this, please!

But what makes the film stand out and not just being a silly, lowbrow splatter cartoon show, is the metaphors of the non-stop widespread epidemic that is pathological narcissism. We’ve seen a more grounded take on the subject in films like Sleep Tight (2011), Gone Girl (2014) and The Invisible Man (2020), although I think it overall nailed it in a fun and morbid, colorful fashion between the Dark Overlord Narcula and the super empath Renfield. I have myself been there, and as painful as it is, the time will eventually come when you can lean back, enjoy a megapint and just laugh at these miserable clowns as a reminder that you’re not doing so badly in life.

Director: Chris McKay
Writers: Ryan Ridley, Robert Kirkman, Ava Tramer
Country & year: USA/UK/Canada, 2023
Actors: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, Camille Chen, Bess Rous, Jenna Kanell, Danya LaBelle, Rhonda Johnson Dents
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11358390/

Nosferatu (2024)

Posted on January 7, 2025January 7, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

A young girl named Ellen is filled with a soul-crushing loneliness, causing her to pray in despair and desperately seeking comfort from anyone…or anything. Unfortunately for her, her prayers are answered. Then, some years later in 1838, she’s happily married to a man named Thomas Hutter, and they live in the town of Wisborg, Germany. Her husband works as a solicitor and estate agent, but he’s struggling a bit financially and hopes to achieve some financial security for them both. His employer, Herr Knock, tells Hutter that there is a reclusive and eccentric count in Transylvania, Count Orlok, who wants to buy Schloss Grünewald, and asks Hutter to travel to the count’s place and seal the deal. Upon hearing this, Ellen is terrified and begs him to stay, but he dismisses her and heads off to the Carpathian Mountains while his wife stays with his wealthy friend, Friedrich Harding and his wife Anna. When he arrives in Transylvania, the locals try to warn him off, but of course he doesn’t pay heed to their superstitions. The evening he arrives at the castle, he meets the intimidating Orlok, dines with him and pretty much wants to finalize the purchase of Schloss Grünewald as soon as possible and get out of there. Instead, Hutter finds himself a victim to Orlok’s bloodlust. Finally managing his escape by falling out of a window and into the river below, he is later found by a nun who brings him to a nearby church where they start nursing him back to health. Meanwhile, Orlok’s coffin is on board a ship sailing towards Wisborg (and Ellen) bringing with him plague-infested rats and death.

Nosferatu is another remake/reimagined version of the 1922 silent movie by F. W. Murnau, a film that was a little too closely inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel from 1897 and almost ended up as lost media when Stoker’s widow took legal action and a judge ordered all copies to be destroyed. Thankfully, some survived, and there has since been several remakes and spinoffs made: Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) by Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu, Nosferatu in Venice (1988) also starring Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu and originally intended to be a sequel to Herzog’s 1979 film and co-directed by Kinski together with Augusto Caminito, Shadow of the Vampire (2000) which is a movie based on the making of the 1922 film where Willem Dafoe plays Nosferatu/Max Schreck, and a 2023 crowd-funded remake with Doug Jones as Nosferatu. Not to mention all references in other media, even including Spongebob.

Robert Eggers had his directorial debut with The Witch (2015), and have since continued to impress with his blend of horror, mythology and folklore, which can also be seen in The Lighthouse (2019). A reimagining of Nosferatu done by this guy sounds like every folklore-horror lover’s dream. And while honoring the source material, he also adds his own flavour to it of course.

The development for Eggers version began in 2015, where he was very much thinking of it as a passion project. Many actors have been cast and re-cast since then, where Skarsgård was originally cast as Thomas Hutter, but then re-cast as Count Orlok (quite the change). To prepare for his role, he lost a significant amount of weight and worked with Icelandic opera singer Ásgerður Júníusdóttir so he could lower his vocal range. The prosthetic makeup took up to six hours a day to apply, and needless to say…he’s completely unrecognizable in this film. While you could clearly see some of his traits beneath his Pennywise makeup in IT (2017), he’s totally unrecognizable here. No wonder he considered his Orlok-transformation experience as “conjuring pure evil“. His looks as Orlok was also kept a secret prior to the film’s release, making a lot of people wonder what the result would be. And while some people found his moustache off-putting for some reason (sure, his looks differ a lot from the goblin/rat-like Orlok from the original) it’s easy to see what Eggers went for here, making him look more like an actual ancient Romanian count. Eggers have deliberately gone back to several of the actual folklore aspects regarding vampires and vampirism, where they were quite literally walking undead corpses.

The filming took place primarily in Prague at Barrandov Studios, and they were also shooting on location at the 14th-century Rožmitál pod Třemšínem Castle in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, and Pernštejn Castle (also used as the location for Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre), Prague’s Invalidovna complex, and some exterior shots were captured in Corvin Castle in Romania, which is actually the castle where Vlad Dracula was briefly imprisoned. Great use of locations, without a doubt. The film was also shot on 35mm in color by cinematographer Jarin Blaschke,using special filters to adapt the desaturated look reminiscent of 19th century Romanticism. Another fun tidbit is that 5000 live rats were used in this film, and none of them were harmed or lost. There’s one scene featuring Willem Dafoe where he had to work with 2000 rats around him, which he didn’t mind as he’s an animal lover but admitted they could be a little unpredictable but were “great acting partners“. No musophobia to be spotted here, at least!

There’s certainly been put great attention to details in Nosferatu, with costumes, locations, sets and cinematography. Despite the film being dark and moody, it’s also manifestly gorgeous where it’s gracefully blending its grotesqueries with beauty. Regarding performances, I have to give praise to Lily-Rose Depp in her role as Ellen, she does a formidable job with her role as the haunted and possessed woman. Willem Dafoe is fun to watch as the Van Helsing-esque occult expert, and it’s especially fun to see him in this movie since he played Max Schreck/Count Orlok in the 2000 movie Shadow of the Vampire. The actors are all doing great, but there’s no doubt that the most impressive performance comes from Skarsgård himself where the transformation is utterly radical and he really does go all in. I have to admit, though, that I gave some involuntary chuckles when he first started speaking with the deep, slow, raspy voice where he sounds like he’s in desperate need of an inhaler. It took some getting used to, but once I did, I thought it suited the character pretty well, especially with how he otherwise looks like a literal decaying corpse. I also couldn’t really shake it from my mind how my brother, upon seeing a picture reveal of Skarsgård’s Orlok version, said he looked like “a grotesque Dr. Eggman“. Yeah…couldn’t really unsee it afterwards…thanks, bro.

There’s no doubt that the Eggers version of Nosferatu is a visual, stylish experience layered with ominous atmosphere and overt sexual undertones. It many ways it differs from both the original and its other remakes, with elements that will be enjoyable for some and off-putting for others, but we loved it through and through!

Writer and director: Robert Eggers
Country & year: USA/UK/Hungary, 2024
Actors: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, Adéla Hesová, Milena Konstantinova, Stacy Thunes
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5040012/

Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires (2018)

Posted on January 3, 2025January 3, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

A woman and a man who is piss-drunk are stumbling back home after a night out in L.A. They decide to take a shortcut through a dark alley (of course they are), where a large hobo violently attacks the man by biting him on the neck. The woman also gets attacked by similar monster-looking hobos, but she manages to escape, only to get hit by a speeding police car.

Then, we head over to a “flashback“ scene where our protagonist Chuck Steel must try to save his kidnapped wife from the local Yakuza. After a totally over-the-top action-packed fight and chase scene, the tragic outcome is that Steel’s wife falls from a helicopter to her death. And that’s the story of how our hero lost his wife, which explains his moody “fuck off assholes and leave me alone“ attitude. Or…at least that’s the story he tells everyone. He also tells every new partner he gets that he is in no way interested in a partner, hates working with a partner, and is a guy that wants to work alone, something that a rookie cop named Barney is about to find out. Poor Barney is also about to find out that Steel has no problems with causing huge collateral damage whilst haunting some gangsters, all the while ranting his ass off to the poor rookie. Needless to say, Steel is soon without a partner again. His captain, determined to team him up with somebody at last, gives him a final choice: a Swedish woman, a monkey, or a cheese plant. He chooses the woman (much to his regret as she’s not exactly what he hoped for). They go to interview the woman from the opening scene who is now in hospital, but when arriving there he meets an old British man standing over her, ready to ram a stake into her heart. This man is supernatural hunter Professor Van Rental, warning Steel that this woman is about to become a Trampire. Yes, you read that right: a Trampire, because back when vampires ruled over Transylvania they were driven out by the locals who finally had enough, which forced the vampires to live like tramps and took to binge drinking, causing their thirst for blood to become as strong as their thirst for alcohol. Thus, the Trampires now hunt the street for those with a high blood alcohol level, and staying sober has never been more important! Of course, it would be an impossible task to ask the general public to stop getting shitfaced, so the only option is to get rid of the Trampires. Does Steel believe in any of this insane hogwash? Well, of course not…but he’s soon to find out that the professor was speaking the truth, which turns this already bonkers movie into a totally crazy, blood-soaked balls-to-the-wall love-letter to the action films from the 80’s!

Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is a stop-motion action horror comedy film from 2018, written and directed by Mike Mort who is also voicing the titular lead role, and this was his feature debut. Budget is said to have been $20 million, of which it doesn’t seem that even a fraction of it was earned back (such a shame). It premiered on the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, on 12 June 2018. And this one’s been a long time in the making, as Mike Mort wrote the early draft for it back in 2001. The character of Chuck Steel was something he came up with all the way back in 1986, however, which makes this an even more fitting 80s throwback film. In 2013, Chuck Steel appeared in the short Raging Balls of Steel Justice, and in 2014 Animortal Studio was setup, where the impressive amount of 425 puppets where made for the movie, plus dozens of giant scale-model sets. The movie was finished in early 2018. Then, distribution hell happened and it didn’t get a release until October 2021.

A stop-motion animated horror action comedy, not giving a turd about political correctness and whether the jokes are being “offensive“ by today’s standards , filled with gore, 80’s throwback action and other pleasantries…what’s not to love? The trailer for this movie got me interested immediately, and oh boy, were we in for a ride with this one! First of all, the stop motion in this movie is absolutely fantastic. It’s easy to see that there’s been put so much love and care into all the puppets, model sets and details. The references to the 80s actions flicks, including both the good and the bad, are spot on: there’s an abundance of explosions, car crashes and chases, all accompanied by the beats of typical 80’s music. It’s just as hilarious and energetic as the trailer indicates, but it’s also surprisingly cinematic and polished.

Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is one of those movies where I just can’t help thinking: why the hell isn’t this movie more known, why isn’t it receiving more appreciation..? With throwback movies being all the rage these days, this should’ve been a goddamn cult classic by now! Yeah, yeah… the crude humour was probably off-putting for some, but seriously. It’s not often we see something as inspired, something so filled with ridiculous energetic glee as this movie! Sure, you probably need to not only be a fan of 80’s action movies or the 80’s in general to fully appreciate a movie like this, but also have a bit of fondness for some of the typical B-Movie schlock as well. Playing this one to the general audience who are used to watch the latest generic and safe blockbusters will probably put their brain in automatic nah-mode, especially with all the jokes putting the modern offense-level up to eleven which would make them squirm in their seats with discomfort. So, yeah…this is one of those movies where I know it’s not got a very wide audience (obviously), but I still can’t recommend it enough and I think that there’s a much larger audience out there who would have loved the shit out of this film if they just found out about it. It’s filled with awesome animation, fantastic creature designs, gore, has a totally crazy plot, and is a hilarious action-filled adventure featuring the most badass maverick cop ever. A pleasure to watch! Glad we got this one on Blu-ray, which also included a poster and booklet.

Writer and director: Mike Mort
Country & year: UK, 2018
Voices by: Mike Mort, Jennifer Saunders, Paul Whitehouse, Dan Russell, Jonnie Fiori, Samantha Coughlan, Romano Marenghi, Geoff Robbins, Jonnie Price, Mark Richard Jones, Laura Tofarides
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4278346/

Salem’s Lot (2024)

Posted on November 22, 2024 by HorrorGhouls

Ben Mears is a writer who has decided to return to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in order to write a book about his childhood. When arriving there, he very quickly meets and befriends a woman named Susan Norton, just so we have established the love interest right away. At the same time, as kid named Mark Petrie must defend himself from the school’s bully, and a newcomer called Straker opens an antique store. This mysterious man, a European, has moved into the Marsten House which has been abandoned for a long time due to a history of murders. We soon learn that Straker is some kind of Renfield, and his vampire master is the Orlok look-alike Kurt Barlow. It doesn’t take long for people to start dying with strange bitemarks on their necks, and the survivors must try and combat the evil that has invaded their hometown.

Salem’s Lot is based on a 1975 novel by Stephen King, directed by Gary Dauberman. The novel was previously adapted for television in 1979, a mini series directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Texas Chain Saw Massacre). There was also a sequel called A Return to Salem’s Lot which was released in 1987, and even a TV mini series called Salem’s Lot which was released in 2004. They sure have given the novel a lot of adaptions, but none ever got to be shown in the theaters, which includes this 2024 version. This movie also had a fair bit of hiccups during its production, to the point where many suspected the entire film would end up scrapped. In 2023, however, Warner Bros decided to release the film on Max.

The film’s reception was not particularly good, and the trailers didn’t exactly promise anything of golden standard either, and this dampened our expectations. Overall, though, we found it to be.. quite decent, actually. There characters are ok, although not portrayed in such an in-depth manner that you could give too much of a shit about any of them. There are some creepy atmospheric scenes and it was able to create enough suspense to keep your interest up. It’s even a bit campy, which shouldn’t come as a surprise in a movie where a 12-year old is running around killing vampires and saving people like he’s some primary school Van Helsing.

Overall, Salem’s Lot is pretty fine for what it is, there is some decent atmosphere here and there and Barlow can come off as creepy enough when you don’t get to see him too clearly. Many people prefer Tobe Hooper’s 1979 mini series, and others again prefer the book. Without making any comparisons between neither book nor previous adaptions, this movie works well on its own. You just can’t avoid being left with a feeling that they didn’t really hit the nail on its head compared to what was probably the intended original vision (which had a 3-hour long duration).

Writer and director: Gary Dauberman
Country & year: USA, 2024
Actors: Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Jordan Preston Carter, Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp, John Benjamin Hickey, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, Pilou Asbæk, Alexander Ward
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10245072/

Subspecies V: Bloodrise (2023)

Posted on October 5, 2024January 1, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Has it gone over two decades already since the last film? Oh, my. As we all know by now, the fifth entry in the Subspecies series was going to be a prequel, which was announced many years before prequels became the new trend we’ve seen in the last few years. Writer and director Ted Nicolaou began to work on the script shortly after the release of Subspecies IV, but then Covid happened…ehr, no, my bad, this was the beginning of the 2000s, so… yeah, what happened and why did it take so long? Budget and resources, they say. OK then. Because we also know that the average Full Moon production, especially after the millennium, seems to have a budget of a salary from a part-time job at Mc Donalds. I’m not trying to be mean here, but if you take a look at some of the twenty releases only from the 2020s alone, how many of them have you seen, except for the modern classic, which is Femalien: Cosmic Crush, of course (s a r c a s m). Obscure means far from bad, but most of them looks like pure junk to porn, where the old Full Moon we loved in the early and mid 90s seems to have lost all of its identity and vanished into a black hole.

So, what I interpret as “budget and resources“ in a Full Moon standard must be something like “make it look like a 90s Full Moon film“. If that’s the case, fair enough. It wasn’t before the first teaser and some still images were uploaded when I began to have some hope. Another concern here was if we got something like we did with the wet fart that was Phantasm V: Ravager (2016) the last film from another beloved horror franchise of five films that took ages to be completed. I can say with a good conscience that Subspecies V: Bloodrise is a masterpiece compared to that film.

In the fifth and final entry of the Subspecies saga, we travel way back in the old, ancient Romania with swords, cloth and some horses, where we get the backstory of Radu Vladislas, and how he became the awesome EVIL Radu. The film is viewed from Radu’s perspective with narration from the man himself as we follow his transformation from human to the vampire we know him for.

The film starts appropriately enough with a witch giving a quick birth to a son in a cave. You can guess who. Some holy crusaders invade and take the newborn to a church where they dewclaw (ouch) the baby and make sure he grows up to be a fellow holy crusader – which he does. Then we see Radu Vladislas (Anders Hove) for the very first time without makeup, as the holy crusader he’s grown up to be, for now that is. He’s now on the quest for his life; to enter Castle Vladislas, kill his evil vampire king father with the Sword of Laertes, and claim the Bloodstone. The king uses his vampire magic to flee before Radu is able to kill him. Oh well. If this is the same king we saw in the first film, played by Angus Scrimm, I don’t know. I’m a little confused. Anyway – In the castle dungeon, he releases Leena (Denise Duff) a woman in distress, and a young boy, named Stefan. Yes, Radus’s lost brother, who he learns about many full moons later. But, UH-OH, Leena happens to be the vampire queen, shoves her fangs into Radu’s neck, takes the Bloodstone and leaves him like a newborn heroin addict. From here on, Radu’s hazy journey into vampirism begins, as he loses his mind and slowly morphs into the evil, drooling neck-chewer he’s best known for. Ceaușescu, eat your heart out, ’cause Romania will never be safe.

And waiting 25 years in order for Full Moon to get their “budget and resources“ in place for the fifth and final chapter of the Subspecies saga was certainly worth the wait. Who would’ve thought. Because this is the best film from Full Moon since … Subspecies IV. What struck me the most, also by only watching the teaser and trailer, was the tasty visuals, which I did not expect in a today’s Full Moon film. Ted Nicolaou, the oldest veteran who’s still working for Charles Band, who also directed all in the series, has been able to keep the style, tone and the vibe with — once again — great use of sets and locations. This one is not shot in Romania, like the others, but in the countryside of Serbia. That could be a concern of its own, but thanks to access to old castles and other historical places to shoot, Nicolaou knows how to take advantage of very little. There’s also a lot of use of natural light here, such as candles and torches where scenes get soaked with atmosphere. From a pure visual standpoint, it reminded me more of Subspecies II and III, where the creative use of light and shadow was a big factor to the distinct gothic look. So yeah, I’m both impressed and surprised by how great the film looks.

Then we, of course, have the man, the myth and the legend himself, Anders Hove, once again as Radu. Even though this is a prequel, I can’t deny that the guy has aged perfectly for a role like this, as in his older age he looks like he could’ve been a lost brother of Klaus Kinski. The makeup is top tier, maybe the best in the series, which makes him the creepiest and most demented Radu to witness, as we see stages of his transformation as his looks progress into the monstrous vampire he eventually becomes, inside and out. Anders Hove gives it all, and it’s clear as a full moon that he loves playing the character more than anything which he slips right into as if it was yesterday. Because in his home country of Denmark, he gets reduced to playing tiny roles, such as a tired, old babysitter who just sleeps on a couch, or a grumpy alcoholic sitting in a corner at a bar. The rest of the cast is hit-and-miss with acting that goes from OK to a wooden leg. Kevin Spirtas, who played Mel in II and III, is playing King Vladislas here, and you won’t recognize him. The strongest supporting actor here is Stasa Nikolic, a troubadour who, with her brother, ends up as one of the first victims of Radu. It was sweet to see Denise Duff again, even though it was somewhat odd to see her as a villain. Nostalgia, yes I know, and I don’t mind that.

So overall, Subspecies V: Bloodrise adds a nice little backstory to our favorite vampire where you’ll get your dosage of Radu. A satisfying and entertaining conclusion for the core fans of the series, and much better than expected considering where Full Moon has been as a company during the last ten years and so. Because they still can if they really want to.

Writer and director: Ted Nicolaou
Country & year: USA/Serbia, 2023
Actors: Anders Hove, Denice Duff, Kevin Spirtas, Stasa Nikolic, Yulia Graut, Petar Arsic, Olivera Perunicic, Marko Filipovic, Jakov Marjanovic
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11075540/

Prequels:
– Subspecies (1991)
– Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993)
– Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)
– Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (1998)

Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (1998)

Posted on October 4, 2024January 1, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Once again, this fourth installment in the Subspecies film series starts where the last one left off. Despite being exposed to the mother sun and getting brutally impaled by falling down the castle walls, Radu (Anders Hove) isn’t dead yet. Of course not. He wakes up while looking like a fried chicken, grabs his Bloodstone before he crawls back into his castle like a hobo. After Mel and Rebecca die in a car crash (RIP), Michelle’s (Denise Duff) body bag gets brought to a clinic somewhere in Bucharest. And the story gets pretty muddy from here on.

This clinic is run by Dr. Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale) and he’s as shady as he looks. He has some borderline big, bulgy crazy eyes that would poke straight through your soul, and looks like a pimp version of Frankenstein’s monster with a Duckula haircut. Can’t look more Romanian than that. He can quickly inform his assistant, Ana (Ioana Abur), that this is a vampire when he spots her neck-bite marks. She doesn’t believe him, of course, until she does.

In the meantime, we get to see what lieutenant Marin is up to. Yes, he’s still alive as well, despite the fact that he got stabbed to death by Radu in the previous film. Well, whatever. Here he’s confused and lost, pretty much like the script for this movie, and probably asks himself what the hell he’s doing here. He’s also a freshly-bitten vampire who hides and sleeps in the cabinets at work like a relapsed alcoholic. His boss, “the big boss“, is not happy with him, and makes it clear that he will fire his ass if he doesn’t get his shit together. Poor Marin. He never gets a break, does he. As Marin’s bloodlust starts to rise, he chews on rats and runs to the nearest cemetery to take shelter in one of the tombs. And from here on, we never see or hear from him again. What ever happened to Marin? I want the spin-off.

And speaking of spin-offs: here we also meet two new vampires: Ash (Jonathon Morris) and Serena (Floriela Grappini), who you’d maybe recognize from Vampire Journals (1997). Radu does not appear in that film, other than a quick mention. Anyway: They live in a cozy crypt and they both fear Radu. Ash and Serena doesn’t add much to the already messy plot other than some stiff melodrama with Radu. In the meantime, Dr. Niculescu is very keen to track down Radu so he can possess the Bloodstone. Because who would possibly guess in a million moons away that he’s actually a vampire? I’m shocked.

Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm is overall a pointless entry in the series, even though I must admit to being a little blinded by the sweet nostalgia. The first three worked well as a trilogy, whereas this one feels very forced and aimless. The dip in quality is apparent, and the moon isn’t as full as it was. The acting is stiff and goofy, even for a Full Moon standard, and as the title suggests, there isn’t much of a bloodstorm here. The film has its moments and tasty leftovers though, and this is far from the worst Full Moon film. It’s still shot in Romania among its gothic, beautiful surroundings, the music is still great, and Anders Hove still rocks your socks off as a menacing Radu. So it has that.

Writer and director: Ted Nicolaou
Also known as: Subspecies: The Awakening
Country & year: USA/Romania, 1998
Actors: Anders Hove, Denice Duff, Jonathon Morris, Ioana Abur, Mihai Dinvale, Floriela Grappini, Dan Astileanu, Ion Haiduc, Eugenia Bosânceanu, Cristi Rasuceanu
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181315/

Prequels:
– Subspecies (1991)
– Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993)
– Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)

Sequel:
– Subspecies V: Bloodrise (2023)

Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)

Posted on October 3, 2024January 1, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Bloodlust: Subspecies III starts right off where the previous one ended. And now it gets real serious when Radu has taken all control over his dear bride, Michelle. The Stockholm Syndrome (or the Transylvanian Syndrome, if you will) has started to slightly hit while she does her best to maintain the last few fibers she has left of humanity. Michelle’s sister, Becky, is still in Romania trying to save her with the help of Mel.

The options start to run out as Radu has joined forces with his mother, still simply called Mummy, and they are actually such a badass duo who can cast their shadow way up to the moon. And no, don’t worry, he won’t do a Bowser and force-marry her up there. With Michelle, they have now isolated themselves behind the tall brick walls of their castle, here with the ext. and int. of the beautiful Corvin Castle. And good luck trying to get in without Simon’s whip.

So, what now? Yeah, great question. Now that the police can’t do shit and the options are down to zero, let’s … uhm … call The Expendables.

And that’s actually not a joke.

And since Sly Stallone wasn’t available, we have Michael Della Femina as none other than the CIA solder Bob. I’m not sure if Bob is meant to be a sort of a comic relief here, but (—MILD SPOILERS AHEAD—) there’s something hilarious about a buff military dude getting whacked down by an old, dusty granny mummy, just like that. Too bad he protected himself with silver bullets instead of garlic bullets. RIP Bob.

As Michelle’s lust and need for human blood starts to kick in, Radu has to take her down to the dark alleys of Bucharest to teach her how to hunt for victims. It’s either that or to suffer like a withdrawing heroin addict and die. And Lieutenant Marin is still here, trying to do his job with chasing vampires while trying not to disappoint his “big boss“. We also have some drama and a tension that boils between Radu and his mum, which also makes this a perfect film to watch on Mother’s Day. The big payoff here is maybe the most epic vampire death captured on celluloid.

There isn’t a lot more to say about this one, other than it feels more like an extended version of a missing third act of the previous film. These two were, after all, made back-to-back with much of the same production values, where we have great use of ancient Romanian locations, and overall soaked in thick, delicious gothic atmosphere. Yum! An overall solid entry that wraps it up as a nice little trilogy … until we got a fourth film five years later.

Writer and director: Ted Nicolaou
Country & year: Romania/USA, 1994
Actors: Anders Hove, Denice Duff, Kevin Spirtas, Melanie Shatner, Michael Denish, Pamela Gordon, Ion Haiduc, Michael Della Femina
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109302/

Prequels:
– Subspecies (1991)
– Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993)

Sequels:
– Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (1998)
– Subspecies V: Bloodrise (2023)

Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993)

Posted on October 2, 2024January 1, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Bloodstone: Subspecies II starts right where the first one left off. We’re in Castle Vladislas where Michelle (portrayed by Denise Duff from here on) is a freshly-bitten vampire, lying in a coffin while her friends are killed by Radu. And speaking of Radu, who’s gotten his head chopped off… according to the vampire encyclopedia, it isn’t enough to just cut off their head, you know. Because you also have to burn the head on a stake to completely finish them. If not, the head will somehow magically attach itself back, like what happens here.

After Radu’s epic little awakening, he finishes his brother Stefan by shoving a stake through his chest, drinking his blood that jets like a fountain. Shows you just how wicked Radu really is. First his father, now his brother. Oh, my. Radu opens the coffin of a scared Michelle, and is about to finish her off as well. A little too late as the sun rises just in time to make Radu rush himself down to his crypt in the basement. There’s a lot to process in these first ten minutes, but after the sun has gone down again, Radu is too late —again— as Michelle has escaped the castle.

To make matters worse for Radu, she has taken the ancient relic, the Bloodstone, with her that was in the coffin with Stefan. Radu gets furious as he trashes the corpse of his brother like an unhinged drug-addict (like he metaphorically is) before he gets on Michelle’s tail, who’s jumped on a train to Bucharest. Michelle checks into a hotel and phones her sister Becky (Melanie Shatner) in the USA. Before Becky is able to get on the first plane to Romania, Michelle dies in the bathtub in her room, and… that’s it, I guess?

Lieutenant Marin (Ion Haiduc) spots two bitemarks on her neck, and like most level-headed Romanian people, the last thing on his mind is vampirism. He gets hold of the Bloodstone, which he assumes is a stolen antique. Well, not far from the truth. Anyway, on the way to the morgue, Michelle suddenly wakes up in the bodybag, scares the daylight out of the coroners, before she runs to seek shelter from the sun. In other words, her sister, Becky, will have a hard time tracking down Michelle in Bucharest. What a mess.

Meanwhile, Radu pays his mother a visit, simply called Mummy (Pamela Gordon). She’s a ghoulish witch skeleton who lives in a cemetery tomb, of course. And she’s not related to the Crypt Keeper, just to clarify. She’s also as evil as she looks and does what she can with her magic to help her beloved son to claim back the Bloodstone and catch Michelle, who he now has some other plans for. Becky gets help from the US Embassy Agent Mel (Kevin Spirtas) to find her sister.

While the first film was mostly filmed in the Romanian countryside, here we expand the horizon in the big city of Bucharest. And I wouldn’t be too surprised if this was also the first American film to be shot in the capital. However, this is peak Full Moon. The first three Subspecies films as a whole are the best thing they’ve ever created (alongside with the first three Puppet Masters), where the second is the grand jewel of the series.

There are some more interesting characters here as well. Denise Duff, who took over the role as Michelle, does an outstanding job here as she slowly loses her identity and has to adjust to the dark, addicted life as a bloodsucking vampire. Melanie Shatner (yes, the daughter of William Shatner) does a solid job as the concerned sister as well. Kevin Spirtas as Mel comes off as more flat and dry, while we have some subtle comic relief moments with Lieutenant Marin, who doesn’t buy any of this vampire-fairy tale boolshit. We also have the old historian Nicolai Popescu (Michael Denish), a charming little oddball. Radu’s Mummy, adds some more of the cheese factor as she looks like something from a 80s fantasy horror movie.

Everything here is of high quality, all from the cinematography, the story, pacing, the effects/make-up, the music to the acting. Everything just clicks. The advantage of the old city of Bucharest really enhances the mood and the stylish gothic atmosphere all up to eleven while Radu casts his dark shadow over the city buildings. The use of light and shadows and the contrast-filled visuals are alone a delight to watch. It looks menacing and beautiful at the same time, and if you weren’t tempted to visit Romania after the first film, this one surely will.

Writer and director: Ted Nicolaou
Country & year: Romania/USA, 1993
Actors: Anders Hove, Denice Duff, Kevin Spirtas, Melanie Shatner, Michael Denish, Pamela Gordon, Ion Haiduc, Norman Cabrera, Wayne Toth
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106436/

Prequel:
– Subspecies (1991)

Sequels:
– Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993)
– Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)
– Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (1998)
– Subspecies V: Bloodrise (2023)

Subspecies (1991)

Posted on October 1, 2024January 1, 2025 by HorrorGhouls

Hey, now that the evil dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu has finally been shot and executed on national TV, and Romania has been freed from the communist party, maybe we should pay the country a visit? Charles Band with his brand-new film company, Full Moon Features, certainly didn’t hesitate. Because after disbanding his decade-long Empire Pictures, he needed something quite special to add to his new company. Full Moon had already produced the first three Puppet Master films with great success, but here comes the coolest piece of trivia in the history of cinema: Subspecies was not only the first American film to be shot in Romania, it was also the first vampire flick to be filmed in that country after the fall of communism. Talk about a double win!

Charles Band quickly scrapped together the title and the classic poster we see on the right before thinking about the script. Director Ted Nicolaou (who also directed the four sequels, plus the spin-off Vampire Journals) asked what the hell the small creatures that carry the woman on the poster was supposed to be. How could he know, it was something that was cool to have on the poster, so the writers just had to come up with something. They ended up being the ones we actually call the Subspecies, and Radu’s (the film’s antagonist) minions, which are just a tiny minor element to the films. They only appear briefly as a quick afterthought in the first two and in the second and the third one.

This epic saga starts with a silhouette shot of the famous Bran Castle where the king Vladislas (Angus Scrimm) in a big fluffy wig, probably borrowed from this guy, is having a drop from an ancient relic called the Bloodstone, the films precious MacGuffin. This stone produces saints’ blood as quickly as a porn stars’ ballsack, so the vampires can live in their own darkness without hunting down humans. And in comes Radu, one of the sons of Vladislas. He’s pure evil, inside and out, with long fingers that would make Count Orlok jealous. He wants the Bloodstone for some reason, even though he hunts down humans just for the hell of it. He wants the whole pie for sure, and the Bloodstone is just the cherry on top. He kills the king with a dagger, claims the castle, and Romania is no longer safe. So much for the execution of Ceaușescu. La dracu!

Then we meet a group of three young female students who travel to Transylvania to study Romanian culture and folklore. Our main girl is Michelle from the US (Laura Tate) who’ll be the main protagonist in the first four films. After meeting at the train station, they drive to a village in the countryside where we get a unique glimpse of an obscure, broken and piss-poor country where the dust after decades of dictatorship hasn’t even begun to settle. It’s grim and moody with all real sets and locations, which gives the film a more raw, organic vibe. The special effects are a whole other aspect, though, which I’ll come back to.

After settling in at an old hotel in the town of Prejmer, they meet the young man, Stefan. He and Michelle fall quickly in love. But there’s only one problem: Stefan is actually a vampire, you see, and the brother of Radu. And Stefan is the polar opposite of Radu, as he’s a good-hearted handsome chad who tries his best to live a normal, civilized life with mortals, thanks to the Bloodstone. Those days seem to be over, though, especially when Radu gets those precious young female students on his radar and starts to hunt them down. Rasnov Fortess was used as Radu’s hiding place, just to mention.

Full Moon made a malicious villain here with Radu, who’s best described as a more monstrous-looking Eric Draven. He’s played by the more unknown Danish actor Anders Hove, who also repriced his role in the four sequels. He brings back much of the primitive and animistic mannerism we saw with Nosferatu while he adds his own distinctiveness to it. The new aspect of Radu is that he talks with a raspy voice like someone with stage 4 throat cancer. And he never seems able to wipe his mouth after biting someone’s neck as he drools like a baby where even the hardcore goth girls would cringe and say “ew“.

The music/soundtrack here is really remarkable, constructed by four composers and performed by the Aman Folk Orchestra. It’s dark and moody, filled with classical tunes that go hand in hand with the obscure and eerie Romanian surroundings. The theme for the opening credits, enhanced in the next two sequels, became such a classic that the black metal band Marduk made a cover version dedicated to Radu, called Nightwing.

While we have a compelling vampire villain, the biggest credit goes to the use of locations, as already mentioned. We have forest landscapes, castle ruins, villages, old ancient buildings in general, and considering the harsh circumstances, the film looks way better than it probably should. Because there are some clearly rough edges here on the technical levels, especially the scenes with Radu’s minion creatures. They originally used actors in costumes with large sets which ended up as deleted scenes. The problem was, according to the director himself (from a journal he wrote during the production), was that they were played by drunk Romanians who I’d guess were still in celebratory mode after the death of Ceaușescu. And then there were the language barriers. So instead, we have some charming creatures made of claymation in stop-motion made by David Allen, who also worked on the Puppet Master films. The only thing missing is their shadow where the moldy B movie cheese really reeks, and it’s a positive thing that they have very little screen time. They look much better in the next two films though.

So, despite its bumps in the road, Subspecies is a solid and a very ambitious start to a nice, little trilogy that expands on its own twist on Eastern European vampire lore. I’m not sure how much impact this will have on today’s generation as this is a product from its time – but Radu, the locations, the overall atmosphere and the music alone make it worth a watch. The two sequels are great as well, especially the second. You can watch them all on fullmoonfeatures.com.

Director: Ted Nicolaou
Writers: Charles Band, Jack Canson, David Pabian
Country & year: Romania/USA, 1991
Actors: Anders Hove, Irina Movila, Laura Mae Tate, Michelle McBride, Ivan J. Rado, Mara Grigore, Adrian Vâlcu, Michael Watson, Angus Scrimm
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103002/

Sequels:
– Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993)
– Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)
– Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm (1998)
– Subspecies V: Bloodrise (2023)