Bloodstone: Subspecies II

Plot synopsis:
NOTE: Sequel to Subspecies (1991).The subspecies return Radu's head to his body and remove the stake
from his heart. Radu [Anders Hove] is resurrected. His first deed is to open Stefan's
coffin and destroy him. Before he can perform his second deed -- stake
Michelle Morgan -- the sun comes up and he must take immediate refuge in his
coffin. The next evening, Michelle [Denice Duff] wakes first, finds Stefan in ashes,
grabs the bloodstone and hops a train to Bucuresti (Bucharest) where she
gets a room at the Hotel Bucharest, makes a transcontinental call to her
sister Becky [Melanie Shatner], and begs her to come to Bucharest and help her.Michelle then falls asleep in the bathtub where the cleaning ladies
find her the next day and, assuming her dead, call the police. On the way
to the morgue, however, Michelle awakens and escapes. She runs to the
Athene Palace and takes shelter in the wardrobe/prop room. Radu, who has
followed Michelle to Bucharest, visits his Mummy [Pamela Gordon] in her tomb. Mummy
advises Radu to return immediately to the castle, burn all the bodies and
remain there until the next full moon. Radu obeys.Becky arrives in Bucharest the next day. She goes to the Hotel
looking for Michelle but is informed by Mel Thompson [Kevin Spirtas] of the U.S. Embassy
and Lt. Marin [Ion Haiduc] of the Bucharest Politia about Michelle's mistaken death and
flight. Becky takes possession of Michelle's belongings, including the
bloodstone. Becky and Mel contact Professor Nicolai Popescu [Michael Denish] of the Folk
Art Museum to obtain information about Michelle's research. Popescu offers
to accompany them to Pledmar. When they arrive at the Fortress, it is empty, so they go on to
Castle Vladislav. Thinking the castle uninhabited, they enter. But Radu,
who has just awakened, asks them to leave. They return to Bucharest.Meanwhile, Michelle is getting hungry. She has so far resisted the urge to
drink from humans, and she now watches the Hotel hoping to catch a glimpse
of Becky. When they see each other, Michelle flees but Becky follows.
Becky gives Michelle the bloodstone while Radu watches. Michelle runs away
and drinks from the bloodstone. Radu follows, confesses his love for his
fledgling Michelle and makes her give him the bloodstone.The next day, Becky tells Mel and Lt. Marin about seeing Michelle.
They visit Popescu who has located The Book of Vladislav, the Vampire and
reads to them about the legend of King Vladislav and the bloodstone.
Michelle wakes up hungry that night and takes her first victim, after which
she immediately pukes. Radu attempts to drink from Becky, but the ringing
telephone interrupts him. It is Michelle, begging Becky to help her. They
meet behind the Athene Palace, and Michelle finally tells Becky about
becoming vampire.Radu shows up and forces Michelle into Mummy's tomb because it is too
close to sunrise. Mel doesn't believe Michelle when she relates her
experience to him and Popescu. Only Popescu accompanies her to the tomb
but, as he attempts to stake Radu, he is himself staked by Mummy. As Radu
prepares to drink from Becky, Michelle attacks him with a knife, stabbing
him repeatedly. Becky and Michelle run from the tomb until Michelle
realizes that she cannot leave until the sun goes down. Becky promises to
wait for dark, but Mummy drags Michelle deep into the tomb while Becky
listens to the screams. [Original Synopsis by BJ Kuehl.]

Tags: cult, violence

Review:
What sets them apart from other lowbudget horror films is good acting, moody atmosphere and well defined charactors.In the subspecies series we are treated to an interesting game of cat and mouse waged between two erstwhile vampires.
Radu Vladislas, a cadaverous master bloodsucker and the object of his desire, the fetching fledgling Michelle Morgan.After a pedestrian first outing subspecies 2 elevates the series with the addition of talented Denice Duff in the role of Michelle.
She and well regarded Dutch actor Anders Hove who plays Radu share an excellent on screen chemistry.Picking up where the original film left off we find Michelle fleeing castle Vladislas for the imagined saftey of Bucharest.
In Bucharest the two vie for possession of the bloodstone, a mystical artifact known to 'drip with the blood of saints'.As events unfold, both Radu and Michelle acquire allies to aid them in their respective causes.
It is through these secondary charactors interesting insight into Radu and Michelle is given.In conversations with his 'mummy' we discover Radu to be nothing like the vile nightcreature we have come to know.
Brand new vampire Michelle must flee Castle Vladislas after the eternally slobbering Radu kills her lover, the Good Vampire Stefan (no great loss, really).
Michelle has not gone away empty handed however; the life-giving Bloodstone is now in her possession, and Radu wants it back.
Finding Michelle is no problem, but killing her (as he had originally intended) proves much more difficult as the hideous Radu decides he wants both the Bloodstone and Michelle for his own.Denice Duff is quite good as the new Michelle here, stalking victims in humid European nightclubs with a seductive coldness, while at the same time desperately trying to deny the murderous impulses which disgust her.
Their relationship is most unique, a true Beauty and the Beast pair.While not as Gothically creepy as the first Subspecies, Bloodstone is still a strong entry in the series, visually compelling and with a good, strong storyline to boot.
I said it before and I will say it again: Radu is what a vampire should be, and his presence makes these films totally enjoyable.
It really is much better than its low rating would suggest.Moody directing, lush Romanian locations, and deliciously over-the-top villains like Radu and Mummy add up to a gruesomely wonderful viewing experience.
If you want to rent a horror movie that's violent but not repulsive, and clever enough to hold your attention when there aren't killings on screen, then "Subspecies II" is the flick for you (sorry about the bad poetry there!)..
Having sensibly disposed of Stefan and focused on the far more interesting Radu, the Full Moon crew really gets this series rolling with its second film.
Michelle (Denise Duff, replacing  the first film's Laura Tate) escapes Castle Vlad and flees to Bucharest, taking with her the precious Bloodstone.
Desperately battling her own developing vampirism, she begs her sister Rebecca to take her back to America, but when Rebecca arrives, Michelle - ashamed of her condition - finds it near-impossible to face her.
This sets up the film's central game of cat-and-bat-and-mouse, as the worried Rebecca and the resurrected Radu hunt Michelle through Bucharest's night time streets and Rebecca assembles a motley gang of Fearless Vampire Hunters [TM] to pursue her sister's tormentor.
A terrific mixture of macabre and down-to-earth characters, with Duff standing out as the terrified but strong-willed Michelle, Melanie Shatner fine as brave and concerned Rebecca, Michael Denish enjoying the Van Helsing-esque role of Prof.
Popescu and Ion Haiduc especially good as the pragmatic Romanian cop Lt. Marin.The movie, however, *belongs* to Anders Hove as Radu.
This movie has all the classic horror appeal of the old Hammer films; mood, darkness and Romania!
The shadow effects were the most amazing I'd ever seen, and the actress, Denise Duff who plays Michelle was so awesome!
Also Radu,Anders Hove was superbly chilling yet lovable at the same time.Awesome eerie, gothic vampire movie!!!
This time Michelle the survivor of the weaker part 1 seeks the help of her sister to escape her stalker, vampire Radu.
I got the great opportunity last night to see all the Subspecies movies, normally when you get into the sequels, they're disappointing and you don't get into them, they also ruin the series.
This is a fun sequel that really develops a story instead of the typical bite and gore vampire film.
The reason why this series is so interesting I think is because it provides the scares while going into a very interesting story about vampires and makes it a great night for horror movies.Radu is back, after arising from his decapitation, well, you'll have to see how they pull it together, he finds his brother, Stephan resting and kills him.
He goes to another coffin to find Michelle, who is waiting for her transformation of being a vampire, but before Radu can kill her, the sun comes up and burns him, he runs, Michelle grabs the bloodstone and gets as far away as she can.
life style.Bloodstone: Subspeices 2 goes deeper and isn't the typical horror movie, it has a great story.
We are family in this sequel, it's fun and definitely worth the look, this is such a cool series to get into, I recommend it for the horror genre fans.7/10.
This is the only Subspecies movie which has a flaw: when Radu is seen in an alley, Rebecca is not surprised by how he looks!
Subspecies II is wonderful, haunting, true Gothic, creepy, all you ever wanted from a vampire movie.
One question comes in my mind thinking: "Why can't an age old vampire  eat properly, but feeds like a baby (most of it goes everywhere but down the throat)?" I can't believe this movie was meant to be scary, it's not - not a bit!
It is not that the story doesn't try to tell a serious plot, but it just(like most horror movies) makes you smile all the time..
Arriving in the Transylvanian backwoods, a woman searching for her sister finds that she's run afoul of a vicious vampire looking for a sacred relic she stole while on assignment in the country and must team up with a reluctant official in the area to stop the vampire's evil plans.There was a lot to really like here.
Seeing the idea of the vampire along the rotting and decomposing mummy he calls his mother, seeing the elaborate antiquities inside the museum where she sleeps or the travelogue footage of the castle help this along rather nicely with the additional work done to enhance the Gothic leanings featured here.
The vampire Radu return for this Charles Band produced sequel.
I also appreciate that writer/director Ted Nicolaou set out to make a more serious and straight-faced horror film than most Band productions, although there are still some elements of camp here and there.
Probably this has got to do with the fact that he produced this one which may have allowed him more say on the look of the movie whereas he was only the d.o.p. in Subspecies, doing only what he was told to do.
I am not also very happy with the look of Radu's mother who seems too much like a Tales of the Crypt character.
Nevertheless, thanks to wisely not bringing back the 'good, handsome vampire' Stephan and hence building the movie around Radu and Michelle, and thanks to excellent cinematography as I have already emphasized, this rises not only above direct-to-video standards, but would have hold its ground if it were a theatrical release.
Most of the movie centers around Michelle Morgan (Denice Duff) shambling around Bucharest looking scared and sedated.
Straight-forward sequel to Subspecies, this time Michelle - now a fully fledged vampire - attempts to escape the evil Radu who wants her as his very own love mate.
Meanwhile her obsessive sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner, William Shatener's daughter) travels to Rome enlisting the help of a local Police lieutenant.Denice Duff in her debut as Michelle is exceptional, a grand actress and attractive too.
The casting generally is very effective and Anders Hove as Radu - though perhaps less sinister than in the first film - is fitting more comfortably in to the character.
Radu (Anders Hove) won't let a simple thing like beheading keep him down.
And Duff, unlike her predecessor, has little difficulty in being convinced into doing nude scenes, which really seemed a bigger aspect of the first.Radu seems less menacing, not able to kill as many people or turn them into vampires or create new minions.
Picking up right where the first left off, a woman runs for her life after vampire Radu (Anders Hove) turns her into a vamp.
Some humor and a few original effects make this a fun outing, but this series needs a new leading man, because Anders Hove as Radu is just terrible and his accent is laughable.Rated R; Brief Nudity, Profanity, Graphic Violence..
This movie is terrible but it has some good effects..
Subspecies 2 picks up right where the first one ended, with Michelle(portrayed by the far more appealing Denice Duff) fleeing from a resurrected Radu.
In Denice's possession is the Bloodstone, an ancient relic that contains the blood of saints, that Radu is determined to retrieve.This doesn't suffer from the typical sequel downfalls, as director Ted Nicolaou keeps the set creepy and paces the film marvelously.
Laura Tate does not reprise her role as Michelle, leaving the character to a far more capable and attractive Denice Duff.As Denice struggles with her new found lifestyle, she calls her sister, portrayed by William Shatner's daughter Melanie, to help her.
Kevin portrays the skeptic, but is enamored with Melanie, so tags along.I have seen all of the Subspecies films and this one is my second favorite, right behind the original.
There is moderate vampire mayhem here but the gore in the original was superior).NUDITY: $$ (Denice takes the patented horror film shower scene which Ted plays more for characterization than for skin.
This vampire movie was filmed on location in Romania (seems it started a Full Moon trend as a few other Full Moon pics such as Lurking Fear, Dark Angel: The Ascent and Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 were also filmed there) and has a truly unique atmosphere that I've seen nowhere else.
The lead character is Michelle, played by the lovely Denice Duff (who totally rules!), who has been made into a vampire by Stefan, a good vamp who mingled his blood with Michelle's to save her life (this takes place toward the end of Subspecies 1).
Unfortunately, Radu (magnificently portrayed by Anders Hove, who is well known for his work on General Hospital), Stefan's evil brother who supposedly was decapitated at the end of Subspecies 1, has been reassembled by his Subspecies, apparently little creatures that form out of his blood and are seldom seen in the Subspecies series.
Michelle makes a break for it, taking the Bloodstone with her, and heads for Bucharest (capital of Romania, as if you didn't know).
I don't want to spoil the rest of the film, but basically Michelle has to struggle with her newfound vampirism, Becky goes to Romania to rescue Michelle, and Radu falls in love.....it's well worth the watch, as are Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 and Bloodstorm: Subspecies 4.
Here's a small summary of it for you: Michelle assumed that Radu died from his decapitation at the end of the first, but like every awesome vampire, he can never truly die.
On the way, Radu dropped the Bloodstone, which Michelle grabs and runs from the castle.
As the film progresses, her metamorphosis into a vampire is complete, and her sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner), an old professor (Michael Denish), and a lawyer (Kevin Blair) must save her.Once again, I was amazed at this movie.
We're even introduced to Radu's mother, who was mentioned in the first film and whose background will be explained more in Bloodlust: Subspecies III.
The evil Radu returns with a vengeance after his subspecies minions help put him back together.
After taking care of his brother, the dastardly One finds that Michelle, his brother's love interest/newly turned vampire (also newly Denice Duff, replacing Laura Tate who lijkely balked at doing the nudity) has run off with the precious Bloodstone.This one being filmed back-to-back with part 3 should clue you in that you shouldn't expect any real semblance of an ending to part 2.
"Bloodstone: Subspecies II" *does* assume you've seen the first in this Full Moon vampire series.
It begins as evil blood sucker Radu (Anders Hove) is resurrected.
Michelle (Denise Duff), our lead from the first movie, has been "vampirized" and is struggling with her drastically altered existence.
Meanwhile, Michelles' distraught sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) takes a flight to Romania to lend whatever help she can.
It's got absolutely beautiful atmosphere, having actually been filmed on location in Romania like several other Full Moon productions.
Both Duff and Shatner make their characters sympathetic, and Denish is a delight as the helpful old man who becomes quite eager to play vampire slayer.
But the real star, once again, is Hove, who's as solid an antagonist as one could hope to see in a horror film.Overall, this is good entertainment, competently made and decently paced.
(I have now seen them all)Although I enjoyed this movie (and Anders Hove was great as Radu as usual), I have two major gripes with it that bother me too much to see it as an equal to the original.1) Stefan.
Thats about all I can say really, just a total Anti-climax to the originals ending and a complete cop out (I know they could not get Michael Watson back for the sequel, but they could have recast him and let him day a little while into the movie, or even come up with ANYTHING but the death scene they eventually came up with.
She just bothered me throughout, I found myself wanting her to get killed by the end, just to get her off my screen, didn't like the actress or the character.In all though, the plot was pretty decent and even though the actress who played Michelle was changed (and grew her hair in record time) the film still maintained a level of enjoyability that kept me watching till the end.
Anders Hove is a great actor in this role, it seems tailor made for him.A good film, let down by one bad plot line and one bad actress.5/10.
Bloodstone: Subspecies II starts immediately after the events of the original Subspecies (1991) as the evil Vampire Radu's (Anders Hove) little monsters help reattach his head.
Enraged by what has happened & that his brother Stefan & Michele (Denice Duff) have stolen the Bloodstone he seeks revenge, Radu kills his brother but impending sunlight saves Michelle.
Waking up Michele realises that she is now a Vampire herself, distraught she run & travels to the city of Bucharest where she checks into Athene Palace hotel & calls her sister Rebecaa (Melanie Shatner) for help.
Rebecca flies to Romania from the US but is told by the local police that Michele was involved in some strange accident, as Rebecca searches for her sister she discovers that Vampires are real & tries to help Michele as Radu wants both her & the Bloodstone...Written & directed by Ted Nicolaou who ended up directing all the Subspecies films to date so far I actually thought Bloodstone: Subspecies II was an improvement on the original, it wasn't a ground breaking leap forward but I did think it was a slightly better film on all counts.
The plot this time definitely has a lot more to it & more going on, the fact that Michele has become a Vampire, her sisters search for her, the police investigation, Radu's search for the Bloodstone & his deal with Mummy add up to a film with more depth, not a lot more depth but more depth all the same.
The pace is good, at only just over 80 odd minutes it's short enough not to outstay it's welcome & overall it's a better film than I was expecting.
On the negative side Radu's little monsters only make a brief cameo at the start, in the original Subspecies Vampires didn't mind the sunlight but here they do, there's nothing that original or gripping here & it is kind of forgettable.
It's OK to watch while it's on but you really won't have taken much from it when it's finished, or at least I didn't anyway.Bloodstone: Subspecies II was mad around the time when Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment had a deal with Paramount for theatrical distribution but that fell through & this went straight-to-video which is a shame because it's a fairly handsome film & certainly could have played cinemas.
There's strong use of light & shadow, the period Romanian locations add considerable atmosphere to the film & there's some nice imagery here to like Radu's living shadow or the fact that Michele sleeps in an elegant glass top coffin during the day.
There's more gore here, the graphic reattaching of Radu's head at the start is a neat effect, a Vampire is staked & decomposes, there's a fair amount of blood splatter & neck biting & there's this woman zombie thing as well who Radu calls Mummy for some reason.Shot back to back with the next Subspecies film Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994) on location in Romania, this is quite a nice looking film with good production values & was probably one of Full Moon's higher budgeted films.
The acting is alright, Anders Hove returns as the evil Radu (how does he do anything with those long fingernails?), playing Michele this time around Denice Duff replaced Laura Mae Tate while Rebecca was played by Melanie Shatner who just happens to be the daughter of Captain Kirk himself William Shatner.Bloodstone: Subspecies II is a decent enough horror film, it has a bit of atmosphere, a bit of gore, a bit of style & an OK plot but it's nothing amazing & it won't really last long in the memory.