Touches You

Excellent but underrated film

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Arriving at a Romanian castle, several American scholars visiting the area to study relics left behind when they come across a resurrected vampire looking to take over the family legacy of terrorizing the area while his brother attempts to stop him in order to protect a long-held pact.This was quite the enjoyable vampire entry. One of the more enjoyable aspects of this one is the fact that there's an overbearing and relentless Gothic atmosphere throughout the film. The setting at a real castle, complete with the rocky terrain, wooden cabinets, stone construction and Olde-World charm, really manages to make this one feel like it's lost in that time-frame. It really helps to sell the shenanigans later on with the idea that this type of location forces these action scenes to emerge which is where this one really gets plenty to like. The idea of the vampires confronting the students inside this large setup causes some great scenes of the initial confrontation with the demonic creatures he creates from his fingers, the race to stop him from feeding on the clueless girls sleeping in the cabin while he drinks them at his leisure and the glorious scenes of the vampires crawling out of their crypts or coffins to create some stunning visuals. Likewise, the inclusion of the series of folkloric customs and traditions shown to be practiced here, from the celebration within the town looking to overcome the illness of the locals which includes all the jovial music and dancing with people in their costumes as well as the intent behind their actions to other scenes featuring the different methods of combating the vampires around them. The last half is where this one really whips up some incredibly fun action with several storylines converging at once to leave quite an impression, from the turned friend now attacking them as a vampire, the chained-up one stuck in the basement being tortured by the demonic beings under his control to the series of battles across the castle with the brides and the creatures. The big battle in the underground hideout where this one really manages to generate some entertaining confrontations and battles between the two sides while putting their tactics to good use in the right place. Alongside some fine nudity and a tolerable amount of gore, these help hold this one up over it's few minor issues. The film's main problem is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of action throughout the first half here to really dig into. The halting nature of the action showing them running around meeting the castle drags on with a lot of fine Gothic atmosphere but little else, and that really highlights how taken aback the main vampire really is. He doesn't really do much beyond looking intimidating, and the few chances he gets to really let loose are always interrupted so it doesn't really feature any kind of threatening main vampire to dive into. The other real issue is the low-budget feel that doesn't really let this one get any kind of really intense feel with its overall appearance since there's not a whole lot of blood and gore and the make-up effects are inconsistent which drags the look of the film down somewhat. Otherwise, there's not much really wrong here.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Nudity.

Another low-budget production from Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures, and one of his better ones this time around. At least there's a lot going on, and it's not as rubbishy as you might expect from Band's CV. This is the beginning of his own vampire mythology which would be expanded upon in three sequels (to date), and has all the usual ingredients of a vampire movie: scantily-clad female victims chained to cellar walls, lots of bloodsucking, coffins, stakes, and ruins and graveyards. The usual suspects, but, while this fails as a horror film to be scary, at least it passes the time in a dumb but enjoyable way.Anders Hove plays the lead vampire and is clad in Nosferatu-inspired makeup, complete with deathly pale face and incredibly long fingers. He's sufficiently grotesque as the baddie. His half-brother is Stefan, a "human" vampire complete with clean-shaven visage and tacky '80s hairstyle. Also appearing in the cast are three teenage girls, two annoying Americans and one with a silly French accent. Predictably they become objects of affection and lust for the two vampire brothers and a battle for control ensues. The rest of the cast include a manservant who speaks like Bela Lugosi, a cameo from Angus Scrimm in a ludicrous white wig, and a trio of animated little demons whose sole reason for appearance just seems to be that they look "cool".What this film does have in its favour are some authentic locations, as it was partially filmed in Romania. Just like THE HOWLING II, in fact, another film which benefited from some local colour. The dilapidated castle is also a nice setting for the film and would have been atmospheric in more stylish directorial hands. Another thing on this film's plus side is the relatively high level of splatter, scenes including decapitations, messy bloodsucking, and a wonderful opening which sees broken fingers turning into the aforementioned little demons. While these aren't explicit, they serve to move the film along at a fast pace, and the short running time also makes it easy to sit through. There are no boring scenes of dialogue or wandering about in this film, as something is going on to further the plot at every moment, which I liked. SUBSPECIES may not be a brilliant or inspired film but there are a lot of worse films out there...

As soon as this film kicks off - you already know that you're going to be in for some extreme high camp, and indeed the rest of the film doesn't disappoint. Full Moon Entertainment isn't exactly well known for high quality horror; but from the few of their films that I've seen, I have to say that they're actually not as bad as their reputation suggests and although Subspecies certainly isn't completely successful and has its fair share of problems; it's actually a decent old-style vampire flick that will surely be appreciated by fans of the genre. The plot focuses on the town of Prejnar; former home of the vampire Radu, who returns to face his father and steal the precious blood stone. He kills his father and takes the stone and shortly thereafter a couple of schoolgirls turn up to study the local culture and team up with a local girl. The vampire Radu is initially attracted to the girls, but things are complicated when his brother Stephen - also a vampire - steps in to help them.The style of the film is undoubtedly the best thing about it - director Ted Nicolaou seems to have wanted to imitate the classic vampire styling, and has just about succeeded. Lead actor Anders Hove cuts an amusing figure as the central vampire and looks like he took the wrong turn on the way to some crusty old rock concert; although he does at least deliver a decent performance that is very in keeping with the rest of the film. The main problem is the pacing as the film is not particularly exciting on any occasion and mostly relies on its plot to keep things interesting; and this is not always managed. Despite an interesting take on the vampire mythology, the film really could have used some suspense! The special effects are liable to be a talking point too and not for the right reason - as they're completely amateurish. The demons featured in particular are awful. The film does feature a nice ambiance, however, and this is helped nicely by the moody and atmospheric score. Overall, this is certainly a decent vampire flick; but it could have been a lot better and I doubt I'll bother with any of the sequels.

King Vladislav (Angus Scrimm) of Romania is a vampire, but a vampire of light who wants nothing more than to live in peace and harmony with mankind. But his son, Radu (Anders Hove), is a cruel creature to his very heart (which is pretty obvious as soon as you see him). Three lesbian students have come to study local folklore, but find themselves drawn into the vampires legends at just the wrong time: Vladislav has been killed.Who can say anything bad about a film featuring a cameo from Angus Scrimm? Not me. I mean, I had some low expectations after seeing other Full Moon pictures ("Puppet Master" in particular, and "Demonic Toys"). But despite the really bad animated effects of the demons, this film was actually really well done and very fun to watch. Plenty of blood, a good plot and back story (the Bloodstone story was surprisingly refreshing) and even some new angles on the vampire mythos, which you would think would be dead by now. (Maybe I am wrong, but this is probably the first film to feature rosary beads being fired from a gun.) Aside from vampires and blood, you get a share of nudity (gratuitous, but welcome) and I had to notice the excellent score from the composers (not sure who deserves credit, but those involved include Stuart Brotman, Richard Kosinski, William Levine, Michael Portis and John Zeretzka). This is Horror 101 all the way. Heck, you even get two sequels, which is the sign of a true horror film. (Of course, some bad films get sequels, too -- did I mention "Puppet Master"?) The Romanian theme was well-done, and the film even seems to have been made by Romanians if I am guessing their name origins correctly. And the score -- the music -- really stood out for me as a nice change of pace, very mood-setting. I like Richard Band, but I am glad another composer was given a shot because he nailed the atmosphere on the head. If you like vampire films and want a slight variation (one of the Eastern European variety), this is worth seeing.