Vampire fledgling Michelle Morgan has escaped the grasp of her master Radu Vladislas. Found by a woman named Ana, she is taken to a hospital where a doctor claims to be able to cure her vampirism. Radu, recovering from the near-death delivered by Michelle and her friends, travels to Bucharest to follow his fledgling. He visits the vampire Ash's stronghold. Ash and his protege Serena plot to destroy Radu and employ the help of the humans, Ana and the Doctor.
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Thanks for the memories!
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
... this was such a mediocre conclusion to such a great vampire series. Yes, once again, I AM called "SubspeciesRaduFan," but even I have to admit that this is where the series is at its weakest point. Anders Hove is a still a great actor and a terrific evil vampire (even better than Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee, IMO), but his demise was way too final. So, here's a short summary: Rebecca and Mel drive Michelle and some girl who was rescued from Radu in the previous film away from the castle. Along the way, they get into a car crash, and everyone except Michelle (obviously, since she's a vampire) dies. Meanwhile, Radu is resurrected yet again after suffering a triple vampire death of silver bullets, sunlight, and impalement on wood. The car wreck is discovered by a young woman named Ana (Ioana Abur), who takes Michelle to Doctor Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale), who says he'll modify her vampirism so she can go out in the sun, but he has a secret agenda of his own. Radu seeks the help of his fledgling, Ash (Jonathon Morris) and Ash's fledgling Serena (Floriela Grappini) to get the Bloodstone back and to save Michelle.I was warned to stay away from this one, but I bought "Subspecies: The Epic Collection," and I just couldn't avoid it. All the other films were great, so I neglected the warning. Besides, I already made plans to see it. The movie wasn't bad, but it was unsatisfying and mediocre. Plus a lot of the eroticism and Gothic atmosphere was taken away. Never thought I'd rate a Subspecies movie this, but ...5/10
Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm starts as Romanian doctor Ana Lazar (Ioana Abur) notices a crashed car as she drives along in the countryside, she stops to assist & finds three dead bodies & a body-bag containing Michelle Morgan (Denice Duff) who reacts violently to the sunlight. Fearing Michelle may need urgent treat meant Ana drives her to a nearby clinic to seek help from Dr. Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale) who instantly recognises the symptoms of Vampirism. Meanwhile evil centuries old Vampire Radu Vladislas (Anders Hove) wasn't as dead as Michelle had hoped & seeks sanctuary in the graveyard hiding place of fellow Vampire Ash (Jonathon Morris) as he sets out to (yet again) capture Michelle who is receiving treatment from Niculescu to try to cure her of Vampirism...Also known as Subspecies: The Awakening this Ramanian American co-production was written & directed by Ted Nicolaou who ended up directing all the Subspecies films for Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment & they are some of that companies better looking films with a strong continuity running through them although I must say I am not a particularly big fan of them having watched all four of them (& the spin-off film Vampire Journals (1997)) quite recently. The first two Subspecies films were alright but Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994) & this instalment are pretty average Vampire films to be honest, Radu again spends the entire film pining after Michelle who tries to get medical help for her Vampirism & the film doesn't do or feel anything different than it's predecessors. The heroes of the last film Mel & Rebecca don't even get death scenes here & we are merely informed that they are dead while the Vampire Ash from Vampire Journals turns up here in a small role. The pace is lethargic, to understand & follow Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm you will need to have seen at least a couple of the other Subspecies films & I must admit that it bored me. More of the same really which wasn't even that good to start with, hopefully Radu will stay dead this time.Like the story the visuals are very familiar with the same Romanin castles & graveyards used as in the previous Subspecies films, although the Subspecies films look better than the usual Full Moon product the style & look is getting dull now. Gore wise things aren't much better with a couple of decapitated heads & some fairly standard Vampire neck biting & blood drinking antics. The first Subspecies film not to feature any of those little stop-motion animated monsters. The films is fairly moodily lit & nicely shot but the story is rather dull & not enough happens.Filmed on location in Bucharest in Romania this has reasonable production values but little else to talk about. Anders Hove reprises his role as Radu for the fourth time, Denice Duff plays Michelle for the third while minor character Marin also makes a come back & gets to eat a rat.Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm is a fairly average end to a fairly average series of Vampire films that only have some nice locations going for it, after watching four films with these character's I should want to know what happens to them now but quite frankly I don't. For die hard Subspecies fans only.
"Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm" is yet another Charles Band production that unfortunately fails to deliver the goods. Journeyman director Ted Nicoleau fails to generate any suspense, let alone interest, in this uninvolving variation on well-worn Vampire themes, despite the advantage of authentic "Old-World" locations and morbidly Gothic set designs.Vampire King Radu Vladislas (Hove) survives (albeit, without much explanation) being staked and burned to a crisp (at the conclusion of part three, which forms the opening scene of this latest episode), and renews the search for Michelle, his fledgling vampiric initiate (Duff), who's been placed in a hospital with hopes of kicking her blood addiction. Her Doctor is a vampire, too, who seems to keep his bloodlust somewhat in check.Radu journeys to Budapest in search of Michelle and moves in with his former protege, Ash (Morris), whose exploits were recounted in the equally boring Full Moon release, "Vampire Journals". Ash is put out with the Master's intrusion and begins plotting to eliminate his uninvited houseguest. This sets up a three way battle for possession of the Bloodstone (the vampire doc wants it, too), an arcane artifact that dispenses an elixir good for vampires., with Michelle played as a pawn between the 3 bloodsucking protaganists.There's plenty of bloodletting, but little atmosphere or even shocks. Pic is decidedly unscary and fails to deliver even a modicum of thrills. One wonders what some of the great Italian directors from the 60's (Bava, Freda) could have done with this material. Certainly, they would have established a creepier mood, a must for effective vampire flicks.One bright spot is that the film looks & plays infinitely better than much of the Grade Z junk that Band usually releases. Small praise, but at least it's something.
This movie, I found, was a fascinating one. From the very opening titles, we get a feel for what has happened in the previous 3 installments...but is the best yet to come?? Well, I reckon it just might have done. Enjoyable is the somewhat "Star Trekkie" crossover between this series of movies, and the main characters from 'Vampire Journals', especially Johnathon Morris as Ash. Anders Hove is, once again, excellent as the evil vampire, Radu. Surely, the Subspecies "quadrilogy" of movies should be given recognition as probably the best contribution to the vampire genre this decade.