Bloodstone: Subspecies II

Review by Mike Finkelstein

I don’t want to be too harsh on this film (or, really, the other sequels that we’ll get to eventually). If you saw the first SubspeciesThe first film in an eventual long-running direct-to-video series, this movie introduces the evil vampire Radu and his quest for vampiric power at all costs. film then you know it was made with a game cast and small crew on a tiny budget out in Eastern Europe and, as such, can’t (or at least shouldn’t) be judged in the same way as a large, Hollywood-backed production. It was meant for direct-to-video watchers, and was intended to be only as successful as rental fare could be. Trying to compare one of these films to, say, BladeThe film that introduced the slick vampire hunter to a wider audience. The comic book character was known for his run against Dracula and other vampires, but New Line's film made him into a bad-ass daywalker played by Wesley Snipes. or Bram Stoker's DraculaDirected by Francis Ford Coppola, this version of Dracula is a lush, gorgeously produced bit of cinema that falls apart any time the characters open their mouths. (1992) isn’t really fair.

With that said, there is a minimum level of quality that I think most viewers are going to expect from a vampire horror film, and it’s hard to say that Bloodstone: Subspecies II manages to rise above that bar. It’s a second low-budget, small-crew affair, once again overseen by director Ted Nicolaou (who handles every film, and spin-off, in this series), and it would in theory only really appeal to those who saw the first film and are looking for more of that kind of vampire story. I’m a vampire fan and I can’t exactly say I was won over by Subspecies, so if I had seen this sequel on a rental store shelf back in the day, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have bothered watching it then. The first film wasn’t good, the sequel didn’t look much better.

But we live in a different, streaming-first era now (and it’s shocking to me to think that this website has survived long enough to see the downfall of video rentals and the rise of streaming services) and it’s much easier to find, pick up, and watch a terrible vampire movie now than back in the day. When I would have had to put on pants, drive to a store, grab this film, take it home, watch it, and then do the trip again to return it, I doubt I would have bothered watching the sequel when there was so much else out there. But when I can just click on it in a few seconds when it’s recommended to be on an app? Yeah, that’s a much lower cost of entry. I was already there, and bored, so why not.

Well, watching Bloodstone: Subspecies II, I can tell you why not: it’s pretty bad. It’s not nearly as interesting, or involving, as the first film (it was already riding that line of becoming an utter slog), and it takes forever for the film to get anywhere and do anything. Most annoyingly (and spoilers for a 30-plus year old film) the movie ends on a cliffhanger, expecting you to actually want to go and see a third one of these films. Most people aren’t me; they aren’t going to watch whatever vampire trash is out there. And yet, this film has the gall to think, “sure, why not already have a third film in mind while making this garbage second entry.” I was annoyed… and I already know I’ll watch the third. What does that say about me?

This second film technically picks up right after the events of Subspecies. I say “technically” because while the events of the film do carry right into the sequel, almost none of the cast does. Radu (a returning Anders Hove) is put back together by his blood imps (who then never appear again), and stalks upstairs to find his brother, Stefan, and the bloodstone. He kills Stefan, with a stake through his brother’s heart, but is unable to take the bloodstone before the sun rises, forcing Radu to seek shelter in the crypts below.

The next evening Michelle Morgan (now played by Denice Duff) wakes in her coffin to find that her lover is dead. She takes the bloodstone, crying over his ashes, and flees, with Radu hot on her tail. She heads to a hotel before calling her sister, Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) for help. Rebecca swears she’ll get on a plane immediately, and then Michelle passes out, hiding in the bathroom when the light of day gets too bright. She’s found by the cleaning service, and it becomes a big to-do with cops and paramedics, and it’s even weirder when she wakes up on the way to the morgue and flees. Rebecca ends up with the bloodstone, Michelle finds a new place to hide, and Radu wants them both. It can only end tragically for the ladies of the film.

I think there’s a core story in Bloodstone: Subspecies II that could be very interesting. Michelle’s arc, from student studying vampire lore to a woman now afflicted with the curse, trying to figure out how to live as a vampire, is interesting. If we could focus on her character more, see how she adjusts and learns to live with herself (or not) that would be a fascinating story. The movie makes nods towards this, giving her some scenes out at night, stalking a man, feeding on him, and then realizing what she’d done. This is solid character work and some of the best parts of the movie and I, honestly, could have eaten this up all day.

Sadly, this isn’t actually the plot of the film. The series decided, at the end of the last film, that Radu would come back (as he’s the villain) and this film would further Radu’s attempts to cement his power and become the big dick vampire lord. Radu, I have got to be clear, just isn’t interesting. He has an interesting design that hearkens back to NosferatuPredating even the first official adaptation of Bram Stoker’s work, this German silent film was not authorized by the Stoker estate and was quickly sued over upon its release. It’s also considered one of the great classics of the silent horror era. (1922), but his characterization is lacking and his motivations are unclear. Just to give him a storyline, the movie adds in his witchy-mummy mother (Pamela Gordon) who demands he go and get the bloodstone back so she can use it. Why or what for? This is never established. These films are about the bloodstone, so the stone must be retrieved. That’s it, that’s the whole plot.

I understand the desire to have a villain in the film. Radu was the natural choice, since he was the villain of the first film, but I feel like the movie would have been more interesting if it had just focused on Michelle, her struggles, her growing realization that she’s a monster now. If they needed a villain, she could have come across vampires in the Romanian city she flees to. They could have bullied her, made her question who she was and what she was fleeing from. They could have even stolen the bloodstone to use it for their own gain. Than keeps the focus on Michelle the whole time and her actions and it makes her more of a motivated protagonist than a docile vampire waif (as this film tends to treat her).

But then, we also really need the film series to properly explain the power of the bloodstone. The first film made it seem like it was a stone that leaked human blood, which could feed vampires and make it so they didn’t need to kill humans and feed. Except this film says there’s more to it and its magic can be used for other reasons. If that’s the case, we need more detail. You’re given us this vampire MacGuffin but it’s unclear what more it’s supposed to do or why, and without that detail it’s hard to get invested in the various vampires fighting for the stone and its power. The film needed to do more.

What it all amounts to, then, is half of a boring adventure (because, remember, this is only a two-parter) that ends right at the climax of the story when things might have finally been picking up. Bloodstone: Subspecies II is a chore to get through, with thinly sketched characters and a magical item that isn’t fleshed out enough to be interesting. It has vampires in it, so I want to like it, but this is the kind of film (and so far the kind of franchise) that tests my patience at every turn.