Subspecies
The Subspecies series is one of my favorite Full Moon Entertainment franchises. Who doesn’t love a good vampire series (especially when the vampires don’t sparkle. LOL)? This movie is set in an actual castle, Bran Castle in Romania.
PLOT
Three students get caught in the struggle between a good vampire and his evil brother in the Transylvanian mountains.
Photo Credit: Full Moon Entertainment
Released: Aug 8, 1991
Runtime: 90 mins
Director: Ted Nicolaou
Writer: Charles Band, Jackson Barr, David Pabian
Actors: Angus Scrimm, Anders Hove, Irina Movila
MY THOUGHTS
Not a lot of kills, only about five for humans and four vampires. It gets a little tricky when some of the victims come back as vampires, only to be killed later on. The odd kill would be Mara (Irina Movila). We know she was chained up by Radu, and her clothes are all torn up. But you don’t see any teeth marks to say she was turned.
The acting wasn’t too bad. Though I didn’t feel any spark or real connection between Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and Stefan (Michael Watson). They are supposed to have some romantic feelings for each other but it didn’t really come across as such. Angus Scrimm (Tall Man from the Phantasm movies) plays King Vladislav, father of half brothers Radu (Anders Hove) and Stefan. It’s not a huge role for Scrimm, but it’s nice to see him in another role.
Anders Hove is the lead bad guy in all the movies. It is funny knowing that he was in this, only later to play in General Hospital (a soap opera on ABC) as Cesar Faison for quite a few episodes. Not as a vampire sadly.
The three grad students studying the history of the local town are Michelle, Mara, and Lillian (Michelle McBride). Laura Mae Tate has gone on to do small roles in various TV shows. The only horror related episode is Nightmare Cafe. I thought she did a decent, but boring job as the lead and final girl.
Irina Movila is the more interesting character. She knew more information about the local area and customs than any of them. Unfortunately she hasn’t done anything else that I would have seen. I just liked her role the best.
Michelle Bride does a decent job, she just doesn’t have much of a role since in the movie she is hurt and bed bound. She hasn’t done a lot of work but she was in 1989’s The Masque of the Red Death.
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Subspecies is a decent vampire story. On the one side it’s about a dysfunctional family with a father and his two sons that are half-brothers. Both brothers fight to take over when their father dies. On the other hand, you have three young women who go to a foreign country to study the sites and cultural customs of a remote countryside. Unfortunately for them they go to the wrong village and end up attracting a family of vampires. Considering this is a Charles Band/Full Moon Entertainment movie, Subspecies is one of their more successful and better franchises.
If you like vampire movies, or low budget movies that look pretty good, then watch Subspecies. I like it and it’s one of the Full Moon Entertainment franchises that I do watch over and over again.
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
Radu is named after Radu The Handsome, brother of Romanian prince Vlad The Impaler, who himself was the inspiration for the quintessential vampire Count Dracula.
The film's trailer reuses music from Stuart Gordon's From Beyond.
Have you seen the other Subspecies movies? Check out my other reviews here: Subspecies Franchise.
Let’s get into the rankings:
Kills/Blood/Gore: 2.5/5
Sex/Nudity: 2/5
Scare factor: 3.5/5
Enjoyment factor: 5/5
My Rank: 3.25/5
IMDB: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: –/10 audience: 5.2/10
Letterboxd: 2.9/5
