Horror Movie Review: Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm (1998)

Following the brief side step with spinoff film, Vampire Diaries, Full Moon and Ted Nicolaou are back, and so is our favourite ‘on again, off again’ vampire couple, Radu and Michelle. With both Anders Hove and Denice Duff reprising their roles. Don’t you just love ‘em!?

I do. I’ve really warmed to this series, and I went into the fourth one with high hopes, especially when you remember how the third one ended. Which – SPOILERS – saw the raspy-voiced vampire killed again, and in spectacular fashion. Not that Radu dying ever matters, a little bit of the bloodstone from his subspecies, and he’s back on his feet. Albeit, badly hurt both physically and emotionally.

While he hides away to recover, Michelle and the other survivors leave, with Michelle being put in a body bag to protect her from the rays of the sun. Alas, they get into an accident that kills everyone. A passerby named Ana (Ioana Abur) finds the crash and takes Michelle to a hospital where she meets Dr. Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale) who quickly deduces that she is a vampire and that he can cure it. At what cost though?

Of course, Radu is not going to just let his fledgling be taken away though. Except here, Michelle might actually need his help. He is not the only creature of the night, and Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm begins to expand on the vampiric universe.

For better or worse, you decide. On the one hand, it’s good to see the series moving in a new direction and the characters of Ash from Vampire Journals (Jonathon Morris) and his fledgling Serena (Floriela Grappini) are enjoyable to watch. Not only that but seeing how they and others vie for control and power is interesting.

However, it does mean we get a whole lot less Radu and a whole lot less of the vampire interacting with Michelle. Thankfully, when he is around, he is fabulous. Here, he feels powerful again, but it’s not a character regression. The same goes for Denise Duff’s Michelle, who also doesn’t get a lot to do as the story is directed elsewhere but does a stellar job when called upon.

Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm is a slower film, and it doesn’t quite have the same feel of the series so far. Though that doesn’t stop Ted Nicolaou doing everything he can to give it thick, gothic atmosphere. It’s one of the series’ most impressive aspects, and once again, it doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it’s one of the finest for utilising shadows and a particular scene where Radu demands his fledgling back with quiet grace and undue threat and how that is shot, is one of the most memorable of the franchise.

It’s a great end to the series (which it currently is – the next one is a prequel) and it does end with a real sense of finality. If you’ve enjoyed everything up to this point in this franchise, you won’t come away disappointed here.