A quarter of a century has passed since the last time our beloved, raspy-voiced, perpetually blood-drooling vampire Radu has made an appearance in front of the camera. Finally, Ted Nicolau's script, once languishing in a forgotten tomb, sees... well, "the light of day" isn't exactly an applicable term here now, is it? But I still am wondering if it was really worth the wait.
Out of the good, I'll say it was definitely an improvement over the mediocre finale that was Bloodstorm. While both movies suffer from similar pacing issues (which I will cover later), it makes up for it by fleshing out and humanizing Radu, and to a lesser extent, the secondary characters. As another reviewer noted, Anders Hove plays the role darker and more seriously than usual with none of the campy elements. While I'm conflicted on making franchises darker when they previously hadn't been all that dark, it actually makes perfect sense here. Radu has always been a remarkably well-written villain for a B-movie series, and if the Subspecies movies had a bigger fanbase, he could be up there with the likes of Orlok, Lestat, and possibly even Dracula himself.
The cinematography and lighting is lovely. With the exception of the first, it's always been one of the series' strong suits. From the dark ruins of Castle Vladislas to the vampire queen's lair, it does justice to the ancient, gothic setting without falling into too much cliché vampire imagery. Subspecies really should be the standard for Full Moon's releases in that regard, but unfortunately, the majority of their recent releases look painfully amateur. Meanwhile, I also have a weakness for the costumes. Period piece costumes run the risk of looking tacky in low budget projects, but they feel right at home here. I'm also quite impressed with the blood and gore effects, even if they're a very small part of the movie.
Many vampire movies can be overly angsty (this series' own Vampire Journals being a prime example, whose hero is so whiny it's ridiculous). Luckily, while Blood Rise does touch upon the pain that comes with vampirism, it doesn't make it the sole purpose of the movie. Angst and brooding works best in vampire media when it's implied, and not constantly spelled out. I also like how Radu's loneliness is part of what made him into such a monster.
Now for the negative: as I said before, Blood Rise suffers from pacing issues. Like Bloodstorm, a lot of it feels rushed. Unlike Bloodstorm, which really just came across as Nicolau wanting to wrap the series up, it's always too quick to indulge in exposition and the transition of centuries passing. With almost no buildup, Radu is informed that he's the son of the vampire king Vladislas just minutes into the movie. The aforementioned transitions also risk showing the movie's budget, since it's marked by shots of the castle or of the sorceress' lair, while otherwise barely showing how the world has changed within that time, apart from a few subtle changes in fashion and a piano being presented.
The practical effects are usually good, but the CGI is weak. The "shadow travel" looked much cooler in the first four (and Vampire Journals). Here, it's rather shoddy. Unfortunately, the vampire makeup doesn't look that impressive, either, which is a shame, because I got an early peak at Denice's makeup and it looked amazing. It could have been because of the lighting, which as I said, is usually a high point, but it's difficult to see it. The makeup on Ash and Ariel also leaves a lot to be desired, looking... not amateur, but rather half-assed (a term I'm getting pretty sick of using in reviews). Oh yeah, and there's also the fangs. Every other movie in the series, they looked like they were a part of their actors' teeth even though they obviously weren't, but in this one, you could easily tell that they were fake.
There's the matter of a pretty major retcon that makes a lot of the conflict stemming from the death of King Vladislas in the first movie extremely confusing. It was originally established that Vladislas, while originally a ruthless figure, mellowed out and became the good guy once he received the Bloodstone. This movie posits that even after getting it, he was still as monstrous as ever, with it being all but stated that he raped Stefan's mother and held her captive rather than settling down with her. The confusion comes in because in the first movie, Vladislas accuses Radu of "craving evil", and Stefan weeps over his body when he finds him dead. You wouldn't really expect him to be someone anyone's gonna miss.
Despite my criticisms, I'm glad I got to see it in theaters, and intend to add the DVD to my collection.
Out of the good, I'll say it was definitely an improvement over the mediocre finale that was Bloodstorm. While both movies suffer from similar pacing issues (which I will cover later), it makes up for it by fleshing out and humanizing Radu, and to a lesser extent, the secondary characters. As another reviewer noted, Anders Hove plays the role darker and more seriously than usual with none of the campy elements. While I'm conflicted on making franchises darker when they previously hadn't been all that dark, it actually makes perfect sense here. Radu has always been a remarkably well-written villain for a B-movie series, and if the Subspecies movies had a bigger fanbase, he could be up there with the likes of Orlok, Lestat, and possibly even Dracula himself.
The cinematography and lighting is lovely. With the exception of the first, it's always been one of the series' strong suits. From the dark ruins of Castle Vladislas to the vampire queen's lair, it does justice to the ancient, gothic setting without falling into too much cliché vampire imagery. Subspecies really should be the standard for Full Moon's releases in that regard, but unfortunately, the majority of their recent releases look painfully amateur. Meanwhile, I also have a weakness for the costumes. Period piece costumes run the risk of looking tacky in low budget projects, but they feel right at home here. I'm also quite impressed with the blood and gore effects, even if they're a very small part of the movie.
Many vampire movies can be overly angsty (this series' own Vampire Journals being a prime example, whose hero is so whiny it's ridiculous). Luckily, while Blood Rise does touch upon the pain that comes with vampirism, it doesn't make it the sole purpose of the movie. Angst and brooding works best in vampire media when it's implied, and not constantly spelled out. I also like how Radu's loneliness is part of what made him into such a monster.
Now for the negative: as I said before, Blood Rise suffers from pacing issues. Like Bloodstorm, a lot of it feels rushed. Unlike Bloodstorm, which really just came across as Nicolau wanting to wrap the series up, it's always too quick to indulge in exposition and the transition of centuries passing. With almost no buildup, Radu is informed that he's the son of the vampire king Vladislas just minutes into the movie. The aforementioned transitions also risk showing the movie's budget, since it's marked by shots of the castle or of the sorceress' lair, while otherwise barely showing how the world has changed within that time, apart from a few subtle changes in fashion and a piano being presented.
The practical effects are usually good, but the CGI is weak. The "shadow travel" looked much cooler in the first four (and Vampire Journals). Here, it's rather shoddy. Unfortunately, the vampire makeup doesn't look that impressive, either, which is a shame, because I got an early peak at Denice's makeup and it looked amazing. It could have been because of the lighting, which as I said, is usually a high point, but it's difficult to see it. The makeup on Ash and Ariel also leaves a lot to be desired, looking... not amateur, but rather half-assed (a term I'm getting pretty sick of using in reviews). Oh yeah, and there's also the fangs. Every other movie in the series, they looked like they were a part of their actors' teeth even though they obviously weren't, but in this one, you could easily tell that they were fake.
There's the matter of a pretty major retcon that makes a lot of the conflict stemming from the death of King Vladislas in the first movie extremely confusing. It was originally established that Vladislas, while originally a ruthless figure, mellowed out and became the good guy once he received the Bloodstone. This movie posits that even after getting it, he was still as monstrous as ever, with it being all but stated that he raped Stefan's mother and held her captive rather than settling down with her. The confusion comes in because in the first movie, Vladislas accuses Radu of "craving evil", and Stefan weeps over his body when he finds him dead. You wouldn't really expect him to be someone anyone's gonna miss.
Despite my criticisms, I'm glad I got to see it in theaters, and intend to add the DVD to my collection.