Review: Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)

Directed by: Ted Nicolaou
Starring: Anders Hove, Denice Duff, Melanie Shatner
Written by: Ted Nicolaou
Music by: Richard Kosinski, William Levine, Michael Portis
IMDb

And thus cameth the diminishing returns. Bloodlust, which was made at the same time as its predecessor (Bloodstone: Subspecies II) and takes place immediately after its events, has some of the same strengths thanks to returning cast and crew: impressive special effects, beautiful cinematography, strong direction, fun performances from Anders Hove as Radu and Pamela Gordon as Mummy, and some lovely shooting locations in Romania. But also like the previous entry, Ted Nicolaou has written a screenplay with absolutely no urgency. The entire plot is this: Radu, his protege Michelle, and Mummy hang out at the castle while Michelle’s sister and her boyfriend, the wannabe vampire hunter, repeatedly try to find a way in. Seriously, they spend roughly 45 minutes of screen time wandering around the castle premises with different accomplices, trying to get in during like four different attempts. Another significant chunk features Michelle still coming to grips with her vampirism, while Radu sits around and pines like a pathetic lovelorn wimp. It’s really astonishing to me that Nicolaou never figured out that the focus of these movies should be Radu violently hunting various Romanians, as gory special effects showcases that capitalized on Radu’s menace, instead of treading water endlessly while the vampire deals with his loneliness and mommy issues. In fact, this entry has even less bloodletting than the previous, outside of a great sequence at the very end when Radu meets his third near-death of the series. Bloodstone introduced some humor, which worked in a limited capacity, but Bloodlust really leans into this, and it just does not pan out for a series that’s been mostly straight-laced so far. I feel like I have to watch Bloodstorm: Subspecies IV at this point, but I am not looking forward to it.

Rating: 4 out of 10