Review: Subspecies (1991)

Directed by: Ted Nicolaou
Starring: Anders Hove, Michael Watson, Irina Movila
Written by: Jackson Barr, David Pabian
Music by: Various
IMDb

Despite growing up a huge Empire Pictures/Full Moon Features fan, I never saw any of the Subspecies movies. Since I was a wee lad, I’ve found vampires incredibly boring, even though the franchise’s central vamp, Radu, is of the much more appealing bloodthirsty Nosferatu variety. It only took me like three decades to finally catch up with the first entry. I wish I could say I had been missing out, but no; the movie is fine, but didn’t blow me away. I love TerrorVision (1986), Subspecies director Ted Nicolaou’s debut, so I was a bit surprised that this movie is so unlike it. Subspecies is played so straight, with none of the humor or weirdness. Though that works for the movie in this case, because it’s also not nearly as cheesy as as I expected given its Full Moon heritage. This is actually a pretty decent vampire movie. The decision to film in Romania lends a lot of atmosphere and authenticity to things, and certainly Radu is pretty fearsome as a bloodsucker (and a black metal frontman). The special effects are formidable and I’ve always loved the Full Moon commitment to stop motion and puppetry — though the eponymous subspecies in this movie look a little rough. I think what ultimately holds Subspecies back is that it’s just not especially memorable, other than Radu’s look. It follows most of the gothic vampire tropes and story beats pretty closely, but it’s a reasonably enjoyable watch.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10