Such a frustrating disappointment

The first must-see film of the year.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

"Bloodstone: Subspecies II" *does* assume you've seen the first in this Full Moon vampire series. It begins as evil blood sucker Radu (Anders Hove) is resurrected. Michelle (Denise Duff), our lead from the first movie, has been "vampirized" and is struggling with her drastically altered existence. Radu is now quite taken with her, but she's managed to steal the precious "Bloodstone", the ancient artifact that drips the blood of the saints. Radu becomes determined to get this object back and to win Michelles' favour. Meanwhile, Michelles' distraught sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) takes a flight to Romania to lend whatever help she can. Rebecca is soon joined by a kindly old professor, Popescu (Michael Denish), and Mel (Kevin Spirtas), a hunky young man from the American embassy."Bloodstone" bucks the odds and succeeds at being even better than "Subspecies" # 1. It's got absolutely beautiful atmosphere, having actually been filmed on location in Romania like several other Full Moon productions. The Old World flavour really helps a lot. The music and cinematography further assist in this regard. The makeup effects by Michael Deak and Wayne Toth are superb, but not that plentiful. The opening resurrection is particularly neat. The David Allen created title creatures appear only fleetingly. Although the material (director Ted Nicolaou also wrote the script) is treated with a great deal of seriousness, it leaves room open for some comedy relief, courtesy of a well meaning Romanian detective played appealingly by Ion Haiduc.The actors are all terrific. Both Duff and Shatner make their characters sympathetic, and Denish is a delight as the helpful old man who becomes quite eager to play vampire slayer. Pamela Gordon is vivid as Radus' extremely decrepit old "mummy", and their scenes together are effectively creepy. But the real star, once again, is Hove, who's as solid an antagonist as one could hope to see in a horror film.Overall, this is good entertainment, competently made and decently paced. It wraps up with a cliffhanger ending, setting up the next sequel, "Bloodlust: Subspecies III".Seven out of 10.

Subspecies 2 picks up right where the first one ended, with Michelle(portrayed by the far more appealing Denice Duff) fleeing from a resurrected Radu. In Denice's possession is the Bloodstone, an ancient relic that contains the blood of saints, that Radu is determined to retrieve.This doesn't suffer from the typical sequel downfalls, as director Ted Nicolaou keeps the set creepy and paces the film marvelously. Anders Hove, as cinema's most accurate vampire, albeit Max Schreck, is the only returning cast member from the original. Laura Tate does not reprise her role as Michelle, leaving the character to a far more capable and attractive Denice Duff.As Denice struggles with her new found lifestyle, she calls her sister, portrayed by William Shatner's daughter Melanie, to help her. Obviously not thinking about her sister's safety, Denice delivers her to near certain death. Helping Melanie are US embassy stud Kevin Blair and oddball professor Michael Denish. Kevin portrays the skeptic, but is enamored with Melanie, so tags along.I have seen all of the Subspecies films and this one is my second favorite, right behind the original. VIOLENCE: $$$ (Denice struggles with feeding on a grungy rockstar wannabe while Radu indulges. There is moderate vampire mayhem here but the gore in the original was superior).NUDITY: $$ (Denice takes the patented horror film shower scene which Ted plays more for characterization than for skin. He shows the tortured woman weeping under the showerhead and doesn't use the gratuitous angle).STORY: $$$$ (The screenplay is rather solid despite Denice's characters lack of regard for her sister's safety. The story emphasis is on Denice, as we must watch and see if she can resist Radu and if Radu can control his "fledgling").ACTING: $$$$$ (Exceptional acting, supplied chiefly by Denice Duff. Ms. Duff has the unrivaled ability to capture every emotion in the human emotional handbag. Her work far exceeds Laura Tate's boring portrayal of Michelle in the original. Denice Duff should offer acting lessons to all those A-List sorry excuses for actresses that the tabloids love so much! Anders Hove was better in the original; much more fiendish than he is here).

This film picks up right where the first film left off. Brand new vampire Michelle must flee Castle Vladislas after the eternally slobbering Radu kills her lover, the Good Vampire Stefan (no great loss, really). Michelle has not gone away empty handed however; the life-giving Bloodstone is now in her possession, and Radu wants it back. Finding Michelle is no problem, but killing her (as he had originally intended) proves much more difficult as the hideous Radu decides he wants both the Bloodstone and Michelle for his own.Denice Duff is quite good as the new Michelle here, stalking victims in humid European nightclubs with a seductive coldness, while at the same time desperately trying to deny the murderous impulses which disgust her. She is heartbroken without being whiny, tragic and lost but refusing to be anything other than what she has become. Her scene in the hotel is one of the best in the film, as she cries herself to sleep and then wakes up screaming as the full light of morning comes burning through her window, forcing her into the cold refuge of the shower stall where she is later discovered, presumed dead and carried off in a body bag, only to awaken at dusk in full panic once more. New characters include Michelle's sister from America, responding to Michelle's desolate and panicked phone call. Joining her later are a young police detective and a Van Helsing-ish man who leads them to Castle Vladislas. Radu's "Mummy" is here as well, a cackling lawn gnome of a woman who is in desperate need of some Oil Of Olay. But Michelle and Radu always remain central, Radu disgusting in his cruelty and yet almost pathetic in his newfound love for the pretty Michelle; Michelle horrified and yet drawn to the ancient vampire who was responsible for making her what she is. Their relationship is most unique, a true Beauty and the Beast pair.While not as Gothically creepy as the first Subspecies, Bloodstone is still a strong entry in the series, visually compelling and with a good, strong storyline to boot. All the actors are earnest and believable simply because (with the exception of the Immortal Michelle and her icy-white radiance) they are approachable looking, attractive without being blindingly so. And then there's Radu... Radu is the main reason I am as big a fan of these films as I am. He is gross, manicure-impaired, ugly as all hell (literally!), and yet he's also aristocratic and cunning with a wicked sense of humor and an intelligence that has escaped most new vampires. He's not ashamed of who or what he is. He enjoys his cruelty, and his bloodlust and his eagerness to show Michelle the ropes is like the worlds most perverted Hallmark card. It's great! I said it before and I will say it again: Radu is what a vampire should be, and his presence makes these films totally enjoyable. 8 stars out of 10 for this one.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Full Moon certainly has a well-deserved reputation for cheesey (and sometimes truly CRAPPY) movies, but I'm happy to say this isn't one of them! This vampire movie was filmed on location in Romania (seems it started a Full Moon trend as a few other Full Moon pics such as Lurking Fear, Dark Angel: The Ascent and Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 were also filmed there) and has a truly unique atmosphere that I've seen nowhere else. The lead character is Michelle, played by the lovely Denice Duff (who totally rules!), who has been made into a vampire by Stefan, a good vamp who mingled his blood with Michelle's to save her life (this takes place toward the end of Subspecies 1). Unfortunately, Radu (magnificently portrayed by Anders Hove, who is well known for his work on General Hospital), Stefan's evil brother who supposedly was decapitated at the end of Subspecies 1, has been reassembled by his Subspecies, apparently little creatures that form out of his blood and are seldom seen in the Subspecies series. Radu kills his brother and sets out to kill Michelle when he is stopped by the sunrise. When the sun sets Radu sets out to find the Bloodstone - a supposed holy relic that fills up with "the blood of the saints" - this is apparently very potent blood which can drive weaker vampires insane with it's power - but it also assures a vampire of an unlimited supply of blood. Michelle makes a break for it, taking the Bloodstone with her, and heads for Bucharest (capital of Romania, as if you didn't know). Radu fails to find the Bloodstone on his brother's now-skeletal remains, and simply loses it - ripping his murdered brother's skeleton apart, throwing it to the floor and then stops on it repeatedly (THAT'S brotherly hate!). Radu assumes correctly that Michelle will head for Bucharest so he heads that way as well. Michelle checks into a hotel and calls her sister Becky(played by the lovely Melanie Shatner, daughter of William Shatner of Star Trek fame). I don't want to spoil the rest of the film, but basically Michelle has to struggle with her newfound vampirism, Becky goes to Romania to rescue Michelle, and Radu falls in love.....it's well worth the watch, as are Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 and Bloodstorm: Subspecies 4. These are the finest films Full Moon has ever produced.