Beautiful, moving film.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This movie did an outstanding job of combining sci-fi with horror in a Romanian setting that would seem like it could have been the source of the Dracula legend. In fact, Bran Castle in Romania, which serves as Castle Vladislas in the movie is often cited as the place where Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) lived. Although that isn't true, Bran Castle was the temporary home to this films fictitious vampire Radu Vladislav. The acting in the movie was quite good and the special effects impressive; especially given the film's meager budget. Subspecies, The first of the movies in the series, is also clearly the best of the four movies and it has developed quite a real cult following over the years.

Subspecies is set in Romania where two American college students Michele (Laura Mae Tate) & Lillian (Michelle McBride) arrive to study local folklore with the aid of local friend Mara (Irina Movila). There they rent rooms in a hotel & become curious about the mysterious ruins of a nearby castle, it turns out that a powerful & evil Vampire named Radu (Anders Hove) lives there who has stolen the Bloodstone from his father King Vladislav (Angus Scrimm). Radu takes a fancy to the three girls & starts drinking the blood of Mara & Lillian, meanwhile Michele falls for a guy named Stefan (Michael Watson) who just so happens to be Radu's brother. Michele & Stefan decide to team up & rid the world of the evil Radu...Directed by Ted Nicolaou this film seems to be quite highly regarded amongst genre fans & while it's not terrible I certainly wouldn't call it very good & I could't really see anything much to get excited about. Subspecies is a rather slow going film, not that much actually happens & while it does try to stay close to certain classic Vampire lore there's all this nonsense about a Bloodstone & some little monsters that grow from the tips of Radu's severed fingers for some reason. Subspecies could have been a half decent film if not for the fact that it's dull, I really can't remember that much about it, good or bad. The character's are alright but some f the dialogue is silly & there's a scene which bugged me near the start when the girls are at the castle ruins & one says they have to go because it's getting dark yet it's still clearly the middle of the day & very bright. There's also a scene where one of the American girls finds a coffin that hotel's attic & doesn't really seem that bothered by it, I am not being funny but is some bloke whose house I was staying at had a coffin in his attic I would be very, very worried if you know what I mean. I don't think I would ever want to watch it again, there's no real threat, the plot is weak that mixes classic Vampire themes with silly subplots & I was distinctly unmoved by it all. Not the worst film ever but hardly the best either.The film looks alright with nice locations & some local scenery although you feel the look is down to the budget rather than the makers attempt a authenticity. There's not much gore apart from a decapitation & some broken off finger tips. For no apparent reason the makers throw in some average looking stop-motion animated monsters that really don't do anything or have much significance to the story.Filmed on the cheap by Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment production company in Bucharest in Romania, the production values are alright & better than many later day Band productions. The acting isn't great with many of the cast putting in below par performances while genre regular Angus Scrimm has a small cameo at the start. There's a little bit of style here on occasion with a few scene reminding heavily of the original Nosferatu (1922) in particular the bit showing Radu's shadow coming down the stair with his long claw like fingernails standing out.Subspecies is a film that many seem to like for reasons I don't quite see, I thought it was throughly average at best & overall rather dull. Followed by Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993), Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994), Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm (1998) & the spin0off film Vampire Journals (1997).

As soon as this film kicks off - you already know that you're going to be in for some extreme high camp, and indeed the rest of the film doesn't disappoint. Full Moon Entertainment isn't exactly well known for high quality horror; but from the few of their films that I've seen, I have to say that they're actually not as bad as their reputation suggests and although Subspecies certainly isn't completely successful and has its fair share of problems; it's actually a decent old-style vampire flick that will surely be appreciated by fans of the genre. The plot focuses on the town of Prejnar; former home of the vampire Radu, who returns to face his father and steal the precious blood stone. He kills his father and takes the stone and shortly thereafter a couple of schoolgirls turn up to study the local culture and team up with a local girl. The vampire Radu is initially attracted to the girls, but things are complicated when his brother Stephen - also a vampire - steps in to help them.The style of the film is undoubtedly the best thing about it - director Ted Nicolaou seems to have wanted to imitate the classic vampire styling, and has just about succeeded. Lead actor Anders Hove cuts an amusing figure as the central vampire and looks like he took the wrong turn on the way to some crusty old rock concert; although he does at least deliver a decent performance that is very in keeping with the rest of the film. The main problem is the pacing as the film is not particularly exciting on any occasion and mostly relies on its plot to keep things interesting; and this is not always managed. Despite an interesting take on the vampire mythology, the film really could have used some suspense! The special effects are liable to be a talking point too and not for the right reason - as they're completely amateurish. The demons featured in particular are awful. The film does feature a nice ambiance, however, and this is helped nicely by the moody and atmospheric score. Overall, this is certainly a decent vampire flick; but it could have been a lot better and I doubt I'll bother with any of the sequels.

This is one of the best and moodiest Vampire Tales ever! I love this movie really. The character are great, even the locations and the story. Indeed the Picture isn't a big budget production, but it is absolutely worth seeing.OK there are some faults (especially the Names of the Castle and the Locations) in this movie, but such mistakes are typically and are almost in every Horror Movie.The scenery fits perfect to the story and is close to reality,I can say that honest, because I visit them once when I was in Romania in my Vacations.In my opinion this is the Best Part of the Subspecies Series.