Subspecies (1991)

July 23, 2022 5:42 PM

The evil vampire villain Radu returns to his hometown of Prejnar, after spending years in exile. He steals the precious blood stone which is said to be bleeding from all saints, from his father and kills him. Meanwhile two American schoolgirls team up with a local girl for a work on Romanian culture. Radu becomes attracted to them but runs into trouble when his brother Stephan helps the girls.

The first American-made film to shoot in Romania after the fall of communism, this production from low-budget horror studio Full Moon overcomes a middling script and some wooden acting to showcase real Romanian castles and ruins and some solid gore. The titular subspecies monsters are a goofy green screen/puppetry creation.

Currently streaming in the US on Shudder, FreeVee, Tubi, and the Full Moon app.

posted by DirtyOldTown (1 comment total)

Is this a good movie? Oh heck no. Is it a quintessential example of the 90's direct-to-video horror vibe that I enjoyed anyway? Yep. Full Moon always got the maximum bang for their buck when they co-produced in Romania and this is one of the best examples.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:44 PM on July 23, 2022 [1 favorite]