Subspecies 5: Bloodrise is a belated and unnecessary prequel that explains how the villainous Radu (Anders Hove) became a vampire. Like most Subspecies movies, the opening is the best part. This scene features a nasty old vampire giving birth to a deformed baby who looks like a close cousin to the Freddy baby from A Nightmare on Elm Street 5. The half-vampire infant is then whisked away by the church and given medieval plastic surgery so it will pass for human and when it gets older, they train him to become a vampire slayer.
While hunting vampires in a decrepit castle, the now-grown Radu liberates a sexy woman (Denice Duff) and her son against the urging of his sidekick, Marius (Petar Arsic). Naturally, she repays his kind act by biting him and turning him into a vampire. Radu then trains himself in the dark arts to get revenge.
From there, the already-thin story becomes more episodic and uneven as it wears on. The subplot about Radu turning two musicians into his vampire servants feels like it came from an entirely different movie. Either that, or a couple of episodes of a re-edited and repackaged TV show. The wrap-up is really convenient too.
Denice Duff, who might be part vampire as she looks the same as she did in the last Subspecies twenty years ago, gives a better performance than the movie deserves. It’s obvious she’s the best thing about it as the Duff-less passages are easily the weakest part. Hove is ho-hum as Radu. I never really liked him as the villain and he’s not much better when he’s playing hero in the early scenes. To make matters worse, he’s not very engaging once he becomes full-fledged vampire.
If I’m being perfectly honest, I’ve never been a real Subspecies fan in general. Part 2 was OK, I guess, but the rest were interchangeable and forgettable. While this one is at the very least watchable, I can’t say for sure how much of it I will remember about it a month from now. Or, heck, even a week from now.
At least some of the cheesy dialogue (such as “Get your vile hands off my flute!”) are good for a sporadic laugh or two.
AKA: Subspecies 5: Blood Rise.
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