It's the classic story of good brother vs. bad brother as the vampire sons of old King Vlad - handsome, noble, boring Stefan and hideous, jealous, scheming, fascinating Radu - battle over the rights to their inheritance. At stake (sorry) are ancient Castle Vladislas, played to perfection by ancient Castle Hunedoara, and the family's prize, the mystic Bloodstone; a holy relic that drips the blood of saints. (What a unique invention! I wish the movie said more about its nature and history.) Into the middle of this gory sibling squabble wander the obligatory clueless bunch of cute American students, doing a research project on local folklore, and we're off to the races.

Has its weak spots, especially the awkward animation and matting-in of Radu's tiny demon servants, but its energy, enthusiasm and imaginative ideas - such as the "shadow transit" by which the vampires travel, and the reptilian relish of Anders Hove's performance as Radu - easily carry it over these gaps. Add in some gore and nudity for the high-school crowd, and the pleasure of seeing a vampire film actually shot in Romania and using its wonderful medieval locations so central to Western vampire lore, and you have a thoroughly capable and enjoyable little horror film. Those who appreciate bloody but clever small-scale horror such as Brian Yuzna's Lovecraft films should have no trouble adopting this one.

(If you enjoy my reviews, you can read more of them under my previous name - just plain "angelynx".)

Thank you Full Moon Pictures for restoring vileness to the vampire!

Anders Hove, as the villainous Radu, is the type of fiendish demonic monster that all vampires should be. Yet people today, thanks to genre rapists like Anne Rice, would rather watch vampires gallivanting about like a bunch of aristocratic Sallys.

The film centers around two college girls from America (Laura Tate and the curvaceous Michelle McBride) who visit their foreign exchange student friend from school (Irina Movila) in her native Romania. While there, the three appealing young women happen into a vampire feud. Radu has slain the father, a cameo by horror legend Angus Scrimm, thus acquiring the wrath of his good vampire brother Stefan(Michael Watson).

The only drawback to this film is the lowsy swordplay, but how can Anders Hove be expected to handle a sword with foot long fingers.

A vampire film done right, restoring the fiendishness to the vampire legend.

Take notes Anne Rice!!

"Subspecies," like many other horror films, gets a raw deal on IMDb. The majority of movie-watchers have a hearty contempt for horror, and when they occasionally rent horror films, they either want to laugh at them or cringe at excessively gory scenes. Unfortunately, "Subspecies" is not particularly laughable, and not that bloody, so it gets a low rating. That's too bad.

Of course, there's plenty to criticize here. The non-actors are flat, the subspecies are a poor special effect, and the nighttime scenes are too brightly lit. But what do you expect? For a straight-to-video horror film, "Subspecies" boasts decent production values and more integrity than you might anticipate. The film's Romanian setting is virtually unique (I believe it was the first American movie made in that country, post-Communism),and the locations, both interior and exterior, are beautiful. The script has moments of intelligence, especially when it delves into local folklore (all bogus, I'm sure). Somehow, the location filming and smartish script work well together - "Subspecies" has its own very distinctive world. To risk damning with faint praise...it could be a lot dumber.

Fans of the more gruesome aspects of horror will no doubt get a kick out of the blood-drooling vampire villain, Radu. He's pretty effective in this movie - powerful, with a memorable raspy voice - but I like him better in the sequels, when actor Anders Hove gives a more self-parodying, campy performance. A totally sincere Radu is somewhat silly. Other silly aspects include gratuitous nudity and the subspecies themselves, who are clearly only in the movie because producer Charles Band has a fetish for evil little creatures (see also Puppetmaster and Demonic Toys).

But I linger too much on the movie's flaws. For what it is - straight-to-video vampire horror - "Subspecies" is perfectly fine. The sequels boast better production values, more violence, and somewhat more thoughtful story lines, so I recommend them even more highly. Still, this isn't a bad start for the series.