Matty sinks his fangs into Ted Nicolaou’s double whammy of Full Moon vampire goodness. 

Subspecies (1991) is a great movie. 

BLOODSTONE: SUBSPECIES II (1993) and BLOODLUST: SUBSPECIES III (1994) are even better. 

Bloodstone in particular is among the very best Full Moon flicks, warranting mention alongside fellow sequels Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge (1991) and Trancers III (1993), and Stuart Gordon epics The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) and Castle Freak (1995) as the cream of their crop. Produced when the company were at an all-time high — at the peak of their ‘golden age’ union with Paramount (before, of course, the pact soured amidst financial chicanery and a change in Paramount’s top brass) — Bloodstone and Bloodlust were shot back-to-back over sixty-nine days in Romania and mark the start of returning writer/director Ted Nicolaou becoming the creative driving force of the saga. Nicolaou is, however, helped immeasurably by producer/cinematographer Vlad Păunescu who, as the ‘90s wore on, became an integral cog on the Full Moon conveyor belt, running Charles Band’s operations at the Romanian end.   

Reduced or outright gone are the limper aspects of the original Subspecies; chiefly, the eponymous mini-demons, which are now consigned to the opening of Bloodstone and the closing of Bloodlust. Here, Nicolaou keeps his focus on the complicated, evolving relationship of the dastardly Radu (franchise stalwart Anders Hove) and a vampirised Michelle (the brilliant Denice Duff, replacing Laura Mae Tate and retaining the part henceforth). 

Bolstering the drama are six more characters, four of whom’s arcs span both movies. With Radu’s estranged, good-guy brother, Stefan, staked early doors in the first of several incredible gags orchestrated by Full Moon’s then newly minted in-house FX company, Alchemy, Bloodstone and Bloodlust continue the sibling dynamic by introducing Michelle’s sister, Rebecca (Melanie ‘Daughter of William’ Shatner — Syngenor (1990), Unknown Origin (1995)). Flying out from the U.S. to help Michelle thwart Radu, Rebecca is joined by foreign embassy hunk Mel (Kevin Spirtas — as ‘Kevin Blair’); quirky Romanian detective Lt. Marin (the wonderful Ion Haiduc); vampire hunter Popescu (Romanian stage actor Michael Denish); and, in Bloodlust, gung-ho CIA operative Bob (Michael Della Famina, who’d summarily find himself cast in Full Moon’s Mandroid (1993) and its sidequel, Invisible: The Chronicles of Benjamin Knight (1994)). Radu, meanwhile, is flanked by his squawking sorceress mother, Mummy (Pamela Gordon). Hove and Gordon’s sparky and highly theatrical interplay is marvellous, especially in the erotically-charged Bloodlust, when Mummy’s increasingly jealous rage at her son’s romantic interest in Michelle reaches fever pitch.

Augmenting Radu and Mummy’s ghoulish personalities are Alchemy’s stunning make-up effects. Supervised by Alchemy boss Mike Deak, the heavy, on-set lifting is done by Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera. Radu’s already striking appearance is recalibrated, giving it a more obvious comic book edge. Mummy is an equally spectacular creation; a rotting, walking corpse designed with Fulci-esque elan.

Though Bloodlust is the (slightly) weaker of the two, its flitting between saucy chamber piece and siege-y action licks never completely gelling, each film’s technical credentials are sublime. Immensely visual experiences, Nicolaou’s penchant for weird details and knack for captivating imagery results in some truly extraordinary sights. Bloodstone is expressly operatic. Essentially a gothic chase movie, the moments in which Radu’s shadow menaces Michelle through the inky-looking streets of Bucharest are so chillingly beautiful that David DeCoteau rephrased them in his own Full Moon fang-banger, Blonde Heaven (1995).

For the release date obsessives: Bloodstone and Bloodlust hit U.S. video via Paramount on 26th May 1993 and 16th February 1994, respectively. In the U.K., they were two of a handful of Full Moon titles to actually be released by co-producers Paramount. The shingle’s early wares — Puppet Master (1989), Shadowzone (1990), Crash and Burn (1991) et al — landed on British shores via Entertainment in Video per their longstanding output deal with Band. The U.K. Paramount releases include: Netherworld (1992); Seedpeople (1992); Doctor Mordrid (1992); Prehysteria! (1993); Trancers III, 4 (1994) and 5 (1994); Puppet Master III; and Nicolaou’s Remote (1993) and Bad Channels (1992). Weirdly, Paramount’s planned cassette releases of Puppet Master 4 (1993) and Puppet Master 5 (1994) were pulled due to their messy Full Moon divorce — yet they pumped out the tapes for Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994), Lurking Fear (1994), and Nicolaou’s Leapin’ Leprechauns! (1995) and Magic in the Mirror (1996) capers deep into the decade.