To many this is regarded as the low-point of the series (although still pretty entertaining) and I'm about to go find out just how bad it is. Enjoy!
Bloodlust is largely one long reaction to the events of Bloodstone. Becky goes to the police for help while waiting for the sun to go down. Michelle begins to succumb to her bloodlust (name drop!) and is forced to let go of her mortality to protect her sister, who is stupidly directly challenging Radu and his mother along with the rest of the human gang. Really that is basically where coherence ends, it is by no means a complicated movie but the sheer number of contradictions, inconsistencies and general stupidity make it very hard to sum anything up. Our movie ends on a fittingly stupid note with Radu burning in the sun, despite the same film telling us he could fly, so he basically just stands there and lets the sun burn him, just awesome. Oh and we get a new character, CIA Bob - who basically climbs a wall, says 'hands up granny' and then dies. Oh Bob, we barely knew you.
Now we spend much more time with Becky, I have to say Captain Kirk, I'm sorry but as much as I love you, I'm not a big fan of your daughter. I think both Kevin Blair and Ion Haiduc do a great job as Mel and Marin respectively but Shatner paints this expression on Becky like she's going through the film constantly assaulted by really bad smells. I mean look at that screen grab, I know that is from the recap but that sums her up perfectly, a man just died and she just looks annoyed he got his blood on her face. I could make a really obvious sex joke here, but the image really speaks for itself. This ironically suits her character because Becky comes across completely unlikeable, like many characters do in this film for some reason. Assholes: Subspecies III. Like you remember how Mel was the rational, human bent for the story? Well give the film twenty minutes to undo that. Smoke coming out of a tomb? Clearly that isn't a bomb, that is the work of vampires! I mean I know we know it is but Mel was the one who didn't just believe one half bit of evidence, so why is smoke the thing that finally breaks him? It's so stupid. Mel feels so out of character in this film and with such little explanation, he may as well be an entirely new character, he is certainly ten times more assholely than he was last time, that is for sure. Is the goofy ass Marin really supposed to be the only rational character? And I like how Mel and Becky rip the shit out of him, but I mean oh excuse him for being the only person who doesn't believe in vampires because of pathetic excuses for 'evidence'.Much like in Bloodstone, the film only really gets good when it's exploring vampires and although the film can drag a lot, whenever it brings vampires into central focus, it's always extremely enjoyable. I complained about the focus on Radu in the original film but honestly, I don't care about anything other than Michelle and Radu any more, it's always a shame when the movie goes back to its human characters. Although vampires are incredibly common in pop culture, they have been really since the revival in the 80s, it's still no less entertaining to see all the mythology explored. And since these films don't really have much in the way of time skips, we're seeing Michelle's transformation and acceptance of what she is in a sequential fashion, this gives us a kind of personal connection we don't often have. There is normally the present where they can control it and the past when they didn't but very little of the in between, that in between is what makes Subspecies so interesting. It looks great too, I mean a lot of these things are clearly done for budget limitations but it in turn gives the film a really cool sense of style. The scene where Radu teaches Michelle to use her super senses and teleporting powers, is fucking awesome. Much are the scenes that follow where she uses her new found abilities to hunt, it's surprisingly much more entertaining when Radu is on your side.
However, this does raise a lot of questions. Radu's only real ability in the first film was to summon the subspecies, in the second film he could make his shadow big and teleport around fairly inconsistent distances but by this film he is full on flying around all over the place from the beginning. I mean I know this is the writers just making shit up as they go but they should have really explained this away because all it left me thinking is if Radu could do all this shit in the first place, why has he been taken down so easily in all the films? I'm pretty sure if you can teleport/fly, you shouldn't have got caught in a cage, impaled, had your head cut off, stabbed a lot, shot a lot and then burnt in the sun, he should be able to avoid all of this with ease. You compare Radu and all his crazy powers in this film back to how he was in the first and he is practically like a new character, especially if you couple that with his whole puppy dog eyes, 'please love me Michelle, I'll give you some of my Mum's jewellery!' crap. I mean come on, he argues with his Mum like a rebellious teenager. Radu was actually pretty terrifying in the first two films because there was this real lack of humanity about him but here he just seems like a stroppy teenager. It's really quite sad that he comes across his most pathetic, even though he has a new arsenal of powers.Oh also, Radu and Michelle have this whole Twilight thing going on now, for some reason, I mean he kills his mother for a girl who says 'I hate you' pretty much repeatedly. Their paceless, out of nowhere romance seems even crappier when stacked alongside Becky and Mel, whose relationship is impacted by events about them, it's paced, developed and built upon, so why is our central couple given such a rushed and out of nowhere treatment? And yes, I know the implications of the way Radu forces himself on Michelle are thematically terrifying in a more human way and I know the history of allegory between Dracula and rape. But I don't know, I've seen dark, social realist British Films about men who don't take no for an answer, who grow increasingly more violent and that is terrifying, the realism feel to it all is really a huge part of that. But here, Radu just drinks a bit of Michelle's blood, like I know that this is violating her too but it just doesn't have the same impact as supernatural things rarely do.
In Hove's defence he puts on a much better performance as Radu than he did in the last film, it's just a shame the film can't keep the character consistent, I mean there are some really powerful, human moments for Radu in this film and Hove really does give a powerful performance but you just can't enjoy his performance, because these scenes are so completely out of character for Radu himself. And Radu does have some of his most terrifying moments in this film, they are just undermined by all the stupid crap Radu goes through in the same film but Hove gives it all he's got regardless.Going back to the whole superpower thing, other than from a narrative point...I can't say I really mind it. I mean as a 'reviewer' I have to point this crap out but I won't say it ever particularly bothered me. A lot of what the vampires can do in this series is practically rather pointless and doesn't make a whole lot of sense in terms of continuity but it just makes for some really great horror visuals, it isn't particularly scary sure, but it has such a classic, Hammer Horror feel but with a modern twist that despite all the inconsistencies Nicolaou did enough with it to still make it awesome. I just wish Nicolaou could write as well as he can stage things.
Really I don't think I've praised the special effects enough in this film - or the series in general. Due to really the lack of action in the series, it's much harder to notice and point out, even when it's obvious. Even aside from Mummy's incredible costume, Radu looks absolutely terrifying. I think the only thing that really lets him down is he can't bend those long ass fingers naturally, making it look unintentionally goofy whenever he holds anything and this could have been pretty easily avoided but whatever. But everything else looks great when it comes to special effects and make up. All the gore, the wounds etc Ah practical effects, my one true love. And since around nine people all worked on the special and visual effects and makeup in different shapes and forms, I'm not going to list them all, but it's worth checking it out on IMDb because wizards like this deserve praise, especially considering largely these people don't end up getting credited at all and yet they are so crucial to making your movies come to life, I think people often forget there aren't just actors and a director, there is a whole team. That being said, Bloodlust is still an incredibly goofy film and I'm often unsure of how much of it is actually intentional. The scene where Radu, Mummy and Michelle flee is one of the worst movie scenes I have ever seen, so bad that I had to laugh, but more out of awkwardness as to whether it was meant to be that shitty or not.And once again, I leave you with comments about all the pointless nudity in the series: "I'm not just going to put this coat over the dress to hide the blood, I'm going to full on take the dress off, just to barely cover myself with the coat instead, aw yeah!" "Here Michelle, why don't you drink this girls blood? Look, I've flashed her boobs at you too, because that was totally necessary." Once again, I'm a man - boobs are boobs, but is this really necessary? Really? I'm still going with no.
So do I recommend it? You have no idea how many times I have rewritten this one paragraph. You see the problem is, when you're invested in something it's hard to separate actual criticisms from your own fanboy needs. I felt that due to the world building in the first two films, it needed a human angle, characters to learn about the world with us, to give us a sense of mystery and it lacked that. But by the third film, the world building is practically done. Now it's time to move along the story, to build on the characters and the humans have served their purpose. But the problem now is, the humans are still here. Radu is our central character, Michelle's transformation into a vampire is a central part of the plot but our human trio are largely inconsequential, weaving in and out of the plot when contrivances create such opportunities but largely adding nothing to the story and it just really makes the film drag. I mean sure they all have their own plots and motivations but most of them are largely unconnected and there is no real true overarching narrative to tie all these threads together. Plus once Bloodlust finally starts to shift its weight, it just draws your attention to what an awful writer Nicolaou is. Bloodlust collapses under the sheer amount of inconsistencies, this franchise has absolutely no grasp of continuity. I don't hate the film, it has its moments but wow this film is bad. I mean I know both Subspecies and Bloodstone were pretty dumb but the stupid is laid on so thick here that it actually begins to give you headaches. It's very hard to enjoy a film when the characters we follow aren't very nice. Just, urgh. I mean well done for finally picking up the pace, but it doesn't seem worth it with how rubbish it all turned out.
Think About It!
-Locke
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