Director: Ted Nicolaou
Year: 1998
Country: Romania/US
Alternate Titles: Subspecies IV: Bloodstorm
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Having escaped from the castle, the dreaded vampire king sets off to rescue his fledgling from the hands of a scientist and his assistant who have inadvertently stolen her to cure her of her vampiric condition leaving a trail of destruction in his path as he tries to regain his control.
Review:
This was an utterly enjoyable and fascinating entry that continues the series along nicely. Among the more enjoyable elements in here is that much like the others the Gothic atmosphere of the situation is incredible and making for an really entertaining time. There's so much to like about that here, with the enormous castle lit up with tons of candles, decorations and ornamentations befitting something of that look as we see the endless corridors and hallways within the castle grounds or the later findings inside the secondary resting place. Likewise, the atmosphere within here features plenty of strong Gothic imagery in it's cobwebbed feast set over by skeletons, torn tapestries and damaged furniture which is quite impressive here enhancing the storyline further.
The other big plus here in the film is the strong overall storyline that manages to not only tie into the other films but draw a rather interesting idea here with some nice elements about it. From the idea of the doctor's secret agenda holding down the first half and his insistence on the treatment affording the one in his care which gives this a whole lot of intrigue in the beginning half to the secondary scenes of the vampire creating his army of followers to join him on his journey which carries a solid secondary tactic here. The idea of the deception carried out by the doctor gives his scenes of treatment a rather nasty edge once it's discovered, and as it carries out the other storyline involving the search for the followers that gives this a lot to like as it turns into some fine action scenes in the later half. Those include some great moments in the hospital where a marvelous trap to capture him and a rather bloody escape with a great series of scenes showing them rampaging through town leading into the underground catacombs where the finale takes place as the huge cemetery is just incredible with it's graves, tombstones and other such ornaments make for a chilling location to hold the action which is top-notch all around.
Much like the previous films, the cast here has a lot to like. Anders Hove is still impressive as the vile vampire Radu Vladislas. Knowing how to make his limited screentime impressive with his mannerisms and seething bloodlust, there's a lot of creepy visuals that accompany him and remains a fascinating addition to the vampire lore. Continuing her saga as Michelle Morgan is Denice Duff who turns in a stellar role here. As a more prominent figure here, she gets a nice storyline here with the attempt at curing her affliction which allows her to go from scared and terrified to far more fiery and energetic as the film carries on fully turning us onto her side in the battle. Ioana Abur nearly steals the film as the sweet nurse Ana Lazar. Intent on truly trying to help her through the affliction, she appears kind and good-hearted throughout here and gives a genuinely endearing performance here. Mihai Dinvale gives another nice turn as the incredibly devious and deceitful Dr. Niculescu. You really can't tell what's on his mind and he switches sides so consistently that he emerges as both hero and villain at various points. As these all allow this one a great pace overall, coupled with the deformed look of the lead vampire and some fine gore effects all manage to hold this one up enough over it's flaws.
Among the only flaws here is the overall lack of information shown here as to what's going on, since the plot could've used a little more meat on it to flesh out the different allegiances as this one is quite complicated about who's on which side. When people initially seem to be good or bad, there's plenty of side-switching that manages to make this one seem more complicated merely for that sake than anything to do with the film as a whole. As that constant side-switching manages to keep the vampires from doing anything but making devious backhanded comments to each other but never really delving into what makes them engage in such trickery as it just seems to go on merely for that sake. This one really could've used a series of examples giving us people's intentions, but as nobody ever really reveals anything the truth for their actions, it just makes the film more confusing as to why people and friends suddenly switch sides and allegiances are switched only to be changed back whenever it suits them. Overall, though, this one was a lot of fun.
Overview: ****/5
As for what should've been the end of the franchise, this one offers plenty to like about it and gives off some enjoyable moments to make this a fine and exciting conclusion to the series at this point. Give this a watch if you've dived into these up to this point or for those that enjoy these cheap, trashy Gothic vampire tales, while those that aren't swayed by anything else so far should heed caution entering this chapter in the story.
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