movieman_kev
The evil Radu returns with a vengeance after his subspecies minions help put him back together. After taking care of his brother, the dastardly One finds that Michelle, his brother's love interest/newly turned vampire (also newly Denice Duff, replacing Laura Tate who lijkely balked at doing the nudity) has run off with the precious Bloodstone.This one being filmed back-to-back with part 3 should clue you in that you shouldn't expect any real semblance of an ending to part 2. So if you're not fully prepared to set aside around 3 hours to watch both together, you'll likely be disappointed by a fairly large cliff-hanger.That gripe aside, I enjoyed Subspecies 2 as much, if not more, than the first. It has more action and meat to the story.Eye Candy: Denice Duff provides a full-frontal
barnthebarn
Straight-forward sequel to Subspecies, this time Michelle - now a fully fledged vampire - attempts to escape the evil Radu who wants her as his very own love mate. Thus she steals the ancient bloodstone and forces Radu to pursue her for both reasons. Meanwhile her obsessive sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner, William Shatener's daughter) travels to Rome enlisting the help of a local Police lieutenant.Denice Duff in her debut as Michelle is exceptional, a grand actress and attractive too. The casting generally is very effective and Anders Hove as Radu - though perhaps less sinister than in the first film - is fitting more comfortably in to the character. Another fine effort from Ted Nicolaou and as riveting as fans might expect. Fine.
gavin6942
Radu (Anders Hove) won't let a simple thing like beheading keep him down. His minions reattach his body and he is risen before dawn, ready to kill his brother and his brother's freshly-vampired consort Michelle. But she escapes with the Bloodstone, and calls her sister to Bucharest. Also, the police get involved."Subspecies II" doesn't quite have the full power the original had. The lead actress has been replaced, which takes a bit out of the continuity (but at least the new chick -- Denise Duff -- is better looking). And the pace is somewhat slower. And the Bloodstone seems to have lost all its blood. But the film has some nice additions -- Kevin Blair, who has a bit of horror credentials under his belt. And Duff, unlike her predecessor, has little difficulty in being convinced into doing nude scenes, which really seemed a bigger aspect of the first.Radu seems less menacing, not able to kill as many people or turn them into vampires or create new minions. And that's too bad, because he's a very interesting vampire creature. He also seems very susceptible to sunlight, much less so than Michelle. Is it because he's older? Typically, vampires get more powerful with age. But who knows? There's a good scene where Michelle is falsely believed dead, but beyond that nothing stands out in my mind. It's a decent sequel, and I'm eager to see part three (and maybe even four). So it didn't turn me off by any means. Pretty much entirely the work of one man, this is a film worth seeing if you liked the original.
BloodTheTelepathicDog
Subspecies 2 picks up right where the first one ended, with Michelle(portrayed by the far more appealing Denice Duff) fleeing from a resurrected Radu. In Denice's possession is the Bloodstone, an ancient relic that contains the blood of saints, that Radu is determined to retrieve.This doesn't suffer from the typical sequel downfalls, as director Ted Nicolaou keeps the set creepy and paces the film marvelously. Anders Hove, as cinema's most accurate vampire, albeit Max Schreck, is the only returning cast member from the original. Laura Tate does not reprise her role as Michelle, leaving the character to a far more capable and attractive Denice Duff.As Denice struggles with her new found lifestyle, she calls her sister, portrayed by William Shatner's daughter Melanie, to help her. Obviously not thinking about her sister's safety, Denice delivers her to near certain death. Helping Melanie are US embassy stud Kevin Blair and oddball professor Michael Denish. Kevin portrays the skeptic, but is enamored with Melanie, so tags along.I have seen all of the Subspecies films and this one is my second favorite, right behind the original. VIOLENCE: $$$ (Denice struggles with feeding on a grungy rockstar wannabe while Radu indulges. There is moderate vampire mayhem here but the gore in the original was superior).NUDITY: $$ (Denice takes the patented horror film shower scene which Ted plays more for characterization than for skin. He shows the tortured woman weeping under the showerhead and doesn't use the gratuitous angle).STORY: $$$$ (The screenplay is rather solid despite Denice's characters lack of regard for her sister's safety. The story emphasis is on Denice, as we must watch and see if she can resist Radu and if Radu can control his "fledgling").ACTING: $$$$$ (Exceptional acting, supplied chiefly by Denice Duff. Ms. Duff has the unrivaled ability to capture every emotion in the human emotional handbag. Her work far exceeds Laura Tate's boring portrayal of Michelle in the original. Denice Duff should offer acting lessons to all those A-List sorry excuses for actresses that the tabloids love so much! Anders Hove was better in the original; much more fiendish than he is here).
AD
