Having sensibly disposed of Stefan and focused on the far more interesting Radu, the Full Moon crew really gets this series rolling with its second film. Michelle (Denise Duff, replacing the first film's Laura Tate) escapes Castle Vlad and flees to Bucharest, taking with her the precious Bloodstone. Desperately battling her own developing vampirism, she begs her sister Rebecca to take her back to America, but when Rebecca arrives, Michelle - ashamed of her condition - finds it near-impossible to face her. This sets up the film's central game of cat-and-bat-and-mouse, as the worried Rebecca and the resurrected Radu hunt Michelle through Bucharest's night time streets and Rebecca assembles a motley gang of Fearless Vampire Hunters [TM] to pursue her sister's tormentor. A terrific mixture of macabre and down-to-earth characters, with Duff standing out as the terrified but strong-willed Michelle, Melanie Shatner fine as brave and concerned Rebecca, Michael Denish enjoying the Van Helsing-esque role of Prof. Popescu and Ion Haiduc especially good as the pragmatic Romanian cop Lt. Marin.

The movie, however, *belongs* to Anders Hove as Radu. Hove brings a completely unexpected level of sympathy and emotion to the character. He gets under the skin of the monster makeup to wonderfully suggest the childlike nature, terrible loneliness, and unfed craving for love that offset Radu's displays of cruelty and sudden violence. The scenes with his horrific mother are genuinely affecting, as he tries desperately for even a moment of her approval. Hove's performance is certainly the core of this film and bids to become the main reason for further Subspecies films.

I got the great opportunity last night to see all the Subspecies movies, normally when you get into the sequels, they're disappointing and you don't get into them, they also ruin the series. But thankfully Bloodstone: Subspecies 2 is a different story. This is a fun sequel that really develops a story instead of the typical bite and gore vampire film. We get a little closer insight of Radu's history, who he is and how he has become Radu, also that he has mortal feelings at times, especially for his new protégé, Michelle. The reason why this series is so interesting I think is because it provides the scares while going into a very interesting story about vampires and makes it a great night for horror movies.

Radu is back, after arising from his decapitation, well, you'll have to see how they pull it together, he finds his brother, Stephan resting and kills him. He goes to another coffin to find Michelle, who is waiting for her transformation of being a vampire, but before Radu can kill her, the sun comes up and burns him, he runs, Michelle grabs the bloodstone and gets as far away as she can. Megan, her sister, has come to Romania to find Michelle, but finds out about Michelle's new... life style.

Bloodstone: Subspeices 2 goes deeper and isn't the typical horror movie, it has a great story. It of course still delivers on the good scares, of course mostly due to Radu and how chilling his performance is. Then his mom comes into the scene and makes The Mummy look like Madonna with that chilling look. We are family in this sequel, it's fun and definitely worth the look, this is such a cool series to get into, I recommend it for the horror genre fans.

7/10

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).