Vampire narrative revisits and evaluates various versatile conventional individuals from a visionary vicariously venturing into the perspective of a vulnerable advocate victimized by a voluptuous villainous veritable evil

Subspecies V: Blood Rise is the Full Moon Features long-anticipated prequel for the Subspecies series which started back in 1991. Subsequently, sequels and spin-offs were released like Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993), Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994), Vampire Journals (1997), and Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm (1998). All these films, including the spin-off, were written and directed by Ted Nicolaou.

This prequel is no exception, being written, directed, and edited by Ted Nicolaou as well. It starts with a Hellboy-ish origin story of the narrator, Radu. It’s about his descent from being an honourable Church knight to a corrupt, bloodthirsty vampire spanning over 500 years. I like how it’s set entirely in medieval times. Filmed in Serbia, it boasts impressive filming locations, set designs, costumes, special effects makeup, and writing. The lighting is particularly important for creepy scenes in dark, torch-lit corridors deep within the castles.

Anders Hove returns as Radu Vladislas. He carries the film with his commanding screen presence equipped with his deep mesmerizing voice. His harrowing tale creates reasons to empathize with him. His performance sells the anguish and anger driving him to do his actions. Denice Duff returns as the new character Helena after playing Michelle Morgan for the previous three main Subspecies films. In this film, she’s completely convincing as the malevolent antagonist of Radu. She can be seductive or frighteningly fierce depending on what the scene requires. Staša Nikolić plays Ariel and Marko Filipović plays Ash. Both are fledglings of Radu. Before he attacked them they were musicians. They have an interesting dynamic where they tend to have opposing views. This is a clever way to have ethical debates about how to achieve life goals by good or evil means by showing both sides of the coin equally.

The rest of the cast includes Kevin Spirtas playing Vladislas, Petar Arsić playing Marius, Yulia Graut playing Circe (the Demon responsible for Radu’s plight), Olivera Peruničić playing Diana, and Jakov Marjanović playing Stefan (Radu’s brother). The acting isn’t bad but the accents are all over the place so it’s hard to pinpoint where this is supposed to be located. The score amazingly set a Gothic tone perfectly suited for the film.

Overall, I must admit I’ve never seen the other films in the Subspecies series and usually wouldn’t recommend starting a film franchise on the fifth entry but I followed it without any issues understanding the story or characters motivations. It’s a tightly knit self-contained story that I’m sure is full of references to other films for fans following along so far. I found this highly enjoyable and recommend it to fans of vampire flicks. For this kind of film it wasn’t as gory as I expected. Whether or not franchise fans will enjoy it is up for justification in pending debates among themselves. And remember, some people similar to myself will never stop giving a fang about Vampires.