Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994)

Filmed back to back with the previous movie, this third entry in the enjoyable Subspecies franchise is the weakest one yet for one obvious reason - it pads out a few good scenes in a plot that essentially just covers the same old ground that we saw in the preceding film. If you took the best bits from both of these movies then parts 2 & 3 could have made for one fantastic film instead of one good film and one poor one.

Things begin with a brief recap of the second film and then it's back to the business of watching Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) try to rescue her sister, Michelle (Denice Duff), from the clutches of the evil vampire Radu (Anders Hove) and the evil and grotesque Mummy (Pamela Gordon). Rebecca is once again helped by the bland Mel (Kevin Blair) and the confused Lieutenant Marin (Ion Haiduc).

Ted Nicolaou is the writer and director once again, which kind of goes without saying because of this instalment being filmed back to back with the previous film but I'll say it anyway. This film highlights a weakness in his writing that he was able to cover up in the second movie with just enough fun moments to keep things ticking over. He's certainly not the worst scribe when it comes to low-budget fare such as this but he really stretches himself too far when he attempts to spread his work over two movies. I know it may sound like I'm just repeating myself throughout this review but that's really the biggest problem here, and it's something that then causes a ripple effect of problems throughout the whole film.

The acting isn't too bad from everyone involved, though it goes without saying that Anders Hove is once again the highlight with his haunting and memorable portrayal of Radu, but it's all undone by that overstretched material. The practical effects are once again great when they occasionally pop up onscreen (not including the work to create Radu and Mummy, both covered in fantastic make up) but they're undone by that overstretched material. The melodrama added to the standard horror would have been fine if, you guessed it, it wasn't undone by that overstretched material.

Believe me, I feel as bad for harping on about it as I felt when watching the movie but this is certainly a case of "all filler and no thriller". There are some nice singular moments but you're only real reason for watching this movie is to view the complete franchise, like myself.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Subspecies--Epic-Collection-Subspecies-Journals/dp/B000F6ZIJM/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1337544741&sr=1-1