Bloodstone: Subspecies 2 (1993) – Filmed a couple of years after the first one, this sequel starts within the same night the previous installment ended, with the subspecies minion critters putting the vampire Radu’s severed head together with his body and reanimating him. (They then disappear completely from the rest of the movie — there’s even less subspecies in this Subspecies movie than in the last one!)
Despite this taking place almost immediately after the last one, there are some changes: The lead actress playing Michelle has switched from Laura Tate to Denice Duff, with a very noticeable hairstyle change, and the Bloodstone itself is now a bigger and much more respectable prop which no longer looks like a half-consumed Ring-Pop. The story expands from the village around Castle Vladislav to Bucharest, and the focus now becomes Michelle’s sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner — yes, from THAT Shatner family) who comes to Romania to look for her, helped by hunky American consulate guy Mel (Kevin Blair). And — be still my heart! — this movie marks the introduction of Romanian actor Ion Haiduc into the Full Moon family, playing Inspector Marin! I’ve declared myself the president (and sole member) of the Ion Haiduc Fan Club; between 1993 and 2001, he appeared in no less then seventeen Charles Band-related movies shot in Romania, with roles that ranged from cowboys to leprechauns. All hail Ion Haiduc!
(In case you’re wondering, my second-favorite Romanian actor is Constantin Barbulescu. And yes, I’ve seen far too many cheap movies shot in Romania.)
Operation Rogue (2014) – A very competent throwback to ’80s-style action movies. Mark Dacascos (50 years old, but still looking great without his shirt) is a Marine captain dating the 25-year-old (ew) daughter of his CO (Treat Williams) at a base in the Philippines; both he and his squeeze become targets of a local Islamicist terrorist group, who also want to blow up a coming peace conference.
Lots of shooting, explosions and high kicks. My only real quibble is the number of Filipino extras among the American Marines.
Bloodlust: Subspecies 3 (1994) – Filmed back-to-back with the last one, this installment definitely doesn’t have any continuity problems. Rebecca and Mel are still trying to save Michelle, who’s becoming more and more converted to the vampire way of life under Radu, and Inspector Marin is there for semi-competent comic relief. It’s all getting a little shopworn by this point, but it’s always fun to watch Anders Hove acting through the Radu makeup, grimacing and dribbling blood with reckless glee. He even gets some legitimate character moments! (And lord, but that man can open his mouth wide!)
And the subspecies minions show up in the last thirty seconds to give us the possible path to a sequel. I bet it’s seeming more and more like they shouldn’t have named the franchise after the expensive FX that they’d economize on more and more as budgets got tighter.
Abandoned movies:
Army of One (2020) – Standard “sociopathic rednecks pick on city folks” action movie. I lost all sympathy for the protagonist couple when they decided to take shelter from a rainstorm in an obviously occupied cabin and then have sex there. Decorum, people.
Creature, aka Alien Lockdown (2004) – Pretty run-of-the-mill Aliens clone with a military team going to a hidden base to “clean up” after the invincible creature that someone stupidly engineered runs amok. I got tired of all the whiny radio chatter among this “elite” team.