would there be anything you'd change about them? Personally, I thought Bloodstorm really killed the series. But 2 and 3 are among my favorite movies of all time. Any thoughts/ideas?
shareI would skip 4. I honestly think these are well made and would not remake them. I think it would be cool if they did a prequal. Whats so great about these films is how well they are made and seemed to fit together.
shareI don't know really, it's been awhile so i can't remember which ones but i think the last two could have done without them. It's hard to picture anyone else playing the characters, but im sure it could be done.
shareI wouldn't remake them, as the mix of director, location and actors really made this series. No-one else but Anders Hove could play Radu. What I really wanted was for a sequel to Vampire Journals since it was called vampire journalS. But alas. I enjoy Bloodstorm, it's a guilty pleasure like the rest of them. I went to Bucharest and Transylvania in 2004 for a Dracula Tour and spent a week in Bucharest by myself trying to hunt down all the film locales.
I found the antheneum that Michelle hides in SS #2 and Ash's Lair from Vampire Journals in a sidestreet nearby. I also visited Bellu Cemetery where Zachary sleeps and some scenes were shot in the SS series. You really don't know what its like until you go there, I felt like I was stepping into the movie, THOSE vampires could really exist in these places I felt.
That is awesome I would really love to go there was it an expensive trip?
shareHi
Well back in 2004 it cost me AU$1600 return flight to Romania incl a side trip to Prague. The tour itself was about Euro692 + E99 single occupancy which incl aiport pick-up and drop-off, coach travel, all hotel rooms and some meals. I stayed in Bucharest for about 4 days in a hostel which was about AU$20 a night (not part of the tour)
back then AU$1 = 25,000 Romanian lei. a Pizza was 50,000 lei, and packet of smokes about 60,000 lei, and a six trip train pass was about the same. Fast food was just as expensive tho converted. But in the last couple of years Romania had revised their currency. they had alot of coins like 1,000 , 5,000 lei which was 1c etc, and notes went up to 500,000 - 1,000,000 lei, and I believed they dropped the last three 0's (their economy wasnt good enough to convert to Euros I believe) so 500,000 lei became 500 lei but that still equalled about AU$20 etc.
Anyways Romania IS getting the hang of tourism esp with the vampire myths so I believe it is getting more expensive as time goes on, don't know what a dracula tour would cost now, you'd have to do a search.
The tour group I went on was the Company of Mysterious Journeys. They had people from Aust, Canada, England and America on the tour as well as some Romanians. But there are tour groups that go there that are exclusively gothic tho, there was a group that mirrored us on most locations, and they were all gothic and wearing Cradle of Filth shirts like I was, and I was stuck with Jessica Simpson loving americans etc lol - so next time I am going to shop around for a 'darker' tour group because I want to go back !
That is awesome thank you for the information.
shareThe atmosphere, the settings, the music, the cast, everything about these movies is great. They just can't be remade and hope to capture even half the greatness these movies possess. It can't be done!. I just finished the second Subspecies movie a few minutes ago (it's 2:06am at the moment) it's been a while. And these movies have lost none of their charm at all. I'll go onto the third one either in a short while or tomorrow night. Then the fourth one and finally Vampire Journals the spin off entry to the series. There are just some movies that shouldn't be remade and these Subspecies movies are some of them. Why wish for inferior products, which is all that will come out of the remakes, when you can have the best just now in the form of the five movies in the series that's out now.
"You can't kill me Stefan. Nothing can." - Radu Vladislas
I'd cut out Radu & have the mother be the main vampire, have her & Michelle, & maybe introduce the sister Becky. Have plenty of big jiggly boobed nudity, some Radu's mother/Michelle Lesbian attraction, & maybe once Michelle is turned, have her & her sister have some Lesbincest undertones.
shareI don't think it's worth remaking, but a tv series might actually be kinda cool.
shareI don't know.. Radu would be damn near impossible to cast. I mean hove owned that role
shareNobody can replace Hove. This is a criminally overlooked series. I just watched Subspecies for the 1st time in 20 years, and it holds up to what I remember it being. That’s saying something.
“I’d cut out Radu??!” Then you’d take Jesus out of the New Testament, too. What the fuck is wrong with you?
Thanks for bringing this great film to the trending section, Kane. Good boy. The second installment is even better.
shareIt just wouldn't be the same.
If it was made today it would be shot digitally, perhaps not even on location in SE Europe, the natural cinematography and on location shooting plays a big part in the charm of these films. It would also likely use too much CGI.
They're shooting a fifth film which I'm slightly worried about, it's been 25 years since the last one (I haven't seen Vampire Journals or Subspecies 4 yet, I'll be watching them tonight). Filmmaking standards are different in the 2020s vs the 1990s. Everyone involved is much older, Anders Hove is in his mid-60s now.
I have the same thoughts regarding franchises like Friday the 13th. That's just synonymous with the 1980s for me, that low-fi natural look, the fashion, the simplicity of the formula. It's one of the reasons the 2009 reboot just felt off, it was too slick and stylized. It was the same forumla but in the late 00s. Even making films a period piece don't work as they're often blatantly modern productions. Some things are just of their time and won't be recaptured.
I think Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, Freddy vs Jason and the 2009 remake kept the franchise fresh with interesting ideas/nuances. We'll always have the eight films from the 80s, but why let the franchise die?
It's like James Bond: There's a world of difference between Dr. No, The Spy Who Loved Me, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day and Skyfall, but they're all James Bond flicks from different decades. Or consider Stained Class, Screaming for Vengeance, Jugulator, Nostradamus and Redeemer of Souls -- they all represent Judas Priest from five different decades, but they're still all Judas Priest.
I welcome some new F13 films; Subspecies too.