Vampires: Rise Subspecies 4 is the final part of the subspecies quadrology, brilliantly shot by Ted Nikolau. The tape completes the story of the main antagonist of the series - the ancient vampire Radu from the aristocratic Romanian family Vladislavs, and his concubine Michelle. As with the other three installments of the franchise, the fourth film begins right where the third one ended. By the way, it is worth mentioning that in terms of presentation and editing, the introduction of “Bloody Whirlwind” is the most impressive and impressive of all! And coupled with shots from the stunning ending of the triquel, the intro of the fourth series is just a look!
Then the plot develops in a truly incredible way, now and then presenting new characters and shining with unexpected plot twists. From the first minutes of the film, Nikolau introduces a new character into the narrative - nurse Anu Lazar, who becomes the main "human" character of the film. The picture, as already mentioned above, is replete with “twists” and chic characters, so it is hardly worth describing the whole plot, but it is worth telling about the plot: Ana witnesses an accident in which some of the characters of the previous film die. She saves Michelle and takes her to the local hospital, where after his beloved after some time comes resurrected with the help of the Bloodstone Radu.
By analogy with the rest of the films of the franchise, the action takes place in Vladislavs Castle and in the Romanian capital Bucharest. The castle here appears only in the prologue, but this circumstance is compensated by other locations of the film and its central plot. Locations for the picture here are the old hospital, which used to be a church, the streets of Bucharest, old abandoned historical city buildings, a cemetery, dungeons, crypts and much more. If the third part of the franchise was remembered, mainly due to the last, most spectacular 20 minutes, where Nikolau literally smashed all the characters with his forehead, then such an incredible spectacle happens absolutely for an hour and a half while the film is going on. Nikolau introduces a bunch of new heroes to the plot with his own stunningly written background, and moreover - is not afraid to destroy them during the film and generally bring them together in every possible way. There is not one storyline, not two, and, frankly, not even three – not only that Nikolau did not forget about the heroes of other parts (for example, the surviving investigator Marin), so he still managed to perfectly paint the story of new characters. It is the fourth film that shows us the real community of Romanian vampires from the inside: if in the first two films they appeared before us as such demons of the night, creepy shadows sneaking after their victims, if in the third film we learned that they have feelings, that they can suffer from love and grief, then in the fourth film we will learn the whole background of their “social structure”: we will meet other Romanian bloodsuckers led by a kind of owner of Bucharest Ash, we will learn how they manage to survive in the human world, and we will understand that not all of them are ready to bow to the joy. We are waiting for constant intrigue, constant play on two sides, and even at the very end, when it would seem that nothing unexpected can happen, the plot again turns to the viewer from the most unexpected angle. Totally delighted!
The movie turned out to be incredibly rich in characters, and, having changed the plot vector for the fourth time, Nikolau again radically changed the rules of the game and again managed to make this game truly unforgettable! At the same time, what we loved the previous films of the series, remained here: ancient Romanian legends again take place, again there are episodes with superstitions of local residents, which only contribute to the injection of creepy and mystical atmosphere of the old European city.
As you would expect, like the other three parts, the fourth film is also perfectly made in technical terms: directing, operator work, music, editing, makeup – all at the highest level and done perfectly flawlessly. Michelle began to look even more “vampire”, Radu became even more “battered” during his three previous resurrections, and the overall atmosphere is again heated to the limit. As for special effects, they are not enough that they are made perfectly, so they are also found in abundance: if previous paintings relied mainly on the atmosphere (although, of course, everything was very cool there in terms of special effects), then the creators of the Storm filled with a mass of bloody and spectacular scenes. This is exactly what the "Bloody Whirlwind" is! Radu looks very impressive at first, in the form of a charred corpse fleeing the inevitable dawn, scenes with murders and head beheadings are very well made, the bites remain the same bloody and cruel, and the nu-scenes are added to the delight of fans of such a spectacle.
Subspecies 4 perfectly completes the story of Radu, and serves as an impressive bold point in the narrative of the monsters of Vladislavs Castle. However, the franchise does not end there – “Subspecies” has another spin-off “The Vampire Diaries”, which tells just about Ash and introduces new characters into the plot that operate within the same universe of “Subspecies”. “The King is dead, long live the King!”
Outstanding!
10 out of 10