October Movie: Subspecies (1991 - 1998)

I remember seeing the first Subspecies movie while in grad school.  It was great fun even if it wasn't very good.  What set it apart from other Dracula-related vampire movies was this one actually was shot in Romania, which I felt gave it an air of authenticity. Or at least atmosphere.  While no big now, back then the Iron Curtain was still recently fallen and growing up in the midst of the 80s and nuclear war fear it was a big deal.

The other interesting twist to this movie is the stop-motion animation of Radu's minions.  I always felt I Was watching two different movies with this.  One was a vampire movie about a family of vampires and the other was a movie about these puppets from the same folks that gave us Puppet Master.  I liked the little dudes, but they seemed under used or at best ill used.

Subspecies 2 came along and there were some cast changes, but we still got Anders Hove as the evil Radu. The myths are turned up a bit, but I always felt it was half the movie it should have been. By the end I found out why. Subspecies 3 continued the story of Michelle, Radu and the Bloodstone.  Except I never got to see the third movie till just this past weekend.

Subspecies 3 continues right where #2 left of.  All three movies when watched as the proper trilogy are more enjoyable.  I did rewatch #1 and #2 since they came on the same DVD set with #3.  There are a lot of call backs to the old Nosferatu movie and Radu and Michelle are no Edward and Bella. Michelle even kills a few people even though she obviously doesn't want too.  Radu is just evil through out the whole thing and it is nice to know that someone out there still remembers that vampires are supposed to be monsters.

Taken as a Trilogy, Subspecies is not a bad time.
There is a Subspecies 4 as well.  This one ties in with another movie from Full Moon, Vampire Journals, not to be confused with The Vampire Diaries.  As myth building it is fun, but there is precious little of Michelle in this one.  There are interesting twists on the nature of Michelle's and Radu's love/hate relationship.  Michelle does hate Radu, but she needs him and she is becoming more like him.  Radu on the other hand loves Michelle. So much so that he kills his entire family to have her.  Vampire love is fucked up.

Vampire Journals is not a sequel to Subspecies, but it is a spin off.  I didn't enjoy it as much, and you don't need to watch it to enjoy Subspecies 4, but it helps.

The first two movies had an undue influence on my then Gothic Earth game.  I included both Radu and Stephan as sons of Dracula in my game.  I also had a few Daughters thrown in for good measure.

So for this weekend that in 5 with 3 new.

My wife wants to know if I am vampired out yet.

Tally: Watched 17,  New 13

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

Virus

Really late on postings for today.

I am cleaning up the kids homework computer from some really nasty malware they picked up on a Minecraft site.

Hope to have something for you all soon!

October Movie: Virgin Witch (1971)

So this movie begins by going through the cast in the nude scenes. Interestingly enough sisters Vicki and Ann Michelle (playing sisters) never mention this movie on their own websites. Well Ann does, but only as an "experience she doesn't want to remember".
The girls play aspiring models in 70s London and they get caught up in a coven of witches.
Pretty much all the tropes and stereotypes are here. Copious amounts of nudity. Bizzare ritual sex scenes, predatory older lesbian/high priestess.  Virgin sacrifice.  Just a trippy sort of movie

For me it really captures my memories of  what the 70s occult craze was about. Mind you that is my memories, not how it actually was (to my knowledge  anyway).
Movies like this really formed some of the ideas that still live on in my witch game books today.
It's not a great movie, but it is a fun one.

Tally: Watched 12,  New 10

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

What is 'Eldritch Witchery'?

I rather enjoy writing about Witches.

You might have noticed that.

After all the books and blog posts I have written over the last few years, this should be obvious.  What isn’t obvious is how much more I learn and enjoy with each book.

Eldritch Witchery is something of a homecoming for me.  Like many, I started out playing the “Basic” set of the late 70s-early 80’s and then moved on to the “Advanced” version of the world’s most popular role-playing game.  At some point I learned of this “other” version, an original version.  It came in little brown books with names like Men and Magic.  One day, I was going through the mail-order hobby catalog I used to get and saw a copy of this game.  It was, of course, beyond my means to get at the time, but there was a supplement called Eldritch Wizardry and I knew I had to get it.

Eldritch Wizardry introduced demons, the druids and psionics to the Original game, and to my 12-13 year old self heavily into all things paranormal this sounded like a treasure trove.  Well the book I got was not what I expected, but I was still so glad to have it.

Eldritch Witchery, then, is my chance to write the book that my 13 year old self wanted to buy.  There are some obvious parallels with that original book; this book features Witches naturally, but also some demons and things that I think made the late 70s and early 80s an interesting time in gaming.

To fully capture what I want, I am writing this for the Spellcraft & Swordplay rules.  S&S is a great little game that is a prime example of economy of rules, just like I pictured the Original Rules were.  Plus it has given me the chance to work with Jason Vey, creator of the game.

Eldritch Witchery is written to help recapture that sense of wonder of the unknown.  Designed to be both familiar and yet brand new at the same time.

While the book covers a lot of the same ground as does The Witch, there are some new traditions, a handful of new spells, and of course a bunch of new demons, devils and the like.  Plus there is an entire Warlock class and the warlock lodges.  Some of what was going to go into some other books I had planned and have shelved for now also made it in.  

It should be out here in the next few days (maybe Halloween!) depending on how long it takes me to build the files.

I hope you all enjoy it.

October Movie: Black Magic Rites (1973)

The early 70s is a sweet spot of horror for me of late.
This is a bit of Italian sleeze about a dead witch and the cult trying to bring her back to life.  I am not sure how they are going to do that, but it involves a lot of blood and sex.

The Blu-Ray I have looks great, even if the story is so simple that there is really isn't much to say about it.  Really it is just a thin excuse to show a bunch of naked women.

Though it does give me some ideas for an evil cult and the mummy of their dead high priestess.

Tally: Watched 11,  New 9

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

Draggin...

Yeah I am behind on posts.

Watching horror movies at night and doing the layout on Eldritch Witchery is killin me. I am not as young as I was.

More soon.

October Movie: Tales That Witness Madness (1973)

Tales that Witness Madness made it on to my list for one very, very easy reason.  The Pre-Doctor Who appearance of Mary Tamm aka Romana I.

Here is a very interesting story.  I almost caught this one on TV back in the mid 90s when I was working the night shift at a mental health care facility.  I had 8 schizophrenic patients that I was watching over.  That night I ended up with someone in the "Suicide" bed, so I ended having to watch them all night instead.

Tales is about 4 related tales of people going mad and the how they got there.  Or is it?  (cheesy I know).
The movie is much slower than I remember in the 30 seconds or saw I TV before I had to deal with real madness.  But finally seeing it was a real treat. I had wanted to see it for years and it never seemed to be on when I could watch it.

There are some really fun performances from the actors. Donald Pleasence, Joan Collins, Kim Novak and yes Mary Tamm were all great.  The stories have a real Tales from the Crypt or Creepshow feel to them.

Worth the wait.

Tally: Watched 10,  New 8

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories