Vampire Journals Year: 1996 Director: Ted Nicolaou Written by: Ted Nicolaou Threat: Vampire Weapon of Choice: Sword Based upon: nothing IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm

Rish Outfield's reviews
David Gunn plays Zachary, a vampire with a respect for human life, who seeks to destroy the vampire lord who once 'infected' his lady love. Along the way, he tries to protect an American pianist (Kristen Cerre) from meeting the same fate. Hilarity ensues.
This tale was sort of a cross between Highlander, the old Universal Wolf Man movies, and Anne Rice's novels, with lots of nudity and gore thrown in. It was enjoyable, well-acted, and had enough story for more than one movie. It featured very hot chicks throughout, too. I wouldn't have minded a second one of these in between all the damned Puppet Master films. Director Ted Nicolaou really has his own niche at Full Moon Pictures, and he does what he does really well. There was that so-silly-it-actually-works effect where they project a vampire's shadow against a building and then turn the light source so it appears to be flying that was used in the others, and the stupid trick worked here too. It had a nice European setting, which is an advantage the Nicolaou films have over other vampire flicks. There's something older, more mysterious, more exotic and surreal about Romania than L.A. or New Jersey. Vampire Journals was a nicely told story, nicely made. It captures the seduction/sensuality of vampirism better than most that have tried. The film wasn't perfect, nor was it Full Moon's best (or even Nicolaou's best), but I really enjoyed it. I think you might too.

The tyranist's thoughts
Not satisfied with dwelling only with Radu in the "Subspecies" world, Ted Nicolaou went out and made this offshoot film. Seeing as how I'm somewhat fond of the world, though, it is no surprise that I enjoyed the movie and wish to see more.
Set as always in Eastern Europe, the movie is beautiful simply because of where it was filmed. Add to that intrigue and a couple new twists on the "Subspecies" mythos and you have a fine film. I especially enjoyed the wide-eyed American played by Kirsten Cerre. Add to that Cassandra (played by Ilinka Goya) and you have quite an interesting spectrum of vampirism.
As fond as Rish and I are of Full Moon films, I suspect that people may see some of these and dismiss us as insane, but I'm telling you they really are quality compared to so many of the others. This particular branch is especially good. Take the time to savor them and I think you'll agree.

Total Skulls: 12

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?