Melanie Shatner Movies

Charles Band's Full Moon Productions followed up their vampire hit Subspecies by returning to Romania for two sequels. This second entry begins with the revival of master vampire Radu (Anders Hove) by his legions of homunculi (the "subspecies" of the title, neat stop-motion beasties who only appear in the opening scenes this time). The tiny slaves reunite Radu with his lopped-off head, enabling him to destroy his brother and rival Stefan. His first human victim, Michelle (Denise Duff), manages to escape -- but not before stealing the "bloodstone," a relic which holds the key to Radu's power. Michelle is also infected by Radu's bite, and he pursues her throughout Romania in an effort to enslave her and recapture the relic. Michelle's American sister Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) comes to her aid in Bucharest, accompanied by a historian (Michael Denish) who reveals the secret of the bloodstone. This sequel retains the menacing Gothic atmosphere of its predecessor, and Duff plays an attractive and interesting anti-heroine, but the overall mood is diminished by a weak script which leaves Radu with little to do until the climax, in which he is joined by a few surprise guests to complicate things for the imperiled ladies. Shot back-to-back with the third installment, Bloodlust: Subspecies III. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Despite the title and promotional materials for this bargain-basement film which feature the logline "Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft," there are virtually no actual references to the works of the legendary American fantasist aside from the word "CTHULHU" embossed on the iron gates of the mansion itself. What passes for a plot involves a gang of obnoxious young drug dealers who decide to ransack the home of practicing magician Chandu (the always excellent Frank Finlay, whose boredom with the role is clearly evident) and hold him and his daughter hostage. Naturally, the evil forces lurking beneath the house will have little of that, and they soon exact their low-budget demonic revenge on the annoying thugs. This shabby, lifeless little Spanish/Italian co-production (also known by the more generic title Black Magic Mansion) has little to recommend it aside from one or two interesting moments, particularly the killer-refrigerator scene. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This lackluster attempt at blending equal parts action movie and supernatural thriller ends up sacrificing the merits of both genres. The plot finds baby-faced homicide detective Logan (Lou Diamond Phillips) on the trail of "Pentagram Killer" Patrick Channing (Jeff Kober), negligibly assisted by lots of occult mumbo-jumbo espoused by various doomsaying members of the Catholic Church. Channing is eventually captured and executed, but this turns out to be a big mistake: one of the Satanic powers Channing managed to acquire through ritual sacrifice is the power to transfer his soul into other living bodies, allowing him to roam about incognito and continue his killing spree. There is little overt horror on display, as we usually see only the aftermath of Channing's evil deeds; there is scarcely enough mystery to propel the police-procedural elements either. Worse, the producers apparently decided to toss in a romantic subplot involving Phillips and psychic Tracy Griffith to keep things interesting, but fail to sustain credibility even in this department. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi