Verdict
Summary
Full Moon’s flagship franchise is reinvigorated with Bloodrise, a true prequel and sequel that does the series justice.
Plot:
A brave Crusader knight becomes a blood hungry vampire.
Review:
After fighting in the Crusades, a brave knight named Radu (Anders Howe) comes home and takes on a new quest: Eradicating vampires from his homeland, but his bloodline is mixed: When she was pregnant with him, his mother was bitten by a vampire, and as a baby, he was given over to the church to become a warrior against the church’s enemies. Radu’s fate has him saving a woman (played by Denice Duff) who was recently bitten by a vampire, and instead of protecting her, Radu falls under her spell and becomes a vampire himself. Centuries pass, and Radu lords over his estate like the nosferatu that he is, and he turns two young siblings into his minions. At odds with them over the years, he seeks out his master, who lays claim to his lands, his lordship, and his minions, which proves complicated …
Full Moon’s flagship franchise is reinvigorated with Bloodrise, a true prequel and sequel that does the series justice. While I much prefer the original trilogy because of its nostalgic factors, this entry is quite strong and definitely falls right in line with the films that fans have come to love. It’s actually quite surprising that Full Moon and director Ted Nicolaou did such a good job with this one considering how measly and cheap Full Moon has been with junky output for the last decade or more; this film retains all the intense horror, stylish direction, vivid make-up effects and strong acting that the Subspecies are known for having, and while it’s not quite as preferable to me because of how slick and clean it looks compared to the shot-on-film originals, I still recommend this one for fans of the series, fans of the genre, and for anyone looking to start the franchise with this well-made prequel.
Full Moon’s new Blu-ray edition comes with a commentary, a behind the scene feature, trailers, and a photo gallery.
