Vampire Journals

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Director Ted Nicolaou rewrites his original Subspecies story line and transplants it into the urban location of Bucharest, Romania. In this gothic tale, a wandering vampire named Zachary (subtly played by David Gunn) seeks revenge against the clan of vampires who crossed him over from mortal life. The abduction of acquaintance and young concert pianist Sofia (the charming Kirstin Cerre) lures him to the lair of Ash (Jonathon Morris) and his den of vampires living beneath a ritzy nightclub. In an interesting twist, the bloodsuckers do not commonly hunt down their prey in the outside world; rather, they seek them in willing bodies through the club, with whose owner they have dealings. Zachary seeks to free the terrified, imprisoned Sofia, who Ash has crossed over, and put an end to the clan's evil, decadent ways. In some instances, Vampire Journals suffers from melodramatic acting and overwrought dialogue, and conversation dominates overaction, but the combination of exquisite Romanian locations, Adolfo Bartoli's sumptuous cinematography, and Richard Kosinki's moody score will keep you watching. Another striking aspect of the film is that it is shot almost exclusively at nighttime, with the beautiful interiors often bathed in golden light; it offers a good representation of what living in eternal night must be like. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews:

Vampire Journals.......2006-08-22

I am a horror buff. This movie was okay, has a good story line.

Ponderous.......2006-03-20

Welcome to Bucharest where Zachary (David Gunn) the vampire killer has come to hunt the creatures that turned the woman he loved into a monster he had no choice but kill. This time his objective is Ash (Jonathan Morris), a master vampire who maintains his tribe in the secret Bucharest underground while operating a very high toned nightclub as a lure for new 'blood.'

What Zachary doesn't count on is his attraction for Sofia (Kirsten Cerre), a beautiful American pianist who has come to Bucharest to perform and who has become the object of Ash's desires. Not only must Ash deal with Zachary's attempts to destroy his nest and reclaim Sofia, he has political problems among his own vampire servants.

Welcome to a film where everyone speaks as if they used to have a Romanian accents and only saw the scripts a week ago. The is a kind of heavy handed lack of emotionality about this film as vampires announce their intent to destroy each other with almost no inflection in their voices.

While this is a pretty film to watch, with lots of midnight scenes of Bucharest, the moodiness of the cinematography and the score are not matched by the acting. Obligatory scenes with fake blood and frontal nudity give the work a sense of awkwardness that Director Ted Nicolaou never quite manages to overcome.

2 Whole Stars...I Must Be In A Generous Mood.......2006-03-14

Like the title says, I'm being mad generous by giving this movie two stars...it really deserves none. Subspecies is an excellent, 4-part series written and directed by Full Moon Studio's Ted Nicholau (Actually, the first three Subspecies are allright, but the fourth movie sucks in my opinion). However, Vampire Journals is nothing more than a feeble attempt to portray a different side of the Subspecies archetype.

The characters, scenes, and acting in Subspecies Part 1-3 were superb. Yet this movie has an insipid plot and the actors are novice at best. The vampire teeth/fangs look horrid on most of the actors, and I was bored for the last 1/3 of the film.

Essentially, the plot...if you can even call it that pertains to a vampire named Zachary, who wants revenge for unwillingly being turned into what he is. So Zachary (Whoever thought to name a supposedly wise and powerful vampire Zachary anyway?) sets out to destroy an ancient and extremely lame vampire cult headed by Ashe, a fledgling of the main antagonist (Radu)of all the Subspecies films.

In addition to this, Zachary tries to rescue a female pianist named Sophia, who has been kidnapped by Ashe. Because she is a gifted musician...or something, Sophia is being forced by Ashe, a fervid music lover, into becoming a vampire as well. Really there's not much else to go into, except that you should definitely not waste your time or your money on this film. So unless you're a die-hard Subspecies fan, or you basically just want to get drunk and have something to make fun of with your friends, try watching Subspecies 1-3 because they're the best you're gonna get from director Ted Nicholau.

Good low budget fangtasy .......2006-03-09

I've only viewed the final film of the Subspecies quartet, but my interest was peaked enough to pick up this related film. I'm glad I went ahead and bought it, as it is a fun romp. Jonathan Morris plays his role with just the right amount of camp, and the others are equally good, if a little over serious occasionally (with the exception of sofia, who's got a very cute smile). For fans of the final subspecies this is definitely a good buy, although its hard to tell whether its a prequel or a sequel. All in all a well shot, interesting vampire film.

Best Movie Ever !!!!.......2005-12-02

Vampire Journals is one of my all time favorites. Anything from full moon pictures is good. The movie is very original, I love the scenery, the lighting, the music everything. The actors are perfect and I really enjoy the dialogue. It's very old world, movies that are filmed in eastern Europe rock, I love when Zackery is telling Sofia that Bucharest is one of the cities of mysteries, a city where the ways of antiquity exist in league with the modern world, stuff like that is priceless.

Average customer rating:

Diario de un Vampiro
Director: Ted Nicolaou
Manufacturer: Full Moon Features
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Features:

Spanish Subtitles

ASIN: B000OEC5LO

Product Description

Spanish Subtitled version of The Vampire Journals.

DVD:

DVD

DVD