- Directed by Ted Nicolaou
- Written by Charles Band, Ted Nicolaou
- Stars Anders Hove, Denice Duff, Kevin Spirtas, Melanie Shatner
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 26 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtafPNuQFZM
Spoiler-free judgment zone:
This was a good sequel on par with the first one, maybe even a little better. The practical effects and makeup are very good, with lots of gore and gross-outs. It leaves us well set up for the third film, which was filmed simultaneously.
Synopsis
We get a quick voiceover recapping the first film. Radu bit the girl but ended up getting staked in the end and decapitated. We zoom in on Radu’s head; his little demon friends drag it over to his body, and then they pull the stake out. His head grows tendrils and connects it to his body. He stands up, looking pretty healthy, considering. He then opens his brother Stefan’s coffin and stakes him to take the bloodstone. The sun comes up before he can stake Michelle, though.
Night eventually comes, and Michelle looks at what’s left of Stefan. She pulls his stake out, but nothing happens. She pries the bloodstone out of his cold, dead fingers and then hides before Radu can show up. When he does, he’s not happy.
Michelle runs back to her cabin and gets clothes and a passport. She can only barely see her reflection in the mirror, so that might be a problem. She then runs to the train station and boards one. We see that Radu is not far behind. She gets off in Bucharest, where she calls Becky back home, who has no idea what’s going on but agrees to come help.
Radu goes to see his mother, who looks like the Cryptkeeper. He gives her a dagger with his father’s blood on it. She’s pleased until he admits that he’s lost the bloodstone. She does a spell and gives him instructions on how to be victorious.
Michelle wakes up at sunrise and has to hide in the motel’s bathroom to avoid the sunlight. Housekeeping comes in and opens the window wide before getting to work. They find what looks like a dead woman in the bathtub.
The police inspector arrives and immediately notices the bite marks on her legs. They carry her away in a body bag. He also finds the bloodstone. She wakes up in the truck, and mayhem ensues. She breaks into an antique shop and finds a glass coffin to sleep in.
Sometime the next day, Becky, Michelle’s sister, arrives. She goes to the hotel, and the police come to tell her that her sister was found unconscious and then vanished. Lt. Marin and Mel from the embassy come to question her. They give her the stone, but she doesn’t know what it is.
Night falls, and Michelle starts stalking a man. She follows him to a loud goth dance club. She sprouts fangs but can’t bring herself to bite the guy. She goes back to her glass coffin and cries herself to sleep.
Becky and Mel go to interview an old professor, Popescu, about MIchelle’s research project. They investigate an old vampire legend. They show him the bloodstone, but he says that doesn’t know what it could be. He volunteers to go with them to the monastery where Michelle and her friends were last seen.
They go see the legendary home of the king of vampires. The descendants of old Count Vladislavs still own the castle and grounds, but he doesn’t remember their names. They find a fresh grave. Popescu leads them down into the basement of the castle. Mel complains that it’s getting late and they should head back. They go upstairs, and all the torches are already lit. Radu wakes up and comes right to them. He tells them to leave, and they do; nothing further.
He does follow them into town. Becky goes to her hotel as Michelle watches from the shadows. Becky catches up and demands to know what’s going on. Michelle takes the bloodstone back from Becky and takes off again. Michelle drinks from the bloodstone, which solves her hunger problem. Radu shows up, makes a speech, and takes the stone.
Radu takes the bloodstone to his Mummy. He complains about Michelle’s blood, polluted by his “good” brother.
Becky tells Marin and Mel about her meeting with Michelle. Popescu tells them the story of King Vlad and the Bloodstone. Lt. Marin says the story of Dracula is a myth. He shows them a picture of the bloodstone. Mel doesn’t believe any of it, but Becky does.
Michelle returns to the dance club and picks up the guy she abandoned the previous night. She bites him but gags on the blood. She gets over it real fast and finishes him off. Meanwhile, Radu pays a visit to Becky, who is asleep in her room. He’s about to bite her when the phone rings; it’s Michelle begging for help again.
Becky finds Michelle, who is covered in the dancer’s blood. It’s about dawn, and Radu shows up. Michelle doesn’t want to die, so she agrees to go with him for the day. They find a tomb, and they both go to sleep.
Becky goes back to Popescu and updates both him and Mel about Radu. Popescu has all the tools a vampire hunter would need. Mel bows out, thinking it’s all insane. Popescu and Becky go into that same tomb. They find the unhappy couple asleep inside.
Popescu falls over. Mummy has stabbed him from behind. The old woman cackles maniacally. Night falls, and Michelle eventually wakes up to hear Radu and Mummy tormenting Becky. Radu offers to share Becky’s blood with Michelle, and Michelle is tempted. Instead, Michelle stabs him in the face with a knife and sets Mummy on fire.
Radu gets up and stabs his shadow with the knife; the shadow then turns into his real hand, so she stabs him several more times, including once right through the skull. He falls down.
Michelle releases Becky and Becky stakes Radu. That stops him. The two girls run outside, but it’s still daylight, so Michelle can’t leave. Michelle backs herself down the hallways until Mummy gets her again…
Commentary
Radu is just as much fun as he was in the previous film; I love how his shadow behaves. Still, if he wouldd have been more proactive rather than just lurking all over town, he’d have gotten what he wanted… several different times.
This was filmed simultaneously with part III, so a cliffhanger ending was to be expected. Other than that, it’s quite good.