Subspecies (1991) - full transcript
The evil vampire villain Radu returns to his hometown Prejnar, after spending years in exile. He steals the precious blood stone which is said to be bleeding from all saints, from his father and kills him. Meanwhile two American schoolgirls team up with a local girl for work on Romanian culture. Radu becomes attracted to them but runs into trouble when his brother Stephan helps the girls.
[music playing]
-Father.
-Why have you come?
You were banished
from this place.
-The night of the festival
approaches.
You summoned my brother
home from abroad.
Did you think that I would stand
by and let him assume
the mantle of power?
I'm your firstborn.
The bloodstone is
my birthright.
-You aren't content to
live in peace, Radu.
You crave evil.
The bloodstone would give
you too much power.
This can never be.
-Your time is past.
You have nothing more
to say about it.
-I prayed it would not
be necessary to
destroy you, Radu.
-Destroy me?
Forgive me, Father.
-Ah!
[music playing]
-Hey!
Michele and Lillian!
Over here!
-Hey!
-Hi!
-I can't believe you're here.
-Oh, you thought I wouldn't be
here after you've come all the
way from America?
-I knew you'd be here.
I wasn't sure when.
-You have to admit, punctuality
wasn't exactly
your middle name in school.
-Come on, you must
be exhausted.
We still have a long
drive ahead.
-Well, good.
You can tell us everything
that's happened
since you left America.
-Let's go.
-So, did you find
us a good hotel?
A bathroom, at least?
-Well, I inquired
but there aren't
any hotels near Prejmer.
So the lady from the historical
society offered to
let us stay at the fortress.
-The Prejmer fortress?
-Mm-hm.
The government maintains a
part of the old monastery
there for scholars for
using the library.
That's us, isn't it?
-Yep.
-Scholars.
-Well, that's what we said
in the grant application.
-Mm-hm.
-What a cute little car.
-Hey, it's a Trabant.
It's made out of cardboard.
-No, seriously?
-Mm-hm.
You want to drive?
-Yeah, OK.
[music playing]
MARA: Come
look at this view.
LILLIAN: Wow,
this is beautiful.
-Boo!
-Hey.
-Whoa.
[music playing]
-Oh, wow.
It's a parade.
-It's not a parade, dummy.
It's a funeral.
-Come on, let's go
around them.
This is giving me the creeps.
-Here we are taught to
respect the dead.
[music playing]
-Ladies, I am Karl, caretaker
of this historic monument of
the people of Transylvania.
-Hello.
-It's nice to meet you.
-Joel and Rosa will take
your things inside.
-Imagine, we're in the very
place where 500 years ago, a
handful of Transylvanians held
on against an army of Turks.
-Ah, you know the history
of Prejmer fortress.
If
-We studied medieval history
together in school.
We're smarter than we look.
-We have only two rooms
prepared for you.
I trust that will suffice?
-Oh, yes.
That'll be fine.
We'll flip a coin to
see who shares.
-Yeah, loser sleeps alone.
Mm, Posturepedic.
-Oh, this'll do fine.
It'll keep our minds focused
on our work.
-[inaudible].
-Hey, what's up there?
A secret passageway for
spying on the monks?
-That is a defensive wall.
Come, I show you.
In 1443, Vlad Dracula raised a
large army of peasants to
defend all of Transylvania.
While they fought the Turks
in a huge battle near
[inaudible].
This region suffered
a savage attack.
The survivors held out as
long as they could.
Soon, the food and the
water ran out.
-I read a translation of one
of the survivor's diaries.
-Then you know what happened.
-There were less than 100 left
alive in the fortress.
-They were waiting to die,
but no one attacked.
Finally, some brave souls went
outside the fortress.
They found many dead Turks
with bloody throats.
The rest had run away.
The peasants believed it was
the work of vampires.
-And still do.
Three nights from now is the
festival which celebrates the
night the vampires saved
the people of Prejmer.
[mouse squeaking]
-Hey, what's up there?
KARL: Nothing, just
an old storage space.
-Oh, cool.
Let's check it out.
-No, the stairs are
old and rotten.
-I'll be careful.
Wow.
-The monks who occupied this
place were well prepared for
the afterlife.
Come.
There's food.
-Mm, great.
I'm starving.
-[speaking romanian].
-Are we the only guests here?
Besides the ghosts?
-There is one other scholar
staying here at the moment.
-Oh, another folklorist?
-A zoologist.
But I doubt you will
see much of him.
He's busy with his work.
If you'll excuse me, I will get
the rest of your things.
-[inaudible].
Hmm.
-Here's toasting Prejmer.
May we all publish our
dissertations and get our PhDs.
-Is there any white?
-Oh, in Transylvania the
best wine is red--
blood red.
RADU: Bring
me the bloodstone.
MICHELLE:
This is incredible.
-Mm-hm.
According to the legend, this
was a place inhabited by
vampires in the 14th century.
-[speaking romanian].
-OK.
One, two, three.
Hope this comes out.
There's barely enough light.
MARA: You know, the
funny thin about Castle
Vladislas is that nobody ever
says anything about it.
-You're right.
Nobody's mentioned it once.
LILLIAN:
Let's see if we can
get inside the castle.
I've never been inside
one before.
-Come on, we can't right now.
It's getting too dark.
We've got to get back.
-Oh, come on.
Don't poop out on me now.
-Come on, Lillian.
I'm hungry.
-Ouch.
Oh, shit.
-God, are you OK?
We'd better get back
and wash it off.
Come on.
-Hi, guys.
-How is your room?
-I think it'll be OK.
What's this?
MICHELLE: Well, you
know, I've been thinking
about what Mara said this
afternoon, about no one ever
mentioning Castle Vladislas.
And I went through
all my notes.
I even looked at the index of
all the stuff that's been
published about this region
over the years.
Not one mention of the castle.
-Strange, isn't it?
-Well, it just doesn't
make sense.
How can something as old and
imposing as that castle not be
part of the local lore?
-Maybe even something that's
been here as long as that
castle becomes invisible
to all but the
most sensitive eyes.
Pardon me if I frightened you.
My name is Stefan Belescu.
-Oh, the zoologist Karl
told us about.
-Yes.
-I'm Lillian.
That's Mara, and
the hardworking
scholar here is Michelle.
-I thought I should introduce
myself so you won't be alarmed
if you see me coming or
going at odd hours.
-Would you like to join us?
-I can't at the moment.
My research keeps me
busy at night.
-What kind of research
do you do?
-I'm cataloging nocturnal
animal life
unique to this area.
I'm afraid it's a rather boring
subject to most people.
-Oh, no, no.
Not to us.
Um, we're studying the folklore
of the region, and
animals often figure
in folktales.
Please, tell us more.
-Another time, perhaps.
I must go.
Ladies.
-Animals often figure
in folklore.
Please, tell us more.
-Knock it off.
-Hey, wait up, you guys.
Let's rest a minute.
-Not yet, in just a little
bit farther up this hill.
MICHELLE: Five
interviews in one day.
Not a bad start, huh?
MARA: And this could
be the best one yet.
This old lady is very strange.
This is the mask you wear at
the festival of the undead?
-It's likeness of the
gypsy who made the
truce with the vampires.
Wear the mask and I tell you
the story of the gypsy.
The vampires killed the Turks.
And in gratitude, the people
said, let them have the great
ruins, which is where
the vampires sleep.
The vampires were
still hungry.
They would come out
of their wings at
night and drink blood.
This gypsy, he knew that the
pope of Rome had a stone which
dripped the blood of
all the saints.
So she went to Rome, stole the
stone, and took it to the king
of the vampires.
And since that time, no
one in Prejmer has
been bitten by a vampire.
-You think there are still
vampires here?
-Vampire do not die.
They live for many,
many centuries.
-And you believe they still
sleep in the ruins?
-Stay away from the ruins.
Stay away.
You might interfere with
the way things are.
-Well, what do you think?
Think vampires really
sleep here?
-Don't be silly.
The peasants here have such
colorful imaginations.
-I don't care if Dracula
himself sleeps here.
I'm not going another step.
-Strange story, isn't it?
The stone which drips
the blood of saints.
-Yeah, there's a fascinating
story cycle going on here.
First the peasants
can't explain
what killed the invaders.
Maybe it was food poisoning
or some disease, something
15th-century people
didn't understand.
Lillian, do you--
oh, poor baby.
She must be coming down
with something.
MARA: This place has
an eerie feeling about it.
Does it frighten you?
-No.
We're probably safer here than
any city in America--
as long as we get out of here
before the sun goes down and
the vampires wake up.
Mara!
Lillian!
Wake up.
We have to get back.
-What time is it?
-Oh, my God.
We've slept for two hours.
-Come on, before it gets too
dark to find the way.
-Don't worry.
We'll take a shortcut
through the woods.
[music playing]
-Listen.
Did you hear that?
-Oh, it's probably
just an animal.
Don't you think?
-It's all right.
-Stefan.
-You scared this
shit out of us!
-We were lost and we
thought we heard
somebody following us.
-But you're all right
now, yes?
-Yes.
-All right.
I'm going to the fortress.
Come back with me, all right?
[music playing]
Father.
[music playing]
-Such a touching tableau.
Your pain, little brother,
makes me feel sick.
It's such a mockery
of human feelings.
Our father was a fool.
So are you.
[music playing]
[knocking on door]
-Stefan.
-The king is dead.
-Radu.
[music playing]
[DOOR OPENING AND RUNNING
FOOTSTEPS]
[music playing]
-Here it is, Stefan.
This what you looking for?
[music playing]
-Feeling weak, brother?
Don't you realize that
the sun is rising?
You too far from your crypt
to make it back.
That's what you get for
pretending you are human.
I'm taking the castle and those
three little beauties as
my consorts.
Tell me, Stefan, is there one
you like more than the others?
I'll make sure to treat
her with special care.
[music playing]
-Stefan.
STEFAN:
Follow him, Karl.
Find his crypt.
-There is no time, Stefan.
You must help me.
Try to get up.
[music playing]
-You must find it.
Find his, his resting place.
[music playing]
-[speaking romanian].
-Doctor asks if you suffer
from anemia?
-No, never.
-[speaking romanian].
-He wants to known when
you cut your arm.
-Yesterday, I think.
-The day before.
MARA
[speaking romanian].
-[speaking romanian].
-He thinks maybe you lost
a lot of blood.
-Get serious.
It's a scratch.
-[speaking romanian].
-Take this medicine and stay
in bed another 24 hours.
-[speaking romanian].
-[speaking romanian].
-[speaking romanian].
-Well, I guess this means
the festival's out.
-You can't miss it because
I can't go.
It's the high point
of our research.
-We can't leave her alone.
Yeah, you can.
I'll be OK.
-Stakes cut from ancient oak.
Spear carved from heart
of blackthorn tree.
And this, for chopping
off his head.
-You've prepared.
You hoped he would return.
-You and your father
should have killed
him a long time ago.
I would have destroyed him
myself, but I was afraid.
I could never get close
enough to drive a
stake through his heart.
But I can get close enough
to shoot him.
-Karl, lead won't stop him.
He'll laugh in your face.
-Lead?
No.
I have another idea.
[music playing]
-Rosary beads.
KARL: Cut of wood.
Holy relics.
That is what I will
shoot him with,
straight through the heart.
-I'll watch over the
girls until dawn.
Can you make sure they leave
by tomorrow without telling
them the truth?
-I can try.
-They mustn't know anything,
especially about me.
KARL: You
are falling in love.
-Don't be foolish.
-The way you look at her--
it is you who are foolish if you
think you can fall in love
with a mortal woman.
-She's different.
-From you, yes.
She will die, you will live.
Why do you want to
take the risk?
-When I look at her, when I
look into her eyes, I--
there's this light.
She makes me want again.
-She has your mother's eyes.
-Yes.
[music playing]
-This festival is based on a
very strange old custom.
The peasants used to believe--
and many still do-- that
sickness and misfortune are
caused by ghosts, the undead.
Hey, stop looking for Stefan.
Keep your mind on your work.
-To cure the illness that
plagued the village, they
brought a white horse through
the cemetery and made it jump
over the fresh graves.
If the horse refused to jump
over a grave, there lay one
who was undead.
They will unearth the grave,
break open the coffin, and
drive a stake through the
heart of the undead.
Then they take the heart from
the body and boil it.
Everyone will drink from
that water, and the
illness will be cured.
-A barbaric custom handed
down from ancient times.
-Stefan.
-What are you doing here?
You should be watching
over Lillian.
-Well, this is an important
part of our research.
-Speaking of research,
give me the camera.
I want to make some photos.
[music playing]
-Stefan, what's wrong?
-I'm afraid for you.
You're so beautiful.
This can be such a--
such a cruel place.
If anything should happen.
[music playing]
-I--
I must leave now.
[music playing]
-Mara.
-Hey, what's wrong with you?
-I've got a strange feeling.
I want to go and check
on Lillian.
-Is it Lillian you've got a
strange feeling for or Stefan?
-I'm serious, Mara.
Can I take the car and
I'll come back and
get you in a while?
-You sure you can
find your way?
-Yeah.
-And don't worry about me.
I'll get a ride back
later, OK?
-OK.
[music playing]
-Tell me what's going
on here, Stefan.
Tell me the truth.
Please?
-Centuries ago, my
father fell under
the spell of a sorceress.
She was evil and powerful,
and she
craved an unusual offspring.
Radu is the issue
of that union.
-But you can't be--
-Yes, I can.
But I live in the way of my
father, at peace with the
mortal world.
In the years following the siege
of Prejmer, my father
fell in love with
a mortal woman--
my mother.
Radu and I are half-brothers.
-And your mother?
-She died a very
long time ago.
[music playing]
When morning comes you must
take her away from here.
But what about Mara?
-If she's not back by morning,
Karl will go into the village
and find her.
And then you must leave.
[music playing]
-I must go now and sleep.
Sun will be up soon.
[music playing]
-What are you going to do now?
-I must destroy him.
-I want to help you.
-You leave here.
As soon as the sun is up
you leave here and
you never look back.
That is how you can help me.
-I must leave you now, my pet.
But my little friends
will keep you
company until tonight.
[music playing]
-It's too late.
-Dear God.
I could not find Mara.
The villagers are afraid.
A woman was murdered last night,
her throat torn open,
body drained of blood.
-Oh, my God.
-There is still hope.
She may have found refuge
in the village.
-[speaking romanian].
-The doctor say cause of death
was poisoning of the blood.
[distant shouting]
-It is the body of
the old woman.
They drove a stake through her
heart and cut off her head.
If they find out that Lillian
is dead, they will
do the same to her.
He is telling them that
you have gone.
They will leave now.
They wanted holy water
from the church
to cleanse the body.
-[speaking romanian].
-Oh, God.
They [inaudible].
-I will hide you in my truck
and take you to Sinaia.
-Not without Mara.
-You must think of yourself.
Pray Mara is safe.
-I can't let them to
that to Lillian.
-Then we must bury
her quickly.
The villagers are afraid of
the cemetery in the ruins.
We must bury her there.
[music playing]
-We must leave now.
It is a long drive down
the mountains.
-I'm not leaving until
we find Mara.
We have to help Stefan.
-How can you help?
-We can move around
in the daylight.
If we can find Radu's coffin,
we can destroy
him while he sleeps.
-I know where he sleeps.
[music playing]
I told you to leave.
-Lillian is dead.
And Mara never came back.
-You should have left while
they were still alive.
[music playing]
-Stefan, please cross this
threshold and enter.
-A vampire cannot enter the
house of God unless invited.
You and Karl will be safe here
while I search for Radu's new
resting place.
-Tomorrow, while he sleeps,
we will open his coffin.
I would put both barrels against
his chest and shoot
him with the rosary beads.
Then we will chop off his head
and drive in the stake, too.
-I'll go look for Mara.
[music playing]
-Stefan taught me that there
is good and evil among
vampires as there
is among men.
He also told me that the
old tales of the
bloodstone were true.
-The bloodstone really exists?
-A drop of blood from the stone
is life to a vampire.
But to Radu, it is
like a drug.
The more he drinks, the
more he needs, the
more his evil grows.
LILLIAN: Help!
-What's that?
-Shh.
-Michelle!
Let me in!
Please!
-My God, it's Lillian!
We got to let her in!
-No!
It's a trick!
She's a vampire.
If you let her in, then
I'll shoot her.
[screaming]
[music playing]
-Mara.
[music playing]
-God, Mara.
[music playing]
Shh.
Shh.
Shh.
Mara, Mara.
Shh.
Shh.
Shh.
Mara.
Mara.
Shh.
[music playing]
Stefan!
[music playing]
RADU: Now
I have it all.
Don't I, little brother?
The castle, the bloodstone,
and your pitiful
little mortal girl.
-No!
No!
It will be such a sweet pleasure
to desecrate her
before your self-righteous
eyes.
-No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
STEFAN: No!
-No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
[screaming]
[music playing]
-Michelle!
[music playing]
MICHELLE: Stefan!
[music playing]
-Michelle.
Please.
Don't hurt me.
[music playing]
-You can't destroy my, Stefan.
Nothing can.
[music playing]
-Stefan.
The sun is rising.
-The bloodstone.
[music playing]
-Will I be all right?
-I don't know.
-I don't want to be
like him, Stefan.
Make me like you.
-I can't.
-No, please, Stefan.
Please.
There's no other hope for me.
[music playing]
-Sleep now, my love.
[music playing]
[music playing]
-Father.
-Why have you come?
You were banished
from this place.
-The night of the festival
approaches.
You summoned my brother
home from abroad.
Did you think that I would stand
by and let him assume
the mantle of power?
I'm your firstborn.
The bloodstone is
my birthright.
-You aren't content to
live in peace, Radu.
You crave evil.
The bloodstone would give
you too much power.
This can never be.
-Your time is past.
You have nothing more
to say about it.
-I prayed it would not
be necessary to
destroy you, Radu.
-Destroy me?
Forgive me, Father.
-Ah!
[music playing]
-Hey!
Michele and Lillian!
Over here!
-Hey!
-Hi!
-I can't believe you're here.
-Oh, you thought I wouldn't be
here after you've come all the
way from America?
-I knew you'd be here.
I wasn't sure when.
-You have to admit, punctuality
wasn't exactly
your middle name in school.
-Come on, you must
be exhausted.
We still have a long
drive ahead.
-Well, good.
You can tell us everything
that's happened
since you left America.
-Let's go.
-So, did you find
us a good hotel?
A bathroom, at least?
-Well, I inquired
but there aren't
any hotels near Prejmer.
So the lady from the historical
society offered to
let us stay at the fortress.
-The Prejmer fortress?
-Mm-hm.
The government maintains a
part of the old monastery
there for scholars for
using the library.
That's us, isn't it?
-Yep.
-Scholars.
-Well, that's what we said
in the grant application.
-Mm-hm.
-What a cute little car.
-Hey, it's a Trabant.
It's made out of cardboard.
-No, seriously?
-Mm-hm.
You want to drive?
-Yeah, OK.
[music playing]
MARA: Come
look at this view.
LILLIAN: Wow,
this is beautiful.
-Boo!
-Hey.
-Whoa.
[music playing]
-Oh, wow.
It's a parade.
-It's not a parade, dummy.
It's a funeral.
-Come on, let's go
around them.
This is giving me the creeps.
-Here we are taught to
respect the dead.
[music playing]
-Ladies, I am Karl, caretaker
of this historic monument of
the people of Transylvania.
-Hello.
-It's nice to meet you.
-Joel and Rosa will take
your things inside.
-Imagine, we're in the very
place where 500 years ago, a
handful of Transylvanians held
on against an army of Turks.
-Ah, you know the history
of Prejmer fortress.
If
-We studied medieval history
together in school.
We're smarter than we look.
-We have only two rooms
prepared for you.
I trust that will suffice?
-Oh, yes.
That'll be fine.
We'll flip a coin to
see who shares.
-Yeah, loser sleeps alone.
Mm, Posturepedic.
-Oh, this'll do fine.
It'll keep our minds focused
on our work.
-[inaudible].
-Hey, what's up there?
A secret passageway for
spying on the monks?
-That is a defensive wall.
Come, I show you.
In 1443, Vlad Dracula raised a
large army of peasants to
defend all of Transylvania.
While they fought the Turks
in a huge battle near
[inaudible].
This region suffered
a savage attack.
The survivors held out as
long as they could.
Soon, the food and the
water ran out.
-I read a translation of one
of the survivor's diaries.
-Then you know what happened.
-There were less than 100 left
alive in the fortress.
-They were waiting to die,
but no one attacked.
Finally, some brave souls went
outside the fortress.
They found many dead Turks
with bloody throats.
The rest had run away.
The peasants believed it was
the work of vampires.
-And still do.
Three nights from now is the
festival which celebrates the
night the vampires saved
the people of Prejmer.
[mouse squeaking]
-Hey, what's up there?
KARL: Nothing, just
an old storage space.
-Oh, cool.
Let's check it out.
-No, the stairs are
old and rotten.
-I'll be careful.
Wow.
-The monks who occupied this
place were well prepared for
the afterlife.
Come.
There's food.
-Mm, great.
I'm starving.
-[speaking romanian].
-Are we the only guests here?
Besides the ghosts?
-There is one other scholar
staying here at the moment.
-Oh, another folklorist?
-A zoologist.
But I doubt you will
see much of him.
He's busy with his work.
If you'll excuse me, I will get
the rest of your things.
-[inaudible].
Hmm.
-Here's toasting Prejmer.
May we all publish our
dissertations and get our PhDs.
-Is there any white?
-Oh, in Transylvania the
best wine is red--
blood red.
RADU: Bring
me the bloodstone.
MICHELLE:
This is incredible.
-Mm-hm.
According to the legend, this
was a place inhabited by
vampires in the 14th century.
-[speaking romanian].
-OK.
One, two, three.
Hope this comes out.
There's barely enough light.
MARA: You know, the
funny thin about Castle
Vladislas is that nobody ever
says anything about it.
-You're right.
Nobody's mentioned it once.
LILLIAN:
Let's see if we can
get inside the castle.
I've never been inside
one before.
-Come on, we can't right now.
It's getting too dark.
We've got to get back.
-Oh, come on.
Don't poop out on me now.
-Come on, Lillian.
I'm hungry.
-Ouch.
Oh, shit.
-God, are you OK?
We'd better get back
and wash it off.
Come on.
-Hi, guys.
-How is your room?
-I think it'll be OK.
What's this?
MICHELLE: Well, you
know, I've been thinking
about what Mara said this
afternoon, about no one ever
mentioning Castle Vladislas.
And I went through
all my notes.
I even looked at the index of
all the stuff that's been
published about this region
over the years.
Not one mention of the castle.
-Strange, isn't it?
-Well, it just doesn't
make sense.
How can something as old and
imposing as that castle not be
part of the local lore?
-Maybe even something that's
been here as long as that
castle becomes invisible
to all but the
most sensitive eyes.
Pardon me if I frightened you.
My name is Stefan Belescu.
-Oh, the zoologist Karl
told us about.
-Yes.
-I'm Lillian.
That's Mara, and
the hardworking
scholar here is Michelle.
-I thought I should introduce
myself so you won't be alarmed
if you see me coming or
going at odd hours.
-Would you like to join us?
-I can't at the moment.
My research keeps me
busy at night.
-What kind of research
do you do?
-I'm cataloging nocturnal
animal life
unique to this area.
I'm afraid it's a rather boring
subject to most people.
-Oh, no, no.
Not to us.
Um, we're studying the folklore
of the region, and
animals often figure
in folktales.
Please, tell us more.
-Another time, perhaps.
I must go.
Ladies.
-Animals often figure
in folklore.
Please, tell us more.
-Knock it off.
-Hey, wait up, you guys.
Let's rest a minute.
-Not yet, in just a little
bit farther up this hill.
MICHELLE: Five
interviews in one day.
Not a bad start, huh?
MARA: And this could
be the best one yet.
This old lady is very strange.
This is the mask you wear at
the festival of the undead?
-It's likeness of the
gypsy who made the
truce with the vampires.
Wear the mask and I tell you
the story of the gypsy.
The vampires killed the Turks.
And in gratitude, the people
said, let them have the great
ruins, which is where
the vampires sleep.
The vampires were
still hungry.
They would come out
of their wings at
night and drink blood.
This gypsy, he knew that the
pope of Rome had a stone which
dripped the blood of
all the saints.
So she went to Rome, stole the
stone, and took it to the king
of the vampires.
And since that time, no
one in Prejmer has
been bitten by a vampire.
-You think there are still
vampires here?
-Vampire do not die.
They live for many,
many centuries.
-And you believe they still
sleep in the ruins?
-Stay away from the ruins.
Stay away.
You might interfere with
the way things are.
-Well, what do you think?
Think vampires really
sleep here?
-Don't be silly.
The peasants here have such
colorful imaginations.
-I don't care if Dracula
himself sleeps here.
I'm not going another step.
-Strange story, isn't it?
The stone which drips
the blood of saints.
-Yeah, there's a fascinating
story cycle going on here.
First the peasants
can't explain
what killed the invaders.
Maybe it was food poisoning
or some disease, something
15th-century people
didn't understand.
Lillian, do you--
oh, poor baby.
She must be coming down
with something.
MARA: This place has
an eerie feeling about it.
Does it frighten you?
-No.
We're probably safer here than
any city in America--
as long as we get out of here
before the sun goes down and
the vampires wake up.
Mara!
Lillian!
Wake up.
We have to get back.
-What time is it?
-Oh, my God.
We've slept for two hours.
-Come on, before it gets too
dark to find the way.
-Don't worry.
We'll take a shortcut
through the woods.
[music playing]
-Listen.
Did you hear that?
-Oh, it's probably
just an animal.
Don't you think?
-It's all right.
-Stefan.
-You scared this
shit out of us!
-We were lost and we
thought we heard
somebody following us.
-But you're all right
now, yes?
-Yes.
-All right.
I'm going to the fortress.
Come back with me, all right?
[music playing]
Father.
[music playing]
-Such a touching tableau.
Your pain, little brother,
makes me feel sick.
It's such a mockery
of human feelings.
Our father was a fool.
So are you.
[music playing]
[knocking on door]
-Stefan.
-The king is dead.
-Radu.
[music playing]
[DOOR OPENING AND RUNNING
FOOTSTEPS]
[music playing]
-Here it is, Stefan.
This what you looking for?
[music playing]
-Feeling weak, brother?
Don't you realize that
the sun is rising?
You too far from your crypt
to make it back.
That's what you get for
pretending you are human.
I'm taking the castle and those
three little beauties as
my consorts.
Tell me, Stefan, is there one
you like more than the others?
I'll make sure to treat
her with special care.
[music playing]
-Stefan.
STEFAN:
Follow him, Karl.
Find his crypt.
-There is no time, Stefan.
You must help me.
Try to get up.
[music playing]
-You must find it.
Find his, his resting place.
[music playing]
-[speaking romanian].
-Doctor asks if you suffer
from anemia?
-No, never.
-[speaking romanian].
-He wants to known when
you cut your arm.
-Yesterday, I think.
-The day before.
MARA
[speaking romanian].
-[speaking romanian].
-He thinks maybe you lost
a lot of blood.
-Get serious.
It's a scratch.
-[speaking romanian].
-Take this medicine and stay
in bed another 24 hours.
-[speaking romanian].
-[speaking romanian].
-[speaking romanian].
-Well, I guess this means
the festival's out.
-You can't miss it because
I can't go.
It's the high point
of our research.
-We can't leave her alone.
Yeah, you can.
I'll be OK.
-Stakes cut from ancient oak.
Spear carved from heart
of blackthorn tree.
And this, for chopping
off his head.
-You've prepared.
You hoped he would return.
-You and your father
should have killed
him a long time ago.
I would have destroyed him
myself, but I was afraid.
I could never get close
enough to drive a
stake through his heart.
But I can get close enough
to shoot him.
-Karl, lead won't stop him.
He'll laugh in your face.
-Lead?
No.
I have another idea.
[music playing]
-Rosary beads.
KARL: Cut of wood.
Holy relics.
That is what I will
shoot him with,
straight through the heart.
-I'll watch over the
girls until dawn.
Can you make sure they leave
by tomorrow without telling
them the truth?
-I can try.
-They mustn't know anything,
especially about me.
KARL: You
are falling in love.
-Don't be foolish.
-The way you look at her--
it is you who are foolish if you
think you can fall in love
with a mortal woman.
-She's different.
-From you, yes.
She will die, you will live.
Why do you want to
take the risk?
-When I look at her, when I
look into her eyes, I--
there's this light.
She makes me want again.
-She has your mother's eyes.
-Yes.
[music playing]
-This festival is based on a
very strange old custom.
The peasants used to believe--
and many still do-- that
sickness and misfortune are
caused by ghosts, the undead.
Hey, stop looking for Stefan.
Keep your mind on your work.
-To cure the illness that
plagued the village, they
brought a white horse through
the cemetery and made it jump
over the fresh graves.
If the horse refused to jump
over a grave, there lay one
who was undead.
They will unearth the grave,
break open the coffin, and
drive a stake through the
heart of the undead.
Then they take the heart from
the body and boil it.
Everyone will drink from
that water, and the
illness will be cured.
-A barbaric custom handed
down from ancient times.
-Stefan.
-What are you doing here?
You should be watching
over Lillian.
-Well, this is an important
part of our research.
-Speaking of research,
give me the camera.
I want to make some photos.
[music playing]
-Stefan, what's wrong?
-I'm afraid for you.
You're so beautiful.
This can be such a--
such a cruel place.
If anything should happen.
[music playing]
-I--
I must leave now.
[music playing]
-Mara.
-Hey, what's wrong with you?
-I've got a strange feeling.
I want to go and check
on Lillian.
-Is it Lillian you've got a
strange feeling for or Stefan?
-I'm serious, Mara.
Can I take the car and
I'll come back and
get you in a while?
-You sure you can
find your way?
-Yeah.
-And don't worry about me.
I'll get a ride back
later, OK?
-OK.
[music playing]
-Tell me what's going
on here, Stefan.
Tell me the truth.
Please?
-Centuries ago, my
father fell under
the spell of a sorceress.
She was evil and powerful,
and she
craved an unusual offspring.
Radu is the issue
of that union.
-But you can't be--
-Yes, I can.
But I live in the way of my
father, at peace with the
mortal world.
In the years following the siege
of Prejmer, my father
fell in love with
a mortal woman--
my mother.
Radu and I are half-brothers.
-And your mother?
-She died a very
long time ago.
[music playing]
When morning comes you must
take her away from here.
But what about Mara?
-If she's not back by morning,
Karl will go into the village
and find her.
And then you must leave.
[music playing]
-I must go now and sleep.
Sun will be up soon.
[music playing]
-What are you going to do now?
-I must destroy him.
-I want to help you.
-You leave here.
As soon as the sun is up
you leave here and
you never look back.
That is how you can help me.
-I must leave you now, my pet.
But my little friends
will keep you
company until tonight.
[music playing]
-It's too late.
-Dear God.
I could not find Mara.
The villagers are afraid.
A woman was murdered last night,
her throat torn open,
body drained of blood.
-Oh, my God.
-There is still hope.
She may have found refuge
in the village.
-[speaking romanian].
-The doctor say cause of death
was poisoning of the blood.
[distant shouting]
-It is the body of
the old woman.
They drove a stake through her
heart and cut off her head.
If they find out that Lillian
is dead, they will
do the same to her.
He is telling them that
you have gone.
They will leave now.
They wanted holy water
from the church
to cleanse the body.
-[speaking romanian].
-Oh, God.
They [inaudible].
-I will hide you in my truck
and take you to Sinaia.
-Not without Mara.
-You must think of yourself.
Pray Mara is safe.
-I can't let them to
that to Lillian.
-Then we must bury
her quickly.
The villagers are afraid of
the cemetery in the ruins.
We must bury her there.
[music playing]
-We must leave now.
It is a long drive down
the mountains.
-I'm not leaving until
we find Mara.
We have to help Stefan.
-How can you help?
-We can move around
in the daylight.
If we can find Radu's coffin,
we can destroy
him while he sleeps.
-I know where he sleeps.
[music playing]
I told you to leave.
-Lillian is dead.
And Mara never came back.
-You should have left while
they were still alive.
[music playing]
-Stefan, please cross this
threshold and enter.
-A vampire cannot enter the
house of God unless invited.
You and Karl will be safe here
while I search for Radu's new
resting place.
-Tomorrow, while he sleeps,
we will open his coffin.
I would put both barrels against
his chest and shoot
him with the rosary beads.
Then we will chop off his head
and drive in the stake, too.
-I'll go look for Mara.
[music playing]
-Stefan taught me that there
is good and evil among
vampires as there
is among men.
He also told me that the
old tales of the
bloodstone were true.
-The bloodstone really exists?
-A drop of blood from the stone
is life to a vampire.
But to Radu, it is
like a drug.
The more he drinks, the
more he needs, the
more his evil grows.
LILLIAN: Help!
-What's that?
-Shh.
-Michelle!
Let me in!
Please!
-My God, it's Lillian!
We got to let her in!
-No!
It's a trick!
She's a vampire.
If you let her in, then
I'll shoot her.
[screaming]
[music playing]
-Mara.
[music playing]
-God, Mara.
[music playing]
Shh.
Shh.
Shh.
Mara, Mara.
Shh.
Shh.
Shh.
Mara.
Mara.
Shh.
[music playing]
Stefan!
[music playing]
RADU: Now
I have it all.
Don't I, little brother?
The castle, the bloodstone,
and your pitiful
little mortal girl.
-No!
No!
It will be such a sweet pleasure
to desecrate her
before your self-righteous
eyes.
-No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
STEFAN: No!
-No!
No!
No!
No!
No!
[screaming]
[music playing]
-Michelle!
[music playing]
MICHELLE: Stefan!
[music playing]
-Michelle.
Please.
Don't hurt me.
[music playing]
-You can't destroy my, Stefan.
Nothing can.
[music playing]
-Stefan.
The sun is rising.
-The bloodstone.
[music playing]
-Will I be all right?
-I don't know.
-I don't want to be
like him, Stefan.
Make me like you.
-I can't.
-No, please, Stefan.
Please.
There's no other hope for me.
[music playing]
-Sleep now, my love.
[music playing]
[music playing]