Paul Andrews Meridian is set in Italy where art student & painting restorer Gina (Charlie Spradling) gets a rush job from her boss, a local Priest (Vernon Dobtcheff) has brought a painting in to be restored & Gina agrees to do it. However Gina's best friend Catherine (Sherilyn Fenn) is set to return to Italy after ten years away in the US, they haven't seen each other in years & Gina heads over to Catherine's inherited Castle to catch up. While having a walk around they see a travelling show called Fauvrey's World of Wonders is entertaining a crowd of locals, Gina & Catherine wander over & are impressed by the show so they invite the performers to diner. Later that night Catherine & the show's owner Lawrence (Malcolm Jamieson) spend the night together, but it's not what Catherine thinks & she must figure out what centuries old curses & a long line of murdered women has to do with herself, Lawrence & the Castle where she lives...Also known as Phantoms here in the UK this was produced & directed by Charles Band for his own Full Moon Entertainment production company & really isn't very good at all, in fact I'd go as far as to say Meridian is crap. While watching Meridian last night I got the impression Band was trying to make an erotic horror film with a strong fantasy fairytale feel although none of these elements gel together at all. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that Band was going for a modern fairytale, the big Castle, the evil villain, the beautiful Princess, the ugly Beast (Beauty and the Beast anyone?), the moral about love conquers all & the live happily ever after ending as good defeats evil. The erotic content is tame, there's a semi naked woman & some very soft-core sex between the beauty & the beast which raises a few laughs rather than raises anything in your trousers. The twist's are pretty poor & I thought the film plodded along fairly slowly going nowhere fast, I just wasn't drawn into the fantasy world of curses & forbidden love. To try & inject a little horror into things there's some nonsense about ghost's but it feels like an afterthought & no-one seems particularly bothered by the fact that they have been talking to ghost's. Even at just over 80 minutes Meridian felt like it went on for two days, some may like it's old school fairytale style story, setting & morals but I didn't, at all.Made at the time when Band was making most of his Full Moon output at the Castle he owned in Italy this looks quite nice sine the real locations add a great deal of visual lushness that cheap sets could never have. Meridian also films in some Italian Church which again looks very nice since it's real. There's no real blood or gore here, someone is shot with an arrow & that's about it. The Werewolf looking creature is awful, it's a really poor tatty make-up effects job from Greg Cannom who usually does better work. More of a twisted story of love than a straight horror film Meridian is not scary or even tries to be to be honest, the problem is it's not anything else either.Filmed in Italy this looks alright but the locations can only do so much, apart from some pretty scenery there's not a lot here to remember. The acting is average, I can't say I recognised anyone apart from the old lady Hilary Mason who was the creepy old lady from Dolls (1987) which is a much better film than Meridian.Meridian is an attempt at a dream like fairytale withe horror & erotic overtones but just didn't work as far as I am concerned, some may like it I suppose but I think most will be bored by it. Not really a horror film, not really a fairytale, not really erotic either just what is Meridian meant to be & who was it made for?

Joseph P. Ulibas Kiss of the Beast (1990) was a film that I saw many times late night on cable. The movie itself is pretty weak. Who cares about twin dudes who turn into some haggard looking hairballs? The only reason you'll want to watch this film is to see the awesomely hot Sherilyn Fenn (as a brunette!) in various stages of undress and the smoking Charlie Spaudling in the buff as well. Why hasn't this movie ever been released on D.V.D.? Sherilyn Fenn is one of those actress during the eighties that has always been overlooked. I mean she's one attractive lady, and she can act with the best of them. Whatever happened to her career? She was destined for greater things instead of appearing in Lifetime Network movies she should have been a star. Oh well, Hollywood's loss is D.T.V.'s gain.Recommended for Sherilyn Fenn fans.

Brett Cullum (BrettC) Yes, this movie features the incredible...ummm, talents of Sherilyn Fenn and Charlie Spradling but honestly I was going to imitate another fairy tale and fall asleep for a hundred years rather than make it to the end. This is BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with a modern-day Italian setting, and a gothic horror spin by making it a psycho-sexual romp! Sounds intriguing, and it well could have been much like the SNOW WHITE movie that did this same thing with more success, or COMPANY OF WOLVES that remade Little Red Riding Hood into a very sexy gothic horror movie. But alas, MERIDIAN just plods along without much direction or clear focus on anything! The effects are not special, the story simple and not engaging, and valiant efforts by La Fenn and company can not save any scene in the entire movie. Only the die-hard Fenn fan could weather this storm, and I barely made it despite a very strong obsession for her.

Dax-21 Yep, that's about what you get. A strangely warped Beauty and the beast (with twin beasts) story whose main benefit is it's two gorgeous heroine's Sherilynn Fenn and Charlie Spradling. Never can any film have featured two such beautiful actresses and the director is quick to get them drugged and stripped.The Spradling character (she was credited as just "Charlie" in this film) allbut disappears from the plot thereafter leaving La Fenn to wrestle with the beast twins and eventually fall in love with the good one of the two.