Evengyny
Thanks for the memories!
Blaironit
Excellent film with a gripping story!
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
panther2pup
I had never heard of this movie but it was included in a box set of horror I found in a bargain bin. Obviously from a VHS copy, the grainy screen added to the films overall aura. Little Red Riding Hood meets Beauty and the Beast is what came to mind. It is an interesting adult themed version of two girls trip To Italy, one to pursue art the other to take possession of an inherited castle. I thought the pace was rather slow and the scenes of love and rather flat, lacking that abandon I look for in love scenes, leaving the story rather cold. But the lush scenery helped make up for the loss of depth in the theme. Sherilyn Flynn made this bearable for me.
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?
callanvass
decent sexy and stylish fantasy/horror film is well acted and lots of nice eye candy the girls are gorgeous and this is pretty slow paced but it is kinda engaging with lots of good set pieces and some very good lighting sequences and beautiful visuals some cool dream sequences make this very slow paced watchable also the transformations are very well done and realistic the make up effects are astounding and amazing the beautiful set pieces and designs make this a stunning yet slow pace viewing it is sexy stylish and very well made now this isn't your typical horror flick it's very unique and i recommend it to all of you *** out of 5
kevin-167
This film will not challenge anyone intellectually. The castle where a good portion of the movie is filmed does have an eerie feel about it. Charlie Spradling and Sherilyn Fenn play the two women who are drugged at the castle where they live by some weird circus performers. The leader of the group takes Fenn into a back bedroom and strips her down and looks like he is going to have a good time with the nubile, lovely lady but then he passes her over to his twin brother. The leader then goes and strips down Charlie Spradling and and ravages her body while his brother gets it on with the drugged Fenn. Weird!