Scott LeBrun Give Charles Band a little credit for stepping outside his genre comfort zone. Here he attempts to create a deadly serious Gothic romance. While it's going to be much too slowly paced to suit some tastes, others will appreciate the heavy atmosphere, and the incredibly sincere performances.The premise is essentially a variation on the classic Beauty and the Beast theme. Two art school graduates, Catherine (Sherilyn Fenn), and Gina (Charlie Spradling), travel to Italy. Gina goes to work restoring paintings, while Catherine goes to live in the opulent castle that she has inherited. Soon, Catherine finds herself caught up in a love triangle with twin brothers (Lawrence and Oliver, both played by handsome Malcolm Jamieson). Lawrence is cruel and controlling, Oliver is the much more sensitive one. Yet Oliver is the one suffering a sad curse.The movie is worth watching for Ms. Fenn. She's absolutely beautiful, as always, but also delivers an appealing performance. Fenn and the equally ravishing Spradling do show off quite a bit of their bodies in some extended love making scenes. Jamieson does a respectable job at portraying these two wildly contrasting characters. The strong supporting cast includes Hilary Mason as the wise and loving old nanny Martha, Phil Fondacaro as the dwarf, Vernon Dobtcheff as the priest, and Alex Daniels as the beastly incarnation of Oliver.Pino Donaggio composed the haunting and lovely score, the lighting is by genre veteran Mac Ahlberg, and the castle sets look pretty good. There aren't that many visual effects to speak of, but the beast makeup by Greg Cannom is reasonably impressive. Another enjoyable element is watching a painting reveal itself under another painting, as Gina goes about her business of restoration.Worth a look for people seeking a change of pace from more typical Full Moon product.Seven out of 10.

Red-Barracuda Meridian is an erotic horror film that used to be known under the name 'Phantoms' here in the UK. It was directed by Charles Band for his Full Moon production company who were known purveyors of B-movie schlock. This one seems to have a bit more of a budget about it, although it was still a straight-to-video effort. In fact, it could easily pass itself off as an Italian movie, seeing as it benefits from a very nice on-location Roman setting; while the soundtrack from the popular composer Pino Donaggio gives it a lush Euro atmosphere, in a late 80's kind of way. Its story focuses on a young American woman Catherine who inherits an Italian castle. One day, she and her friend encounter a group of travelling carnies whom they invite over for dinner, only for this to end in both girls being drugged and raped by their guests. Supernatural events follow…The film is sort of a sex and horror version of the 'Beauty and the Beast' story and keeping with its fairy-tale roots it remains a pretty restrained, albeit erotic in places. The reason it's sexy is also the prime reason to see it and that is undoubtedly on account of its two incredible leading ladies, Sherilyn Fenn and Charlie Spradling. They are certainly the best thing about this one and both feature prominently in a very sensual and well shot erotic sequence, which you will sure know when you see it. As astronomically beautiful as Ms Fenn is, I actually thought that Charlie was - incredibly - even more attractive. Needless to say, these girls are pure candy for the eyes. Unfortunately Charlie more or less vanishes for the second half of the movie and the plot then focuses on the ghostly goings on surrounding Sherilyn. Perhaps inevitably after such a strong start the film does fade somewhat as it goes on, yet it remains pretty stylish and entertaining for the most part. But see it for Charlie and Sherilyn would be my advice.

Zachary Simon ...this is 80s horror cheese to the core. Delicious.That said, while the STUNNING beauty of the two actresses probably brought you here (and do make the whole thing worth it) the best reason to stay is to see 80s horror cheese try SO. DAMN. HARD. to be a 'work of erotic Gothic film.' There's a special charm to such efforts if you watch for it. There are enough spoilers in the other reviews, so I'll elaborate on how this isn't just another 'so bad it's good' kind of charm. Specifically, while the slow motion shots and synth music must have seemed cliché even at the time, there is never one tongue in cheek or 'we know we're bad so go easy on us' moment. This is a recipe for pretentiousness or misguided sincerity, take your pick. Take it the same way you'd chose to be frightened or swindled out of your aloof cynical money at a carnival spook house.

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.