Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
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.
HumanoidOfFlesh
Two lovely American girls go to Italian castle to paint and restore pictures.During their visit they run into a traveling sideshow and invite all the members of said sideshow over to the castle for dinner.An orgy results with the girls being drugged and raped by two men.One of them is transforming into beast due to the curse.The romance between the beast and Sherilyn Fenn ensues...I wanted to see "Meridian" because of "Twin Peaks" starlet Sherilyn Fenn,one of the most beautiful actresses of 80's and early 90's.She and Charlie Spradling have some wonderfully sensual sex scenes in this mildly interesting and rather watered down Walerian Borowczyk's "The Beast" clone.Still "Meridian" is worth watching for stunningly ravishing Sherilyn Fenn.6 out of 10.
dr_foreman
Leonard Maltin's review of "Meridian" is just plain hilarious; he says something along the lines of "never really takes off, despite extensive nudity." I couldn't agree more. Sherliyn Fenn and Charlie Spradling are two incredibly gorgeous actresses, and they're topless for what seems like forever, yet this movie is still utterly interminable. I'm told that this turkey is a re-telling of "Beauty and the Beast," and I suppose it is...there's a beast, all right...but I can never seem to make the mental link between that classic fairy tale and this totally duff B-movie crap. Yeah, it's "Beauty and the Beast" all right...as a slow-paced softcore porn.Best line? When the villain says to his brother, "I love you...but I also DETEST you!"
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.
