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.

Well Full Moon aren't exactly known for their great horror classic - and with films like this in their resume, it's not hard to see why. Meridian is a silly mess of a film that is as ridiculous as it is boring. It would seem that Meridian is trying to go for a sort of Hammer Horror feel, but it misses the 'camp' mark and unfortunately ends up being purely tacky - which doesn't do the film much good at all. The plot sounds like it might be interesting, but you shouldn't be fooled! We focus on two American students that go off to Italy after art school. One goes to restore paintings, while the other one is there as she has inherited her father's castle. However, there's something odd going on in the castle as it's new owner begins seeing visions, and the circus folk that hang around seem a bit odd also. The plot is never particularly fascinating, and despite a few sex scenes (which really couldn't be much less erotic), there is very little worth remembering in this film. Given the right handling, it could have been an atmospheric and memorable fantasy fairytale - but as it happens, Meridian is just trash, and not the good kind!

This otherwise average film gets 2 extra stars for possibly the sexiest scene I have ever seen in a movie.I'm of course talking about when the 2 female leads are drugged and ravaged....I'm not a fan of date rape but this scene is done in a way that really works...watching the girls moaning and writhing as they are seductively stripped has to be seen by anyone who enjoys that type of thing.Unfortunately then a beast comes in the bedroom and starts making out with Fenn,and that is maybe a bit too weird.Too bad they didn't have a scene between the 2 girls...OK maybe I'm going too far but I can dream cant I?I saw Fenn in an episode of The Gilmore Girls recently and she sure still looks good since its been 15 years since the movie was made.

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.