I'm not sure why this film was included in a DVD set of horror movies. Sure it has a ghost and a werewolf, but it's not a horror flick. It's more of a cock-eyed rip-off of "The Beauty and the Beast" with two women (Sherilyn Fenn and Charlene "Charlie" Spradling) and two dueling brothers (both played by Malcolm Jamison), who hate each other. Functioning from an incoherent plot, the film starts with circus performers emerging from a giant stone face. (One of them is played by the irascible Phil Fondacaro, who sadly isn't given much to do in the movie.) This never goes explained as the film seems stuck in some middle ground between the real world and a fairy tale. For example, Jamison's character slips in and out of Fenn's castle without explanation, and Fenn never reports his mysterious comings and goings. One would think castle security wouldn't be this lax. Fenn is wonderful in the role as the sudden princess getting used to her duties (At times, she looks eerily like Mila Kunis or Zoe Trilling.) Spradling isn't given much to do in the plot despite being a victim along with Fenn to some unnecessary nude scenes. One would think she would have a bigger role in the plot other than spending the last half of the movie restoring a portrait that might fill in the huge gaps of logic in the movie. (But doesn't.) Most of the ingredients of the film could have been eliminated for a much more linear and simpler plot. It's not bad enough the film moves incoherently, but it gets ludicrous at time. (In addition to the one guy slipping unseen in and out of the castle, his brother wields a crossbow WHILE he's in werewolf form.) This would-be fairy romance story would have worked a lot better if several of the characters and scenes had been eliminated. What's worse than the film being passed as a "horror movie" is the fact that there's no ending. The characters just wander back into the giant stone face. (I would think someone would miss a princess and an art student.) I'm sure this flick was intended to be some kind of "Beauty and the Beast" homage, but there's too much to follow and not enough explained for me to adequately follow the plot.
Review of Meridian
