I was watching Subspecies II (1993) earlier this week, thinking happily to myself about the early 90's, when Full Moon--Charles Band's crazy puppet/doll-obsessed direct-to-video horror company--still put out movies I actually enjoyed. I kept thinking Charlie Spradling should have played the lead. Or the lead's sister, the fledgling vampire. In my mind, it always seems Spradling appeared in more Full Moon movies than just the three she did. That could be due, in part, to her being the Full Moon "Video Zone" merchandise girl, advertising for Full Moon at the end of producer Charles Band's behind-the-scenes program that played after every Full Moon movie in the 90's, thanking the audience for watching and joking around with the puppets from Puppet Master II, while encouraging viewers to call 1-800-MOON, to find out more about Full Moon's fan letter and exciting array of merchandise.Spradling had a few small roles in notable films of the late eighties and early nineties (The Blob, The Doors, Wild At Heart, Ski School . . . OK, maybe Ski School isn't all that notable--but it does star another great B movie actors of the time, Dean Cameron)
, but her best appearances were in the Full Moon films.In Meridian: Kiss of the Beast (1990), Spradling plays an American student traveling in Ireland, who gets involved in an odd situation with her best friend and a monstrous man-beast. It's, uh . . . pretty strange. Charlie has lots of screen time.
In Puppet Master II (1991) Charlie is spared the worst dialogue scenes (those belong to lead actress Elizabeth Maclellan). She ought to have more screen time, but is excellent in her scenes, as a member of a team of paranormal investigators checking up on the mysterious Bodega Bay Inn, site of the demonic goings-on of the original Puppet Master (1989). Puppet Master II may not be great cinema, but it's a fun movie, and one I'm guilty of having seen at least a dozen times. 
Spradling is the best of the cast in this one, but her co-stars aren't terrible, and the movie's got some pretty good stop-motion animation, a great opening scene in a cemetery, and a creepy dead guy parading around bandaged up like Claude Rains in The Invisible Man (1933).Bad Channels (1992) has Spradling being shrunken down by aliens, while in the middle of a rockin dance routine, and
teleported to a local radio station, where said aliens have set up headquarters. Even stranger than Meridian. 
Charlie acted in a number of films in the 90s (To Sleep With a Vampire, Angel of Destruction, Johnny Skidmarks) before retiring from acting in the early 2000's, but for myself and other Full Moon fans, she's most remembered for her work with Full Moon. Upbeat and fun to watch, sure aware of the campiness of much of the material, Charlie Spradling put out some great work in some under-appreciated genre films of the early 90s.
Posts
