by Billy Russell, Staff Writer

For the latest MovieJawn zine, I wrote about growing up with Full Moon Features films like the Subspecies series, and my love of Radu, the vampire.  Full Moon, particularly in the late 80s and early 90s, had a way with camp.  They could delicately balance their cheese with just enough genuine skill that it had skill to admire, but wasn’t treated with so much dire seriousness that their movies were laughable.  A lot of that, I believe, had to deal with casting–particularly the women in their employ who were tasked with floating the humanity of their films.

Denice Duff was, I believe, the first woman I ever had a crush on. I saw Bloodstone: Subspecies II at the tender age of six.  The 90s were all about being exposed to movies you were too young to be watching.  That’s why even mainstream movies dabbled in trauma.  Who Framed Roger Rabbit scarred millions of kids by having Judge Doom murder an adorable cartoon shoe in graphic detail.  By comparison, Bloodstone was damn near tame. Most of the gore either occurred off screen or was done to actors under so much makeup and prosthesis that they no longer resembled humans. It was like watching a special effects showcase made by master illusionists.

After each Full Moon movie, they have a series of featurettes called “VideoZone,” which feature coming attractions, interviews, and a making-of for the movie you had just seen.  Behind the scenes of Bloodstone: Subspecies II, Denice Duff talks a bit about the process and method of her acting.  Seconds before the director calls, “Action!” on a shot where she runs into frame, looking frantic and confused, she spun around a few times in order to make herself rather frantic and confused.  To six-year-old me, I was like, “That’s brilliant!” and I thought it was the smartest, coolest thing I had ever seen.

In Bloodlust: Subspecies III, a good follow-up to Bloodstone, there’s a scene where Michelle and Radu, the vampire baddy of the series, talk and share a quiet moment.  Without too much dialogue, and relying mostly on body language, there’s a lot of subtlety conveyed.  He wants her to know how lonely the life of a vampire can be, but with her by his side, it may ease some of that existential pain.  She wants to earn his trust, but asks how many ways there are to kill a vampire.  He simply answers, with a suspicious eye, “There are lots of ways…”  They both know she will never love him, and he will never trust her, but they’re still going to take this thing to its bloody conclusion, powerless to intervene against their fate.

It’s these moments that actors like Denice Duff give Full Moon their connection to the audience.  These moments of humanity that feel so real.

It wasn’t just horror movies I gobbled up as a kid. I also loved me a good action-adventure, and Full Moon had plenty of those.  I was so happy to see that the latest season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 lampooned one of my favorite movies as a kid: Robot Wars. Set in a future without much, if any explanation or backstory, the world is at war, with renegades blowing up buildings.  There are also big, big robots, and fabled, even older, big, big robots buried.  These big, big robots, crudely animated, will fight.  The movie starred Barbara Crampton, who brings to every movie she’s in this absurd amount of professionalism that is so admirable.  Even a movie like Robot Wars, she’s giving the best goddamn performance she can, even if no one else is.

Though not strictly a Full Moon movie (I believe they now own the rights but weren’t the original production company), she’s a standout, of course, in Re-Animator, and has starred again and again with Jeffrey Combs.  She and Combs are amazing together in whatever they’re in.  They have a natural ability volley back and forth with each other and match each other’s energy in both fun and darker movies.

Full Moon does know a good thing when they see it, though, so they are at least responsible for one Barbara Campton/Jeffrey Combs/Stuart Gordon/H.P. Lovecraft gorefest: Castle Freak.  It’s not often that a pairing like that works again and again, but this one just does and Castle Freak is one of Full Moon’s best. It’s fucked up, it’s scary, and it’s so, so fun.  It’s a real gem.

Barbara Crampton is extremely prolific.  From Chopping Mall all the way up to the latest iteration of Creepshow streaming on Shudder, she’s been a huge part of the genre for a long time, and probably will be forever.

If I had it my way, I wish there was at least one Full Moon picture with both Denice Duff and Barbara Crampton co-starring.  I think their movies, separately, are a high-water mark for the studio.  The Subspecies movies and Castle Freak are, all these years later, synonymous with their output, prime examples of their work at their very best.  A big part of their success is in the casting.  I have no idea if they share any scenes together, but they were in the daytime soap “The Young & the Restless” at around the same time.  So, Full Moon, if you’re reading this, just think about it:  Denice Duff and Barbara Crampton, together at last.