This still being
Women in Horror Month, we have a third another induction into the
Horror Crushes section for this month. Today, I am adding the beautiful and severely underrated
Julie Carmen!
Carmen was born on April 4, 1954, in New York City. She is of Spanish and Cuban decent, hence her exquisite beauty. While, she has been acting since 1978, it wasn't till 1985, that she appeared on anything related to the genre. It was an episode of the
Twilight Zone called "Wish Bank". It apparently has something to do with her and the lovely Dee Wallace fighting over who got to make wishes with Aladdin's lamp. I am sure I saw this, but was too young to remember anything about it.
I first remember Carmen from her role as Jerry Dandridge's sister in
Fright Night Part 2 (1988). She wants revenge for the death of her brother and as such, proceeds to set her eyes on and seduce the first movie's hero Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale). Charlie's therapist has convinced him that Jerry was a serial killer and not a vampire and that that part was all in his mind. I was never a fan of that idea, still am not. Also, the movie rehashes a lot of what the original did and did better. However, it is nonetheless enjoyable. The FX are excellent and the cast is quite good (including the beautiful Traci Lind, would you guys like to see her get inducted into Horror Crushes? Let me know in the comments section below.) But, to me the main draw of the sequel is Carmen, herself.
As Regine, Carmen is incredibly seductive and sexy. She is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the hottest vamps ever, as she simply exudes eroticism in a very natural manner. Yet, she also can be frightening when need be. I for one, would have easily been seduced by her and honestly there are worse ways to go, am I right? I developed a ridiculously HUGE crush on her after this movie, when I saw it around thirteen on VHS. I even had a dream about Regine biting me and me being quite happy and even welcoming of it. Yeah, I always a weirdo, but can you honestly blame teen me?
Her next foray into the horror genre wouldn't come till 1994's made for TV flick
Seduced by Evil. I don't even remember hearing about this. Otherwise, I may have seen it, if only for Carmen. It also stars Suzanne Somers. Did any of you ever see it and have any thoughts on it?
That same year she appeared in her best horror flick, John Carpenter's
In the Mouth of Madness. This tale of Lovecratian horrors, deals with John Trent (Sam Neil), an insurance investigator, being sent by a publishing firm to find their top selling horror writer Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow), whose books can turn some of those read them insane, and recovering the manuscript to his newest and upcoming book, the titular
In the Mouth of Madness. Cane's editor Lynda Styles (Carmen) is sent to accompany him on this quest, by the publishing director Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston).
One of Carpenter's most imaginative movies this rubber reality horror flick is filled with icky, slimy, and tentacled horrors and is really fucking cool. Plus, I simply adore the ending to it! It has some great FX work by KNB and very strong performances by its amazing cast. Especially Neil, who became one of my favorite actors thanks, in large part, to this role and movie. Carmen is wonderful, too. delivering a believable performance and looking effortlessly but naturally beautiful, on top of that.
I remember being so happy to know, thanks to
Fangoria magazine, that she was in this. I didn't see it till it hit VHS, but I was even happier, when I actually saw her in it. I just wish she had done more movies that I had seen after this.
She did appear in a made for TV called
The Omen from 1995; one that has zilch to do with the Satanic horror franchise of the same name. Did any of you ever hear about it or see it? She was also in another made for TV horror movie called
Gargantua. it's a giant monster movie, and I think I very vaguely remember seeing something about it. But, I never did actually see it, did any of you guys?
And, that is it as far as her horror out put goes. That being said, Carmen is very proud of her horror work, especially
Fright Night Part 2 and
In the Mouth of Madness. And, she is still stunning as ever! I also love that she is Latina, as the horror genre could always use more Latin women. I don't know if she has ever done any horror conventions, but I would love to see her at one someday! As one of my long time favorite actresses and longest running crushes, and as someone I think deserves more love and fandom, I am proud to make her this site's latest Horror Crush!
