Walking the runway into horror hell
CAROLINE MUNRO: THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)
This Windsor-born beauty took a number of uncredited parts during her early acting days, but her turn as Dr. Phibes’ dead wife, Victoria, in Robert Fuest’s picture is the one that put Munro on the genre map. Her modeling career began when a snapshot of her was sent to the “Evening News” for a modeling competition. She was named “The Face of 1966.” She later starred in Dracula A.D. 1972, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, The Last Horror Film and Maniac.
GRACE JONES: VAMP (1986)
Singer? Yes. Model? You bet, she posed often for Andy Warhol. Conan’s bitch? I dare you to try telling this lithe, intimidating gal that to her face. Jones’ career in film doesn’t quite match her musical oeuvre – you might remember her in the James Bond flick A View to a Kill – but she did find time to play a bloodsucking queen in Vamp, a film which predates From Dusk Till Dawn and also tells of vampires strippers feasting on their clientele.
MONICA BELLUCCI: BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992)
Thank you, Italy. Model turned actress, Bellucci put the bite on both American audiences and Keanu Reeves’ junk when she appeared as one of Dracula’s brides in Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel. This paved the way for Brotherhood of the Wolf, the Matrix films, Irreversible and recent Disney fodder The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
ANNA FALCHI: CEMETERY MAN (1994)
Thank you, Italy part two. Actually, Falchi was born in Finland, however, she moved to Italy in the ’70s where her modeling career kicked off. To American horror fans, she’s best known as the haunting lover of Francesco Dellamorte in Cemetery Man.
KELLY BROOK: RIPPER (2001)
British and busty Kelly Brook will be seen in Piranha 3D, however, that wasn’t her first turn in a horror film. Astute genre fans might remember her popping up in John Eyres’ 2001 Jack the Ripper flick Ripper: Letter from Hell, starring A.J. Cook and Bruce Payne.
TYRA BANKS: HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (2002)
Director Rick Rosenthal’s return to the Michael Myers franchise turned out to be Banks’ last feature film role before America’s Next Top Model came along. And, oh, what a memorable role it was as Nora, a reality show producer working alongside Busta Rhymes’ Freddie. The two drop a group of college kids into the old Myers house and hilarity ensues.
ESTELLA WARREN: TRESPASSING (2004)
Canada: Good beer, great personalities and the home of this former model who kicked off her acting career in 2001. For some reason, she chose animal-themed flicks like Kangaroo Jack and Planet of the Apes. In ’04, she co-starred in James Merendino’s weak sauce supernatural thriller Trespassing, known here in the States as Evil Remains. It offered about as much to chew on as her previous efforts as she ran about the film watching her friends succumb to an evil presence on an old plantation.
REBECCA ROMIJN: GODSEND (2004)
Sport Illustrated fave Romijn’s film career was well underway when she chose to star in the “evil kid” thriller co-starring Greg Kinnear and Robert De Niro. The twist here is that said kid is a clone – boo-yah! Scary stuff! Not really. Still, it allowed Romijn to stretch her acting chops as an angst-ridden mother before Vera Farmiga cornered that territory for the double-whammy Joshua and The Orphan.
NAOMI CAMPBELL: THE CALL (2006)
While I’ll always just remember Campbell for her appearance in George Michael’s “Freedom! ’90” music video, the model and present war crimes trial participant starred in a 2006 Pirelli short film directed by Antoine Fuqua in which John Malkovich plays an exorcist. Check it out below!
Source: Ryan Turek, Managing Editor
