Barbara Crampton

Word of warning: I have added some nude photos so if you do not like seeing a beautiful woman naked leave this blog post now.


Barbara Crampton (along with Rebecca DeMornay in Risky Business and Linnea Quigley in The Return of the Living Dead) was one of the first women I desired sexually as a teenager introduced to nudity.



A fantasy dream girl of mine, Crampton represented everything I have ever been attracted to. She could lose herself into the ‘girl next door’ or some ‘scientist’ in glasses (like From Beyond) part, roles which might hide the sex kitten underneath the disguise. I, however, have admired her willingness to “go all the way” in roles which demand a certain degree of courage.



Let’s face it, naked, strapped to a gurney, with a severed head between your legs, I imagine it wasn’t easy performing in front of the camera in such a situation without a degree of reservation and reluctance. The character was violated in an absurd way unlike anything we had every seen at that time. Maybe not sexually, but having to endure that devious professor's severed head ogling her body, without her ability to thwart off his leering, Crampton properly showed the horror such a ordeal would elicit. How could she not encourage arousal, especially in a dominatrix outfit in From Beyond? Crampton, to her credit, seemed unencumbered with the fear of surrendering her naked flesh to roles she portrayed> Such moments as her clothes being torn off by her lobotomized father in Re-Animator at the request of Dr. Hill, while unconcious due to a shock, soon awakening to find herself tied to that gurney for the film's most notorious scene, had to acquire a bit of bravery because many would not allow themselves to be put in such a precarious position for the sake of an absurd scene such as that.



Still, I liked her performances in Stuart Gordon’s pictures featuring Crampton, such as her most famous Re-Animator and (my favorite) From Beyond, as characters who just didn’t appear in as bubble-headed idiots that drop their clothes on screen. I cared about both characters, and didn’t want harm to come to them although danger was almost a guarantee considering the threats that existed in those films.




She appeared sparingly in other films like Castle Freak and Robot Wars (and Puppet Master), but I will never understand why she never achieved B-movie goddess status she so richly deserved. I watched Chopping Mall a week ago and couldn’t understand why director Wynorski didn’t feature Crampton in a more substantial role because she could easily play a better part than some ditzy moron who makes these stupid decisions that get her burned alive.

I didn’t think she was the same as those many other dumb ass blonds who bounce their boobs and stumble over their lines while on all fours receiving a shagging doggy style. Maybe this is why she didn’t make a lot more movies after Chopping Mall, appearing in a semi-lead role in Castle Freak as the estranged wife of Jeffrey Combs, or featured as more or less a “special guest star” in something obscure like Robot Wars. I noticed she got a part in Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem, so I smiled knowing that the director reached out to her to allow us to see Barbara once again.

As a 34 year old, I look back fondly at my teenage years when women like Barbara were so very vividly present in my mind, some might say I looked at her from purely lustful reasons, but I enjoyed not just her beautiful body, but those particular characters she portrayed before the interesting roles which could punctuate her sensual abilities on screen evaporated. Too bad, I wish there was as big a resume for Crampton as there is for Quigley who seems to have never stopped working. Perhaps Crampton simply wanted more quality parts while Quigley just wanted to keep working, but I hate that I can’t find a list of films with Barbara in them…you know goodies to discover.

I certainly get a geek thrill looking back at photos like the ones I have included here where she seems perfectly aware of her alluring qualities as a sexpot, uninhibited enough to establish her then-connection with sci-fi and horror.