Desire, Rebellion, and Southern Heat: The Story Behind Two Moon Junction
Upon its release in 1988, Two Moon Junction was more than just a provocative romance. With Southern gothic elements, the film captured and focused on passion, identity, and rebellion. Zalman King, who was the director, was known for working on emotionally driven erotic films (9½ Weeks, Wild Orchid). This film, More than any other, pushed the limits for a decade that was erotic, yet, fearful of bold overt eroticism. More than the gloss posters, the film’s provocative content focused on class disparity, self awakening, and the many consequences desire can bring. This was universal content that audiences connected with.
Two Moon Junction was also, and more about the charged story in the background. From the leading lady’s nervous debut to the extreme creative differences between art and sensuality, the story was as much about its makers as it was about the characters they personified.
The Forbidden Heat of the Story
The film tells the story of April Delongpre, a debutante southern belle from a Georgia high society family, and her engagement to Chad Douglas Fairchild, represented in the film by the actor Martin Hewitt, a man whose family history, wealth, and social status provides the stability and traditional elements that April’s family aspires for. Everything appears perfect in the planning of April’s life until she crosses paths with Perry Kerrick (Richard Tyson), a carnival worker who is naturally rugged and free-spirited.
The difference in background between the two characters as represented in the film could not be more contrasting. April is a product of the civilization, order, and control of a family’s legacy while Perry is a product and servant of the raw, instinctive, untamed, and primitive carnival. The danger in their impetuous attraction also casts a spell of social order that is relentless in the passion that drives the affair. It is a story of love and a story of the gentle but relentless confrontation of order and control in life and passion.
It is in the hand of the film’s director that the imagery and southern elements of the story are brought to life by the fine touches of his artistry and mastery of passion. The romance is a case of a metaphor for the awakening of the spirit. The transformation is a reflection of the inner turmoil, and the quest for a liberated identity. The passions of the 1980’s are the female gaze that questioned the roles that were thrust on them as mothers, wives, and daughters.
Sherilyn Fenn’s Leap into Fire
To Fenn , Two Moon Junction was her first major leading role and a daunting one. Fenn was still in her early twenties. Taking on April , Fenn was still in her early twenties. Taking on April meant stepping into a world of vulnerability and exposure , both emotionally and physically.
She later admitted that the project frightened her. “I was scared,” she said in an interview years later. “It wasn’t just about taking off my clothes — it was about revealing something raw.” Zalman King was known for pushing actors to access the deeper truths beneath the sensuality. He believed eroticism wasn’t just physical; it was psychological. And for Fenn, that meant confronting insecurities she hadn’t yet faced.
In the unconventional sense, King still balanced the sensitivity and the intensity. He would play music on set to evoke emotion, and, at times, constructed entire scenes on the fly based on her responses. The use of music in this way allowed Fenn to shift from a state of pure analytical thinking and move to a space of emotional involvement.
Richard Tyson Burned the Screen
Richard Tyson was Richard Fenn’s opposite as Perry Kerrick, the man every Southern belle was warned about. Richard Fenn started Perry, with earth magnetism, as a dangerous character, with a gentleness that made Perry more than a character.
Before the Kerrick character, Richard Tyson was mainly doing television and theater. Southern film atmosphere was fluent to him, since he was from Alabama. Tyson had the challenge of portraying the character as a sensual man, and not as a cliche. Perry’s character emotionally, and physically, was a big challenge for him and for the film, and he worked hard with King to find the best representation.
The Southern Setting: A Character in Itself
The main actors on set were described as working in silent concentration. It was observed by set crews that Tyson and Fenn almost never spoke during filming breaks. This was not out of tension, but rather to preserve the on screen chemistry that was to be ignited spontaneously for the film. This stillness created an intensity for the scenes, and the exquisite balance of power and vulnerability made the film and the story in it remarkably romantic instead of an ordinary erotic film.
The location for this film was the Southern United States. Due to the humid heat and even deadly Southern heat, the filming location of Two Moon Junction and the Southern United States was the county of Georgia. Southern Georgia and its intimate humid heat created conditions of release and restraint for the filming. This is what the filming staff was to capture.
The staff on set was going to be challenged by the high heat. Southern Georgia summer heat was extreme, surpassing even 100 degrees and the high heat was indefatigable. This was not lost on staff and filming crews as they reported having to destroy the film and reshoot scenes to get desired footage, due to condensation in filming soft boxes.
The payoff, however, was unassailable. Each work of cinematography stood out as a visual work of art. Captured moments and tension infused images, audiences were electrified to the point of overwhelming. Each pass of the visual image ignited new incendiary paintings of the inexplicable and unsatisfied passion of the desert.
The Public’s Divided Desire
When Two Moon Junction was made available to the public, the first erotic thriller of the late 1980’s, there were universally distributed and opposed reactions. Public interest, and the marketing campaign, was inspired by the unrestrained eroticism promised in the movies. For audiences, the finely crafted visual artworks combined with eroticism and emotional tension did much to satisfy a desire for art and eroticism.
The controversy that surrounded the film embraced, in opposition, the depiction of unbridled and unapologetic feminine passion. Approximately and imprecisely defining the film as erotic, without any provocative imagery, conservative audiences, and marketing, were made to believe it was an unopened, unrestrained, and unapologetic pass to the feminine spirit.
Behind the Velvet Curtains
What many don’t know is how personal this project was for Zalman King. He defined Two Moon Junction as a meditation on the conflict between one’s desires and one’s obligations. In this case, tension within King’s own artistry was the Hollywood studio system. Where King wanted mood and emotion, producers wanted more titillation. King’s final cut, a compromise, still showcased his signature style: poetic eroticism as a triumph over cheap sensationalism and shameful exploitation.
On set, King fostered a family atmosphere. Sherilyn Fenn has recalled that, even considering the sexual content, she was always safe and protected. King’s direction, which is rare in that period, seen balance, not objectifying — that, in the only other way — sexual exploitation.
The emotional depth was aided by the supporting cast. Louise Fletcher, as April’s grandmother, brought intensity and gravitas in Fletcher’s scenes with Fenn, which were the most emotionally charged of the story. It was a clash of generations and Old Southern ideals, passing to a freer, more self-aware, contemporary future.
The Legacy of a Fever Dream
Even after all these years, the jewel that is Two Moon Junction is part guilty pleasure, part art film. It represented a cultural shift, where erotic cinematic discourse attempted to compliment the showing of raw emotions on screen with articulation off screen. It also opened up a new chapter for its stars, Sherilyn Fenn and Richard Tyson, both of whom went on to tackle challenging roles that were much more varied than what they had done before.
Yet, for all its box office returns and critical discourse, the bravery of Two Moon Junction will remain unparalleled. It was the first to show that sin wasn’t a part of passion, that tenderness could be part of a rebellion, and that the human heart, bound by expectations, would always find its wild ways to free itself.
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