JORDAN LADD
THEN: Do you ever sit back and catch classic 70’s and 80’s television? If so, you may remember the goofy series Charlie’s Angels. The parade of hottie show revolved around “three little girls who went to the police academy” who end up working as private investigators for a fellow named Charlie. If there is anything to gain from Charlie and his Angels, it all worked thanks to the hotness of the female leads. Why am I talking about this old series? Well, one of the gals on this show was Cheryl Ladd, and let’s just say that stunning beauty runs in her family. The actress is mother to one of my favorite genre hotties, and just to be clear, we are talking about the luminous Jordan Ladd.
Aside from playing a three-year-old version of her mother’s character in Charlie’s Angels, Jordan didn’t really start working until 1990. This included a ton of bit parts, and an appearance on Saved By The Bell: The New Class in 1994. Of course there were bigger opportunities for this lovely young starlet. She appeared in the Alyssa Milano erotic vampire flick EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE in 1995, the Gregg Araki awesome oddity NOWHERE in 1997. She even starred opposite her mother in a TV-movie called Every Mother’s Worst Fear in 1998. However, horror fans were about to get a seriously messed up introduction to this talented young lady and yes, the gorgeous Ms. Ladd soon found herself battling a flesh eating virus.
In 2002, the world was introduced to the sick and twisted mind of Eli Roth with CABIN FEVER. The surprise hit featured a number of talented actors, and the most likable one seemed to suffer the worst. In the film, Jordan Ladd’s character Karen was the first of her friends to contract this awful disease. And my oh my did they pour the gruesome sauce all over her. Worst of all, her so-called friends locked her in a tool shed with no regard for her well being. What a f*cked up way to go. And yes, Jordan was especially good here, and she quickly became one to watch in the horror world.
Next up for Jordan was the comedic horror flick from Broken Lizard, CLUB DREAD in 2004. This humorous take on slasher flicks featured Ms. Ladd in a way that even Mr. Roth couldn’t. The actress inspired a number of geek fantasies with a topless scene that has probably been searched time and time again on Google – you have to wonder how people feel about leering eyes hunting down their pics online. Thankfully, the actress had much more than nudity to offer – not that I’ve got issue with what she did reveal of course – and she seemed right at home in this bizarre little comedy. This blonde beauty continued down the horror path with her next few features. And this genre lover is more than thankful for it.
Speaking of more spooks, in 2004 Jordan starred in the underrated flick MADHOUSE along with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’s Joshua Leonard. Not to say that this was a great film, in fact, I don’t remember it terribly well. But what I do remember is enjoying my hour and a half sitting back, and perhaps even having a fright or two. It also helps that you had genre great Lance Henriksen and Natasha Lyonne rounding out the cast. Next up she appeared in the restaurant style comedy WAITING… with Ryan Reynolds in 2005 and she joined in for the David Lynch flick INLAND EMPIRE. But horror was just around the corner for Jordan once again.
In 2007 the actress starred in what needs to be a full on feature film, the Eli Roth faux trailer THANKSGIVING which was also a part of the groovy double bill GRINDHOUSE. And yes, she was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s half of the double bill in DEATH PROOF. It was a horror one two punch, and she was a welcome part of the Eli Roth group of regulars. In fact, she was even featured in HOSTEL: PART 2 that same year. There are many things that I appreciate about Eli Roth, and one of the main things is his eye for beauty. Jordan is a major hottie, and she has an incredible on-screen charm. With a ton of indie credits to her name, she has struck a chord with horror fans. While she has certainly entertained in other types of films, she is damn good doing scary, including the under appreciated GRACE from 2009. As a Paul Solet fan, I consider this one of her best performances to date.
NOW: So what is this lovely lady from CABIN FEVER up to lately? After taking a little bit of time off after a couple of flicks in 2012, the actress has a couple of recent TV credits. In 2015 she appeared in both Stay Filthy, Cali and Scary Endings. And according to her IMDB page, she has a ton of stuff in the works. Horror fans have WILLIAM FROSTE – also starring Miko Hughes, Tyler Mane, Kane Hodder and Bill Moseley – as well as HELLSTORM which also features a cool list of genre talent. Among other titles, you can look for Ms. Ladd in GOOD GRIEF, NUMBA ONE and BLUE LINE. While none of these seem to be huge releases, it is nice to see this talented actress working.
If you’d like to keep track of what Jordan is up to, you can check her out on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I’ve always found her to have a certain spark, and she certainly was able to do the scream queen thing quite well. While I discovered the actress from her gory days with Eli, there is a ton of her work that I’ve yet to uncover. Let’s just hope that we’ll be seeing much more of her in the future.