Castle Freak
by Stuart Gordon
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Crampton, Jeffrey Combs, Jessica Dollarhide, Jonathan Fuller, Massimo SarchielliDirector: Stuart Gordon
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-12-16
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: FULL MOON
Movie Reviews of Castle Freak
Movie Review: I Don't Know Who's Sloppier; The "Freak" or Stuart Gordon?
Summary: 3 Stars
Well, the freak isn't actually a "freak". He's more the product of poor parenting (that's putting it mildly). I haven't seen everything Stewart Gordon has done, but I've seen enough to know he always had the potential to make a less than stellar film. "Castle Freak" is the evidence. The title of this film conjures up so many ghoulishly delightful images in ones mind. My imagination had all kinds of demented scenarios for this film. None of them were quite as lifeless as this. While trying to figure out why this film fizzled, the only honest reason I could come up with is that Stewart Gordon got sloppy and/or lazy. All the elements for a fun horror film were at his disposal and he muffed it. Let's break down what he had and what he did with it:
-CREEPY ENVIRONMENT
Apparently this was shot on the same setting as "Pit and the Pendulum". Even the exterior looks just unkempt enough to garner doubt about its security. Much of "Freak" takes place in the sufficiently dank dark corners of the cellar. Nearly the rest takes place in a pub, the rustic kitchen, a bedroom and the "Castle" ramparts (topside). This is limited but sufficient if used properly.
-GRUESOME CREATURE EFFECTS
Yea, this "Freak" is a glorious mess. They used full body makeup for reasons an explanation would spoil. Gordon never had bad makeup and prosthetic people in any film I've seen. Plenty of blood gets smeared around too.
-TRIED AND TRUE CAST
Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton are Gordon veterans by the time this gets made. They both proved highly enjoyable in their previously campy, but convincing roles. Nobody else hurt this film with bad acting.
-A FAIR CONCEPT
The results of life long neglect and abuse on the loose; what more could you ask for.
-THE RESULTS (some mild spoilers, no plot conveyed)
I think the first problem I had with this film is that it's played too straight. Because of this, Combs is completely out of his element. He's not good enough an actor to pull of a leading man role in a straight horror film without looking incapable. Everyone else did a fair job considering they were given nothing to do. Another unwelcome result of playing it straight; it got a little boring. Despite some nasty sexual situations (in one, Combs looks porno bad) and an adequate body count, none of it was unique or particularly well staged. The pacing just languished in the attempt at a deep, emotional story. There were some thought provoking psychological situations here, but not enough to keep it going. With the lack of humor, the copious blood was simply gratuitous where in other Gordon films it heightened the fun gross-out factor.
I like horror played straight, but Stewart Gordon just didn't do a good job of it here. The actual "Freak" was an abomination. Though you should feel sympathy, you simply want him dead to end his demented suffering and horrific acts. The chases were clumsy, the action mediocre and fairly unimaginative and the mistakes glaring. Check out Combs running up the castles tower staircase. As the stone steps turns to wood, his foot-falls still sound like stone. Check out the blind daughter falling down into the cellar. When she reaches the bottom, her cane falls wildly behind her. She cusses at her violent tumble and scrapes, then quickly turns and reaches for her cane; BULLS EYE!! In a film played for camp, this is forgivable and actually funny. In this attempt, it came off as inept. Of course, many films make mistakes; but I don't usually notice them so easily. I like Stewart Gordon's "bite me" attitude, and I love his more campy efforts; they are gruesome, shocking, imaginative and fun. I think he discovered playing it straight is not his strength. I can't say this film is all that fun, scary or enjoyable on any level, though disturbing it can be. For the curious, a rental will do. I can't recommend you buy it though.
-Concept....3.5 stars
-Players.....3 stars
-Creature...3.5 stars
-Script.......2 stars
-Effort......2 stars
2.8 Stars.
Summary of Castle Freak
John Reilly (Jeffrey Combs) has come to Italy with wife and blind daughter in tow to arrange for the sale of his newly inherited castle. Unbeknownst to these folks, the duchess who willed the castle to Reilly kept her kid shackled in the dungeon, lambasting him regularly with a wicked cat-o'-nine-tails. Though the duchess is gone, the eponymous freak remains, now fully grown. As the family moves into the castle to await its sale, internal conflicts concerning Reilly's guilt over the blinding of the daughter, and the blame from his wife, further fracture their unstable family unit. Castle Freak escapes his shackles in search of food, and more importantly human warmth. The Freak just doesn't know how to express his need for love in a socially acceptable way, however, and seems destined for an unsavory end at the hands of the something-to-prove Reilly, who must find some way to route to vicious creature. But there's more than one way to skin a cat (though they only use one of those ways in this picture). Fitting addition to the oeuvre of splatter specialist Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator). --Jim GayHorror DVD Video
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