Castle Freak (1995)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

Stuart Gordon (story)
H.P. Lovecraft (story)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Hideous... hungry... and loose!

Plot:

A troubled couple and their blind daughter come to Italy to visit a 12th Century castle they've inherited...

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Freak | Cat | Flashback Sequence | Alcohol

Cast

Jeffrey Combs	...	John Reilly
Barbara Crampton	...	Susan Reilly
Jonathan Fuller	...	Giorgio
Jessica Dollarhide	...	Rebecca Reilly
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Giannetti
Elisabeth Kaza	...	Agnese
Luca Zingaretti	...	Forte
Helen Stirling	...	Duchess D'Orsino
Alessandro Sebastian Satta	...	JJ
Raffaella Offidani	...	Sylvana
Marco Stefanelli	...	Benedetti
Tunny Piras	...	Grimaldi
Rolando Cortegiani	...	Tonio
Carolyn Gordon	...	The Gelato People
Suzanna Gordon	...	The Gelato People

Also Known As:

Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong violence and gore, a scene of sexuality and some language.

Runtime:

90 min | USA:95 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:R | Germany:18 | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Giove, Terni, Umbria, Italy

Company:

Full Moon Enterprises

Trivia:

The castle used in the film is an actual Italian castle owned by the president of Full Moon Pictures, the distribution company.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the family gets to the castle, the castle freak rips off his left thumb to escape the handcuffs. In the end where he is kissing the daughter, he clearly has two thumbs.

Quotes:

Rebecca Reilly: There's somebody else here there's somebody in the castle!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: Castle Freak" (2003)

Surprisingly good

I really didn't expect much when I picked this movie up, considering its pedigree (a Full Moon low-budget picture shot in Italy). What a pleasure then that this turned out much better than expected. Good use is made of the Italian locations, especially the castle, and Stuart Gordon uses many cool angles to keep things interesting. Reputation has him as an over-the-top-gore director, but this doesn't do him full justice. He is also good in building atmosphere, and this is "Castle Freak"'s biggest asset. The gore is relatively minimal, and instead of indulging us with gore, he goes for a dark and tragic atmosphere, convincingly combining a traumatized family and a mistreated, misunderstood monster in the "Frankenstein"-tradition. This means that despite reuniting the Gordon-Combs-Crampton triumvirate "Re-Animator"-Fans should beware: this one is played strictly as drama/tragedy with not a single laugh in sight. The screenplay is well-developed with convincing characters and reasonably good dialogue. Nothing that is Academy Award-material, but who'd expect that from a movie called "Castle Freak"? Acting is also spot on, especially Jeffrey Combs in a straight man role (for once). While it would go to far to call this a lost genre classic, it deserves to be seen by more people than probably did. If you're a genre fan, give "Castle Freak" a chance. It might just win you over, like it did with me.