Castle Freak

I've been holding this DVD now for about a month and a half, and I kept putting it off. For the sole reason, I hear so much "It sucks", and "It's great" talk. Well, I'm going with the latter. I didn't think it was great...but I did find it to be pretty damn good.

Movie is about a family that inherits a castle that has a secret. That secret being a Castle Freak. A Castle Freak you say? Yup. After his "caretaker" sh!ts the bed, poor ole C.F. is left alone. Luckily for him, Jeffrey Coombs and his family (hot mom and hot blind daughter, by the way, say no more) inherit this mammoth castle. Eventually C.F. gets loose and unfortunately he doesn't know how to control himself. You tend to feel bad for C.F. in the movie, so when he does kill (spoiler maybe?....shut up!) you really don't care. But I connected and cared for him most was when he had trouble with members of the opposite sex. Definitely the top scenes of this flick. The acting was surprisingly efficient. You have B movie actor extrodinaire Jeffrey Coombs play the dad in a really great role. I was expecting his trademark expressions, but instead of the close ups, they focused more on his tone of voice and the scene. Which really helped the film and acting. The others all played the roles very well, no complaints. If you're complaining about this movie's acting you need your head checked....it's a Direct-to-Video film. It was definitely a surprise to me....and most likely it'll be a surprise to you....the horror fan.

I give it around a 7 1/2.....like I said it wasn't great. But damn, the movie was unique, fun, sometimes creepy and overall a welcome edition to the land of HORROR! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just had the opportunity to sit down and revisit the 1995 "Castle Freak" movie; a movie that I have seen three or four times since it was originally released.

This 1995 movie titled "Castle Freak" is still a very enjoyable movie, even now in 2021. And that is also applicable even with the 2020 remake that they put out there. But truth be told Stuart Gordon's 1995 movie is just a tad better than the remake. Plus, the 1995 version has both Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton on the cast list, so what is there not to like?

The storyline, which is based on a H. P. Lovecraft story, is entertaining and enjoyable, despite of it being somewhat clichéd for a mid-1990s horror movie. But writers Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli did good jobs with constructing the storyline for "Castle Freak".

"Castle Freak" has good special effects, and they still hold up even now in 2021, 26 years after the movie was released.

Needless to say that it is because of Jeffrey Combs that I initially watched "Castle Freak" back in 1995, and it is still a treat to sit down and watch it this many years after.

My rating of "Castle Freak" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I didn't have high expectations for this movie and it started off slow, but this turned into a pretty messed up movie. Not messed up in a Deliverance or Vulgar type of homosexual rape way but messed up as far as how the creature in the film is created, how come the creature is created, and how the creature kills others. Some pretty gory scenes featuring nudity with gore, dismemberment and mutilation for those who are into that sort of thing.

The movie had a low budget feel to it, which many horror/gore fans are into, but regardless, the creature looked pretty realistic and disfigured. My complaint with the creature is that when you are disfigured, handicapped and starved nearly to death, that would weaken you. It seemed to make this a superhuman disfigured person who can jump out of second story windows and still run to catch up to it's victim. He wouldn't be so quiet either, at least in his case.

It took nearly an hour for the movie to fully get going with the horror after the build up, but it turned into a pretty decent effort. I didn't even rent this movie, it came as a special feature to Deathbed on the DVD, and felt this movie was far better than the one they actually featured. I give this movie 7 of 10 stars.

Couple (Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton) moves into an old castle with their blind daughter (Jessica Dollarhide), but are plagued by weird noises, unexplained visitors, and a series of murders that are taking place in the castle. In order to clear his name of the killings, Combs sets out to find out what is lurking about the house. Scary, atmospheric thriller with some good death scenes and creative make-up is a welcomed comeback by horror director Stuart Gordan.

Unrated; Graphic Violence, Sexual Situations, Nudity, and Profanity.

A family of three (Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton and Jessica Dollarhide) have inherited a castle, but have no plans to stay on. So they take inventory in order to sell off the property. But they aren't the only living relatives -- in the basement is the "castle freak", a deformed cannibal chained to the dungeon. If he gets loose, the family's heritage may become one of pure carnage.

Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator") directs this film with a cast consisting of Jeffrey Combs ("Re-Animator") and Barbra Crampton ("Re-Animator"), produced by Charles Band ("Re-Animator"). Maybe you've caught on, but this is something of a "Re-Animator" reunion... with a few people missing. And a much lower production value (the film quality looks like 1970s issue or something from PBS during British comedy hour). For the most part, this is pretty solid film.

Combs is quite good, and one wonders why he's not given leading roles more often. Crampton is also good, and the blind girl (Jessica Dollarhide, in her only feature film) was remarkable. The freak? I have to say the makeup, effects and even the mannerisms were impressive. There's a scene where a prostitute meets her end... and they really went out of their way to show how horrific the freak could be.

The story isn't fast-paced or action-packed, so if you need to be constantly entertained, this may not be for you. But if you like a good development in your plot, I think you'd appreciate this lost treasure (definitely one of the lesser-seen Gordon horror films). I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been, because I was half in the bag from drinking Scoresby Scotch (it's the connoisseur's Scotch)... but it kept me feeling pretty good. Thanks, Full Moon Features, for one of your better offerings.