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17 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly good, 3 April 2005

Author: simonsayz-1 from Haguenau, France

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.

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18 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
True horror, 23 February 1999

Author: charly1 from Pittsburgh, PA

This was a surprise from Full Moon. Many of their films are gory but have a sense of humor. This one hits a homerun for fans in search of a creepy castle setting. The story is slightly predictable, but thoroughly engrossing. There are some truly horrific scenes, hard to watch. Perhaps more of Hollywood could take a lesson from this movie. Surprisingly well acted from actors who tend to be B level normally.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Definitely, an underrated movie!, 24 November 2005

Author: José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984) from Mexico

Stuart Gordon, the man behind that classic named "Re-Animator", returns to his Lovecraftian roots with "Castle Freak", a movie that has not received the recognition it deserves; which some may consider a crime, since this was one of the very few good horror movies that came out in the 90's.

Horror Icon Jeffrey Combs(also from "Re-Animator") stars in this Gothic tale of a man, John Reilly, who inherits an Italian castle, only to find that there is a secret lurking deep inside of it. Gordon takes this simple plot(slightly based in "The Outsider") and adds depth to Combs character and his family: he killed his 6 years old son in a car accident while driving drunk. This event has marked his family, destroying his relationship with his wife Susan(Barbara Crampton) and his daughter Rebecca(Jessica Dollarhide), who was blinded in the accident.

All this conflicts explode in the castle when a prostitute brought by John appears brutally killed in a savage way, and all the clues point to John; who now not only must prove himself innocent, but also must save his family from the mysterious being who lurks in the castle.

Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton give one of their best performances. Crampton's Susan Reilly is truly believable as a mother who has lost a child and blames his former lover of everything that goes wrong in her life; while Combs shines as the man overwhelmed by guilt who must face his own demons to gain the strength to save his family.

Gordon's direction is remarkable, as he manages to keep a Gothic atmosphere while making the film shocking by including a few extremely graphic gory scenes. Makes a nice contrast that many have attempted but very few manage to achieve.

The make-up is outstanding and very realistic, there was a lot of heart in the production of the horrifying scenes. A true love for the horror genre.

The movie does not disappoint and flows smoothly from the beginning to the end, it never gets boring and the script is really well constructed. While the movie may not be exactly Lovecraft's story, it still has that spirit mixed with that visual style of Gordon that has given us jewels such as the previously mentioned "Re-Animator", and the awesome "Dagon".

While this is not as good as those 2 movies, it still stands as one of the best horror movies of the 90's, keeping that soul that 70's & 80's horror films used to have.

Very recommended for fans of the genre. 8/10

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16 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Depressing,disgusting,excellent!, 27 December 2001

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Castle Freak" is brilliant!It's gory and downbeat film from Stuart Gordon("Re-Animator","From Beyond")-I love it!Anyway this one has a cult fave Jeffrey Combs and a rather frumpy Barbara Crampton moving into a castle where a freak has been chained in a dungeon for many years.It kills a hooker brought home by Combs,then goes after the family.Great special effects,good direction and solid acting.Gordon manages to create some pretty tense moments(especially this gruesome sex/death scene!),and there are enough good scares and shocks to make you jump a few times.The scene,when freak bites off hooker's nipple is pretty repulsive and disturbing.A must-see for genre fans!

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
One of Full Moon's Better Films, 15 July 2008

Author: gavin6942 from United States

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.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Nice, gory intense and tragic, 12 November 2003

Author: r-kanne from stavanger, norway

Plot: A guy is kept hidden away in a dungeon by his mother and she beats him to a bloody pulp every night. A family of three (mother, father and daughter) inherits the castle. They come to look at it and shocking acts start to unravel themselves in and around the castle..

Acting: Jeffrey Combs star as the father and plays out the role like he would Hamlet or something. He is excellent. Never dull for a second. The guy playing "the Freak" also delivers solid work in portraying the hideously deformed and tragically lonely monster as he childly limpers around the cold castle in search of someone.

Form: It is a truly frightening experience this film. It contains some of the most violent scenes in cinema. But still it manages to let the emotions be dominant in most scenes including the scenes containing hard violence. It is a deeply tragic film in many ways and Stuart Gordon(director) plays with your feelings throughout the film. Many critics and others have used this against Gordon and his movies. I don`t think that is fear at all. I mean, do we ever ask an extreme painter why he is toying with our emotions?

Who is it for?: Well, as I mentioned before this is a pretty violent piece of film. It is not for kids and not for adults who don`t feel good about seeing killings and torture up close and personal. If you are, on the other hand, a fan of movies that do contain realistic violence as well as realistic emotions, camerawork and acting see it now.

Don`t hesitate. Oh, and if you are a fan of Stuart Gordon you simply have to see it!

Grade: 8 out of 10

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Castle Pervert, 24 October 2006

Author: ElijahCSkuggs from Happy Land, who lives in a Gumdrop House on Lolly Pop Lane

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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12 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
What a F@*%#D Up Freakin' Movie!, 9 October 2004
Author: BigHardcoreRed from Calimesa, California

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.

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8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
* * * out of 4., 21 August 2002
Author: Brandon L. Sites (brandonsites1981@yahoo.com) from USA

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.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Very effective mid 90's horror film., 29 June 2004
Author: insomniac_rod from Noctropolis

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A well made horror flick. *SPOILERS!*

"Castle Freak" isn't a straight slasher even that it's very gory. The scare factor is present and works in the right moments. The "haunted mansion" elements are effective and with the presence of a deformed killer, the movie gets a strong 80's horror movie feeling. The atmosphere is dark as the castle is big and creepy. Too bad that only few places in the castle were used. The acting is pretty good here for being a mid 90's direct to video horror film from Full Moon Pictures. Jeffrey Combs (John Reilly) delivers a solid and believable performance (expect when he's drunk). He carries the film on his back and delivers. Barbara Crampton (Susan Reilly) gives a good performance but her cute face and pretty looks makes difficult to believe that she can survive the situations. Jessica Dollarhide (Rebecca Reilly) is good at the blind daughter character (not to mention that she's hot). Girgio the horrible freak is just o.k. About the Giorgio character, it depends on your point of view to label him as villain, victim, misunderstood being, or retarded person.

Giorgio lost contact with the real world for 40 years, he didn't perfection his 5 senses and his body grew deformed. He obviously was a victim of his crazed mother. It wasn't his fault to act like a wild, nonsense animal when he escaped. In fact, his intention wasn't to kill he just copied human behaviors and acted in self-defense when attacked. For example, when he enters Rebeca's room he looked for a blanked to cover from the cold, I didn't see any intentions to have sex with her. I can't talk about his sexual needs as it's shown that his mother castrated him. His sexual instinct was repressed and it seemed to cause him emotional disorders as he couldn't satisfy it. But that's not the main point of the movie. He's portrayed as the killer and that's what it matters.

The make-up is also pretty good; Giorgio looks gross and scary at some times and the gore scenes look pretty gruesome. The prostitute's death is the highlight of the movie as it's extremely graphic and gruesome. It has somewhat generated an opinion in almost every horror fan that watches this film. I found it disturbing but pleasant for the gore genre. The scene is one of the most memorable gory deaths from any movie in the 90's.

The score didn't work, a movie with this atmsophere and plot needed a more chilling score. Stuart Gordon's direction isn't something you've never seen, it's just decent. I like the 80's horror feeling in this movie combined with the dramatic tones. At the ending even that John failed as a husband and father, he managed to save his family from death. The chasing scene at the ending is thrilling, unlike the final confrontation with the freak who deserved a better death. Still, the ending pleases the viewer as the main hero and the villain die at the same time. Susan forgives him for J.J.'s death, his alcoholism, and his unfaithful after he dies. Nice dramatic touch in a horror film. I'd recommend this film to any horror fan, it delivers expectations. But watch the director's un cut version, that's the one that worths the watch. A good crafted horror flick.

7.5/10

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