Castle Freak (1995)

A man struggles to save his family from the strange and deadly occurrences in the castle they've inherited.

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

Stuart Gordon (story), H.P. Lovecraft (story "The Outsider")

Stars:

Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Jonathan Fuller

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Purdy-Gordon	...	The Gelato People (as Carolyn Gordon)
Suzanna Gordon	...	The Gelato People

Storyline

A troubled couple and their blind daughter come to Italy to visit a 12th Century castle they've inherited. Soon they are plagued by unexplained noises, mysteriously broken objects, and the daughter's claims of an unknown nocturnal visitor to her bedroom. When the housekeeper and a local prostitute and are discovered savagely murdered in the castle's dungeon, John must unlock the castle's secret to save himself from jail and his family from the castle's secret inhabitant.

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Plot Keywords:

castle | monster | blind girl | sex scene | disfigurement | 

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Taglines:

Hideous... hungry... and loose!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Full Moon film to be released outside of Paramount.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Susan Reilly: [Creature walks over to grope Susan's exposed breasts]
[Susan then stabs the creature in the shoulder]
Susan Reilly: Yahh!
Susan Reilly: [Creature then rips Susan's bra off while trying to chase her out] Come on, Rebecca!

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Crazy Credits

Special thanks to H.P. Lovecraft, Andrea Barzini, Giovanni Natalucci, Michla Gisotti, Kimi Yamada, and the wonderful people of Giove, Italy.

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Alternate Versions

Unrated director's cut version includes more explicit sex and gore footage.

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Connections

Spoofed in Demonic Toys: Personal Demons (2010)

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Soundtracks

Jungle Love
Composed by Reg Powell

User Reviews

One of Full Moon's Better Films

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Swedish

Release Date:

14 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak

Filming Locations:

Terni, Umbria, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Full Moon Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 95 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1