Castle Freak (1995)

NIGHT 11

 

     "Rebecca is right, there is someone else in the castle!"

Castle Freak (1995) is a direct-to-video horror film very loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Outsider. This is the third film by Stuart Gordon that is based on a Lovecraft story after Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1986) and like those films, this film also stars Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton.

Castle Freak is about an American man who recently inherited a castle in Italy. Seeing this as a chance to repair his fractured family he moves them into the castle, but what they don't know is that someone or something is still living there...

If there is one thing going through these Lovecraft films has enlightened me of, is that I'm a huge fan of Stuart Gordon's direction. This may not be the best example of it, but this is proof that a good director can do miracles on a tiny budget. There is moments where the scene is basically "run after the actress down the hallway with the camera" but there's also much of this film with scenes where the mood is absolutely perfect. Unlike Re-Animator, this film has almost no humor to it, and for this story I think it really fits and also shows the range and versatility of Gordon's skill. There's a really nice crescendo to this film that really sets it apart from others like it.

As always, I'm a big fan of Jeffery Combs and here we see him in yet another completely opposite role of what he's played before for Gordon. Barbara Crampton wasn't bad either (there's parts to her character I really enjoyed) but it's safe to say we've seen the extent of her ability in these last couple films. Although I must admit that one of the things that made me want to see this film was that it had both her and Jeffery Combs in it again, so I can't be too negative. Surprisingly the supporting cast in this film is really decent too! Luca Zingaretti makes a very convincing and interesting local police officer, and the monster Giorgio played by Jonathan Fuller is very believable.

A lot of people would write this film off because of its "slasher" film elements, but I'd actually disagree. This film has everything a slasher film usually lacks: a nice build up, a great story behind it and a good resolution.

The exception to the good acting mentioned above is the daughter Rebecca played by Jessica Dollarhide. This isn't that uncommon with a low budget film and/or a young actor but having her opposite Jeffery Combs doesn't help at all. Unfortunately it looks like this was poor Jessica Dollarhide's last film and I don't think she was so terrible that she should have quit acting, she was just young!

Didn't care for the last ending fight with the monster. Putting it on the roof in the rain seemed like it was just trying to make it epic, when in actuality I found myself thinking how silly it was. And tying into that, I didn't love the ending either. It fits the characters but it just seems unnecessary and again attempting to be overly "epic."

So what makes this film so much better than all the others like it? A really tight story that has almost no added "fat" to cut. There's a very terrifying premise that is enhanced by the spooky mood of the first half, and the story also builds and crescendos very nicely (again much like Re-Animator) on multiple levels including madness of our protagonist, horror, gore and excitement level.

Castle Freak (1995) is actually a really good direct to video horror film, it shows how a director with real talent can share a compelling story and make a good film even on an extremely low budget. I highly recommend this widely unseen gem.

3.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




Tomorrow we finish Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft film streak as we move on to our 5th decade of Lovecraft films with Dagon (2001) only on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies.

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