loomis78-815-989034 John (Combs) and Susan (Crampton) Reilly are at odds with each other due to a family tragedy that John caused. While driving drunk, John wrecks the car and kills his five year old son and blinds his teenage daughter Rebecca (Dollarhide). Susan isn't ready to forgive him yet but goes to Italy where John has just inherited a castle. The family struggles to adjust, but what they don't know is deep in the bowels of the castle is the title freak. A deformed man that was beaten, abused, and chained up since he was a small boy. Shortly after the family arrives the freak (Fuller) chews off his thumb to escape his chains and is loose in the castle observing the family. With her other senses heightened, Rebecca can feel his presence even though she can't see him. This makes for an eerie scene when the freak roams into her room to get a closer look. The family doesn't believe her claim after the police turn nothing up during a half-hearted exploration of the castle. John falls of the wagon one night and brings a prostitute (Raffaella Offidani) home and has sex with her as the freak watches. Once John leaves, the freak attacks her and kills her in gruesome fashion. The police suspect John when the prostitute doesn't show up anywhere and John is arrested. Two cops are sent to watch over Susan and Rebecca and they are quickly killed off as the girls try to fight off the freak during a rain storm in the finale. This is the third time stars Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton have teamed up with Director Stuart Gordon. Gordon manages to draw sympathy for the freak from the audience because the freak is like that due to years of cruelty. The castle provides some solid atmosphere as you might suspect and the lighting helps as well. The make up for the freak is ghastly and very effective and actor Jonathan Fuller does a good job in this difficult role. The freak is used much like the classic monsters of yesterday. He does graphic and terrible things but in ways it really isn't his fault. Like a lot of Stuart Gordon's movies, 'Castle Freak' doesn't skimp on graphic gore and blood and supplies it in good measure. Some of Gordon's normal dark humor is missing in this one, but it is stronger on atmosphere and mood. Set in Italy, this movie has a very Italian cinema feel to it, almost like a cross between Fulci and Argento. The thrilling ending in the rain storm is effective and suspenseful and the scenes where the freak is observing the blind Rebecca is the best of what this has to offer. Going down a slightly different path here, Gordon has a mild success with 'Castle Freak'.

BA_Harrison If there was any justice in the world, everyone would hold director Stuart Gordon in the same high regard as genre greats George Romero, John Carpenter, and Tobe Hooper. He might not have such a well recognised 'classic' in his resume as those guys (although Re-Animator comes close, I suppose), but it could be argued that the overall quality of his output has been consistently higher than these better-known horror luminaries (who, let's face it, have had their fair share of turkeys over the years).If you don't believe me, check out the director's dark fairytale Dolls, his twisted Lovecraft adaptations From Beyond and Dagon (and Re-Animator, of course), and the gritty shocker King of the Ants—all solid films worthy of a place in any self respecting horror fan's DVD collection. But better than any of those, in my humble opinion, is Castle Freak, a splendid Gothic horror that really does deliver the goods in practically every department: it's stylish, atmospheric, sexy, emotionally charged, scary, gory, and more than a little perverse, and even features the classic combo of Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton amongst its cast.Combs plays John Reilly, who along with his estranged wife Susan (Crampton) and blind daughter Rebecca (played by teen hottie Jessica Dollarhide), has travelled to Europe to take up temporary residence in the 12th century castle that they have recently inherited. As John sets about writing an inventory of the castle's contents, Rebecca explores her new home, unaware that a monstrously deformed freak lies chained up in the dungeon, and he's very, very hungry...In the hands of a less daring director, this could so have been an instantly forgettable piece of cheesy B-movie hokum, but Gordon's unique, twisted approach elevates it way above your usual direct to DVD fare, and guarantees a few eye-openers along the way. Be honest, how many horror films do you know that offer full frontal shots of their creature's mutilated genitalia? And can you name more than a couple of titles that depict a woman's nipple being bitten clean off? Or have you ever seen Jeffrey Combs bury his face deep in a hooker's crotch before giving her a quick knee-trembler? I'm guessing that you answered 'no' to at least two of those questions.

kclipper Not only is this one of the final films of Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures of the 1990s, but it is the last of the moderately budgeted horror genre's collaborations with the Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs, and Barbara Crampton trio. This is considered by many to be a complete failure on many levels, but good delivery of bad material and some very gory moments give fans a run for their money.Combs and Crampton are grieving parents after a car accident leaves their son killed and their daughter blinded. She can't seem to forgive the distraught dad for being intoxicated behind the wheel when it happened, which leaves the plot open for Comb's inevitable redemption. Sooner if not later, the family inherits a castle in Rome, and unfortunately, they also inherit the hideously deformed and tortured man chained up in the basement. After eating a cat, the freak gains enough strength to break his chains and go on a rampage after anyone found in the castle. Its pretty tasteless stuff as the completely naked creature bites a prostitute to death, tears out the throats of policemen and other sorts of gory mayhem, meanwhile the blind daughter and Combs are the only people convinced that there is someone else in the castle.This is a dingy looking movie that fails to provide mood or ambiance short of trying pretty hard. Combs and Crampton are now pros at what they do considering the material that they're given. The creature is more amusing than scary, but gore fans will be pleased with the overall gruesomeness. Too bad Full Moon Pictures didn't end their stay with a better bad movie, but left audiences in the rain with just plain bad instead.

gavin6942 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.