This is another example of solid B-horror that we have come to expect from Staurt Gordon (of Reanimator and Dagon fame).
An unhappy family moves to a castle in Italy that the husband has inherited. What they don't know is that they have also inherited the castle's secret prisoner, the CASTLE FREAK! Held captive in secret his entire life, the Freak escapes from his forgotten cell and starts to lurk around the castle. He is timid at first, never having had contact with people. Slowly he grows confident and angry, soon running amok. To prevail against the hideous CASTLE FREAK, the Reilly family must discover the ugly secrets of their own past, and learn to trust one another again.
Obscene gore ensues.
This cheap film is better than most B-horror for a few reasons. For one thing, the acting is generally good (except for the blind daughter, who can't act a whit). The story is original. The script is unpolished, but it has enough going on to keep you interested, without introducing needless complications. The monster is really scary, right up there with Frankenstein's monster. The gore is over-the-top and satisfying. There was too much emphasis on sexual assault for my tastes, but who ever said that B-horror was going to be tasteful? What I really liked about this movie is that it preserves all of the sensibilities of trashy horror, while actually focusing on the Reilly family and their troubles (which did not start with the CASTLE FREAK). The film actually has a *recurring theme*: family loyalty. Breach of family loyalty created the CASTLE FREAK, and only family loyalty can defeat him.
So, I give Gordon credit for making a perfect B-horror and throwing in an iota of meaning.
An unhappy family moves to a castle in Italy that the husband has inherited. What they don't know is that they have also inherited the castle's secret prisoner, the CASTLE FREAK! Held captive in secret his entire life, the Freak escapes from his forgotten cell and starts to lurk around the castle. He is timid at first, never having had contact with people. Slowly he grows confident and angry, soon running amok. To prevail against the hideous CASTLE FREAK, the Reilly family must discover the ugly secrets of their own past, and learn to trust one another again.
Obscene gore ensues.
This cheap film is better than most B-horror for a few reasons. For one thing, the acting is generally good (except for the blind daughter, who can't act a whit). The story is original. The script is unpolished, but it has enough going on to keep you interested, without introducing needless complications. The monster is really scary, right up there with Frankenstein's monster. The gore is over-the-top and satisfying. There was too much emphasis on sexual assault for my tastes, but who ever said that B-horror was going to be tasteful? What I really liked about this movie is that it preserves all of the sensibilities of trashy horror, while actually focusing on the Reilly family and their troubles (which did not start with the CASTLE FREAK). The film actually has a *recurring theme*: family loyalty. Breach of family loyalty created the CASTLE FREAK, and only family loyalty can defeat him.
So, I give Gordon credit for making a perfect B-horror and throwing in an iota of meaning.