Review #19 - Castle Freak (1995)
This film is nuts.
Total Score: 14/23.
My second Stuart Gordon film, but definitely not my last. Re-Animator (1985) this was not. With Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Jonathan Fuller and Jessica Dollarhide this is a tense gothic narrative with some tragic backstories and truly nasty gore. For me, it was something of a diamond in the rough - I couldn’t tell you why I decided to watch it over From Beyond (1986) but rest assured that’s high on my list.
Anyway, the gore is super effective and shocking after a low and slow buildup of misery and spooky atmosphere. The film balances this violence with some fairly poignant moments, but overall it is pretty gratuitous - which is honestly kinda what you’re hoping for with Gordon.
Jeffrey Comb’s character is straight out of a Stephen King novel. The whole (slightly confusing) story is like a mix between the latter and HP Lovecraft - a weird, unsettling and gruesomely violent rollercoaster.
I will admit that the very end could’ve lost ten minutes or so, and was predictable enough, but even so there were loads of grim and chilling scenes.
To list a few:
The monster repeatedly looming over Rebecca. Eurgh.
The extremely nasty twist on the already fairly seedy sex scene - be warned, it’s stomach-churning.
The drunk-driving reveal - really drives an emotional spear into your heart.
The whole movie is a mash of monster, ghost and real-life horror that ended up working in a fairly successful tandem. The opening thirty minutes or so set the tone, and the first murder SMASHES it to bits. Like, holy shit. Also, mandatory cat bashing scene - a little unpleasant but very Gordon.
On another point, the whipping boy idea was an interesting idea brought back in the last moments of the film to great effect. Love when a film has deeper stuff happening, and it isn’t carrying the story! Grief in horror without it taking over the whole plot! Stranger things have happened.
To close things off, I want to say that I did check out (read, skim through) the remake and it didn’t grab me. The original just has a unique vibe to it that I feel is lacking in the modern film - or maybe that’s just the presence of Jeffrey Combs.
Anyway, as ever, thanks for reading,
Until next time,
H.E.
P.S. This film might be based on Lovecraft’s The Outsider (1926) - which is a brilliant short story you should go and read.
Love Stuart Gordon, but never seen this one! Not sure why.
This is a much more darker and emotional film from Stuart Gordon than we are used to. One of my favorites of the 90's