Castle Freak has a kind of gothic feel to it with it being set in an actual Italian castle in Italy. This was one of the first Full Moon movies I watched after discovering the Puppet Master series. Also, my first introductions to Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton. A darker movie than some of the other Full Moon movies, but pretty good.

Released: 14 Nov 1995

Runtime: 90 mins

Director: Stuart Gordon

Writer: Stuart Gordon, H.P. Lovecraft, Dennis Paoli

Actors: Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Jonathan Fuller

MY THOUGHTS

There’s seven kills and even a poor cat dies. Some of the kills are a bit bloody, but not too gory. Other than the poor prostitute who has several bites, ummm… in very sensitive areas. As far as gory, I would say the creature is a bit gory. Deformed face and at one point he bites and tears off his thumb. You do get to see the bite and the deformed thumb on the floor. 

I think, for the most part, the acting is pretty good. I’ll watch anything Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton are in. Jeffrey Combs is known for his work in Re-Animator, the Frighteners, and Would You Rather just to name a few. I must admit, when I was younger I had a small crush on the actor so I would watch everything he was in. Now Barbara Crampton is one of our OG scream queens. She’s been in movies such as Re-Animator, Chopping Mall, From Beyond, and many more. She’s also in the more recent Superhost and Jakob’s Wife. It’s always a nice surprise when she’s in the movie.

The plot is a basic one. A family movies into a castle and something is in there with them. But that’s not all. We have a family that is broken because of a dead child and their other child was blinded. Then add the secrets of the castle, and you don’t have a basic plot anymore. You have an interesting story, with an actual Italian castle, and this makes for a decent movie.

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I wanted to take a quick break to let you know I found these great deals on Amazon for Castle Freak merchandise. I’ve applied to Amazon’s affiliate program and if I can get three purchases I will be accepted into the program. This will be of tremendous help with starting my small business.

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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention “Ding-Dong Gate”. Yes, Ding-Dong Gate. This is where there was a split amongst the fans of the movie. One side said the creature ripped off his genitals and the other side said he didn’t. This lasted for about a year before the podcast “The Flop House” got an answer straight from Stuart Gordon. That no, he didn’t rip off his ding dong.

Overall, a decent Full Moon Entertainment movie from Stuart Gordon. I definitely recommend this if you like the actors and the director. 

And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:

• The castle in the film is an actual Italian castle in the small town of Attigliano owned by the president of Full Moon Pictures.

• Based slightly on HP Lovecraft's short story, The Outsider.

• The film was blessed by the Vatican for fears of the effect on its viewers.

Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl

Let’s get into the rankings:

Kills/Blood/Gore: 4/5

Sex/Nudity: 2.5/5

Scare factor: 3/5

Enjoyment factor: 4/5

My Rank: 3.87/5

IMDB: 6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: critics:  5.7/10  audience:  4.4/10

Letterboxd: 3.1/5