The filmmaking team of Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs, and Barbara Crampton have created horror masterpieces too in The Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1986). When a creative team works well together they tend to stick together. In addition to Gordon, Combs, and Crampton, a central part of these films is the Lovecraftian influence. All of these elements have come together once more to create another gruesome spectacle. CASTLE FREAK is another horror classic from Gordon, Combs, and Crampton. And an underrated film at that.
Castle Freak is a deeply tragic and mortifying horror film.
THE PLOT
John Reilly and his family have inherited a 12th century Italian castle. The late duchess, ex-wife of John's father, hated John's father for leaving her. She took her anger out on their son, Giorgio. Since Giorgio was a child his mother kept him locked in the cellar. She cut out his tongue. She castrated him. She would whip him everyday of his life. Unbeknownst to anyone, Giorgio is still locked in the cellar of the castle, now a full grown horribly disfigured man. In the throes of starvation after his mother's death, Giorgio rips off his own thumb to escape his chains. Free, Giorgio begins exercising a lifetime of pain and anger upon John and his unsuspecting family.
WHAT I LIKED
Gore. One of the staples of Stuart Gordon's films are violence and gore effects that push the limits. And boy does this film do just that. There are scenes of gore that were so visceral that they were off-putting. It takes a lot to do that to me. The make-up and design of Giorgio's character is brutal and frightening too. Stuart Gordon has a talent for displaying the gore and violence in stark and unsettling ways in his films and Castle Freak is one of his finest examples. It's just plain sick (in a good way!).
Tragedy. As crazy as it sounds, the story of this movie isn't supernatural at all, but grounded in a very real and heartbreaking narrative. The story begins with John, his wife, and daughter still healing after a horrible accident. One night John was drinking and driving with his son and daughter in the car. The scene ends in an accident that kills his little boy and blinds his daughter. When we meet the characters in the movie their marriage has nearly fallen apart and John's guilt is eating him alive. His wife also blames him for what happened. They're trying to make it work but neither can forgive John for what happened, including John himself.
Conversely, Giorgio's life is made miserable by his parents marriage failing, his mother venting all her rage on her son. Love, loss, and pain. The mistakes and heartache of parents effecting their children is the backbone of the stories in the film, an extremely tragic story and sadly all too real. It's one of the brilliant aspects of film and demonstrates the power of Dennis Paoli and Stuart Gordon's script. Plus Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton are wonderful in portraying these themes.
NITPICKS
Acting Choices. I know Jeffrey Combs can act. And I know Stuart Gordon knows how to direct him to bring out a quality performance. But there are some scenes in here that just don't work for me. Given the evidence from previous films, I'm inclined to think it's me. It's really only one or two scenes. Otherwise this film is frighteningly real and extremely brutal.
THE VERDICT
Castle Freak is another classic from Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs, and Barbara Crampton. The graphic nature of the film is bloody and extremely brutal. The gore in this film is striking and real. And so are the themes of the story. Some of the best horror films utilize the power of allegory in their storytelling and so does this movie. The sins of the parents falling on their children. Getting back to the violence and gore, this is the type of film Rob Zombie would be a fan of.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 4 out of 10
For more brutal horror films check out the movies below...
No comments:
Post a Comment