I got some good news for ya. Did you know that you could be watching STUART GORDON's CASTLE FREAK for free on Hulu if you so desired HERE? How do you dig them apples? Now, I'll be honest with you, this flick didn't exactly rock my world when I first caught it back in the day. I think it's because GORDON'S RE-ANIMATOR blew the top of my head off and then his FROM BEYOND blew the sides of my head off and then DOLLS blew the bottom of my head off and there was really no part of my head left to blow up by the time CASTLE FREAK came along. I used to think my expectations were too high but I've come to the realization that –duh- GORDON was going for a much more somber feel on purpose.
Anyway, these days I can appreciate CASTLE FREAK for a lot of the reasons I once gave it a shrug. CASTLE FREAK may not deliver the pulse-pounding, over-the-top excitement of GORDON'S aforementioned masterpiece trilogy but it's absolutely dripping with gloomy gothic atmosphere and leads JEFFREY COMBS and BARBARA CRAMPTON deliver top-notch, albeit mournful, performances. It utilizes its Italian location to the fullest and it's a great Old Dark House flick even if the old house is actually an old castle. Plus monster! Me love monster! If you haven't seen it in a while, give it another go. NOTE: I must subtract five points for tormenting a ginger cat.
