Castle Freak (1995 film)

Promotional image for Castle Freak (1995)...

Castle Freak (1995 film)

Summary

Loosely based on "The Outsider (fiction)": Hideous... hungry... and loose! A man struggles to save his family from the strange and deadly occurrences in the castle they've inherited.

Details

• Release Date: 1995
• Country/Language: USA, English
• Genres/Technical: Horror (Slasher/Splatter, Gothic)
• Runtime: 1 hr 30 min
• Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Jonathan Fuller
• Director: Stuart Gordon
• Writer: Stuart Gordon, H.P. Lovecraft, original story
• Producer/Production Co: Full Moon Entertainment
• View Trailer: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: R (Violence, violent Sexuality, Adult Content)

Apparently loaded with added violence and violent sexual content that wasn't in the original story.

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• Ss___ (One and a Half Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; could be a very loose adaptation)

Apparently loosely based on "The Outsider", but, though loaded with Gothic horror tropes, it's a bit difficult to tell: it seems that the "freak" emerging from the dungeon and seeing his own hideous reflection in a mirror in a brief throw-away scene is the only nod to the source material.

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• John Shelton at BloodyGoodHorror, (link) - "...Oddly feels like a modern-day remake of a classic horror film that never existed. With a little less blood and the sexuality left implied rather than explicitly shown...."
• Dave Dunwoody at OhTheHorror, (link) - "This is an intimate, dark story of dysfunction and alienation. And it’s just a hell of a movie."

Synopsis

A family recovering from a tragic accident inherit and move into an Italian castle. Unknown to everyone, the castle's former owner has imprisoned the titular "Freak" in the castle's dungeon, where it chews its thumbs off, slips its chains, and begins prowling the castle for victims to fuel its unnatural appetites....

Associated Mythos Elements

• fiction: "The Outsider (fiction)"
• film: See also...
  • Re-Animator (1985 franchise)
  • From Beyond (1986 film)
  • "Evil Clergyman (1987 short)"
  • Castle Freak (1995 film)
  • H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon (1993 film)
  • Dagon (2001 film)
  • Dreams in the Witch House (2005 short)
  • The Unnamable (1988 franchise) (similar in tone, but from other creators)