Castle Freak dvd movie.|
Castle Freak dvd videos, dvd movies reviews |
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List Price: $9.98 Our Price: $9.98 Features • Color • DVD-Video • Full Screen • NTSC In Theaters : 1995 DVD Release : 16 December, 1997 |
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Castle Freak description John Reilly (Jeffrey Combs) has come to Italy with wife and blind daughter in tow to arrange for the sale of his newly inherited castle. Unbeknownst to these folks, the duchess who willed the castle to Reilly kept her kid shackled in the dungeon, lambasting him regularly with a wicked cat-o'-nine-tails. Though the duchess is gone, the eponymous freak ... review details |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Out of character for a Gordon film... |
| I understand that Stuart Gordon wanted to make this a "straight" film. No cheap gags like in _Re-Animator_ and no black comedy like in _From Beyond_. This is actually a very well-made film despite being a straight-to-video B-horror flick.
A problem for me is that it is not pleasant to watch. It is in fact a decidedly *unpleasant* viewing experience. This point can not be overstated. I'm not a squeamish person but the sheer brutality exhibited in this film rivals that seen in _The Passion of the Christ_ or _Blood-Sucking Freaks_. Meanwhile, I found myself entirely un-sympathetic toward the very tortured protagonist yet disturbingly sympathetic toward the "castle freak" who was by the end of the film far beyond any kind of redemption. Granted, I am often inclined to root for the "bad guy," but this is different. The characters are all thoroughly developed and very real, so that is not the problem. I kept feeling that "I'm SUPPOSED to identify with this guy, but [on some level] he deserves what he gets." This is, however, not the main reason why I chose to deduct 2 stars. I only gave this film 3 stars because 1) the story and direction is not of the same caliber as Gordon and Comb's other colaborations and 2) the plot is entirely too predictable. I was also expecting something "Lovecraftian" in this film (that is, after all, Stuart Gordon's bread-and-butter) since had read that it was "loosely" based on _The Outsider_. Yet there is nothing of that or any other H.P. Lovecraft story here save the setting of a castle and Lovecraft is not credited at all (if Lovecraft had been even a remote inspiration, trust me, they would have credited him). Perhaps I had false expectations for the film that have colored my reaction to it. I recommend this movie IF you are A) a die-hard Stuart Gordon fan or B) a vicariously inclined sado-masochistic horror/snuf aficianado. The movie is cheap here, but it will be even cheaper at Blockbuster. I wish I had rented it, actually, because I don't plan to ever watch it again. |
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