Director: Stuart Gordon
On 24th March 2020, writer, producer and director Stuart Gordon passed away aged 72. For those of you not immediately familiar with his name, Gordon directed a selection of cult horror movies in the 80s and 90s; most notably “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond”, as well as science fiction films “Fortress” and “Space Truckers”, whilst not forgetting his writing credits on “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids”. That’s not even scratching the surface of his filmography. To say the man is a legend feels like an understatement and I happily watch anything to which his name is attached.
Gordon worked regularly with actors Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton and it’s easy to see why as there is a sort of magic that occurs on screen when they are together and, for me, today’s film is no exception. Often forgotten in amongst his filmography is “Castle Freak”, a movie with way more depth than both the title and the films initial conception would have you believe. Word has it that Gordon entered the office of legendary director and producer Charles Band and noticed some artwork for a film idea. The pair agreed Gordon would develop the idea on the conditions set by Band that the film must be set in a castle and must include a “freak”, which in this day and age, doesn’t feel very politically correct. Needless to say Gordon did as requested, writing the film himself with frequent writing partner Dennis Paoli (along with a healthy dose of inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Outsider”) and the film was produced on a small budget, eventually released direct to video in 1995. It’s a shame the movie never graced a big screen as in my eyes the film is up there with Gordon’s best and I’m sure would have looked amazing. Since its release the film has gained some fanfare, including a Fangoria chainsaw award, a DVD release by 88 Films and an action figure! Despite all this, the film is seldom mentioned in the same breath as Gordon’s other big hitters such as “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond” and that is why I wanted to highlight this underrated gem in memoriam of the late great director.
The film opens with an old woman whipping someone caged within the confines of her castle, before retiring to her bed where she quickly passes away. Months later we see the Reilly family travelling to the castle as recovering alcoholic John (played by the excellent Jeffery Combs) has inherited the property. John’s relationship with his wife Susan (played by the always beautiful Barbara Crampton) is on the rocks and from the very beginning of the film feels like it is broken beyond repair, despite John’s desperate wishes to make it work. Joining them on the trip to the castle is their blind daughter Rebecca (played by Jessica Dollarhide). I’m sure the fact she is blind won’t mean she is put in any sight related peril situations at all!
Upon arriving at the castle, Susan slyly asks the maid to prepare another room for her as she does not want to sleep with her husband. The sadness of John’s face is plain to see, clearly still very much in love with his wife and trying to change his habits (nine months sober no less) but Susan still can’t forgive him for a family tragedy for which John was to blame. What actually happened isn’t kept from the audience for long (but I want to try and make this a relatively spoiler free review). However, more astute viewers will twig fairly early on, especially after seeing the family photo Susan has in her room. The family drama aspect of the film is brilliantly played here and sets the movie up nicely. The film also manages to not fall into melodrama or soap opera which it could have so easily have done seeing as we are dealing with quite a well worn movie trope of heartbreak and loss (ok, I might have spoilt it now).
In this early part of the film you would be forgiven for forgetting there is a monster lurking in the bowels of the castle but sure enough, after various groans and scratches at the wall are heard during the night, Rebecca (unknowingly of course) stumbles across the cell where he is being kept and wakes him up. It’s not long before he manages to break out of the cell (after biting his own thumb off to get out of his chains – ew) and begins causing havoc.
The film doesn’t just become about a monster running around a castle though, as John begins to learn more about his heritage, the old woman and her son who was presumed dead and buried aged five years old. This element of the film plays into the backstory of the Reilly’s family tragedy and with tensions running high between John and Susan, strange things happening in the castle and the allure of fully stocked wine cellar in the castle, it’s not long before John’s alcoholism becomes a problem again. The family drama and the horror interweave and connect seamlessly and the tension in both just add to each other. This is down to Stuart Gordon’s fantastic writing, along with Dennis Paoli. It’s easy to see why these two worked together regularly as they make a great partnership.
The monster’s motive isn’t just killing though; don’t get me wrong, he does kill people but there is an element of him trying to make sense of the world outside his cell. His hatred for what he has become is obvious, including the obligatory mirror smashing scene when he first sees his reflection after years of incarceration, but his inability to understand just feeds his anger which quickly turns into violence.
There are obvious shades of “Frankenstein” here and the general concept of the film certainly isn’t anything new but it’s just done really well, with technical and visual flare. The castle is the perfect gothic setting (reportedly owned by Charles Band) and is covered and lit well with a variety of camera angles giving the film a kinetic feel. The film wins extra brownie points from me being set in Italy, and there are some nice moments of culture clash between the American Reilly family and the Italian police and locals. These moments are well observed, such as Susan asking their Italian driver to slow down as they twist around the mountain side roads to the castle at the beginning of the movie. The film does have a minor misfire though which involves the mutilation of a prostitute’s breast in quite graphic detail, which doesn’t feel in keeping with the rest of the film and feels more in line with an Italian exploitation movie (Umberto Lenzi’s “Nightmare City” has a similar scene). Maybe it was a homage to Italian cinema seeing as the film is set in Italy but it just feels unnecessary.
This does lead me to an interesting fact that links this movie to the Italian horror genre though as Daniele Massaccesi worked as a camera operator on “Castle Freak”. For those of you who don’t recognise the name, Daniele Massaccesi is the son of Aristide Massaccesi, better known as Joe D’Amato, legendary director, producer, writer and general jack of all trades of films such as “Anthropophagous”, “Absurd”, “Beyond The Darkness”, “Porno Holocaust”, “Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals”… the list goes on and on. Joe D’Amato’s impact on Italian genre cinema is undisputed (even if the quality of his output often is) so to see his son follow his footsteps in the same industry is great and Daniele’s work on “Castle Freak” is fantastic. Prior to “Castle Freak” Daniele worked on many of his fathers films including “Ator: The Fighting Eagle” and “Endgame” as well as “StageFright” for Michele Soavi, “Ghosthouse” for Umberto Lenzi and D’Amato’s co-directed entry to the “Zombie” franchise, “Zombie 5: Killing Birds”. Since “Castle Freak” Daniele has worked with some of America’s “finest” including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and also seems to be Ridley Scott’s go to camera operator, having worked with him on ten of his films, including “Black Hawk Down”, “Prometheus” and “The Martian”. Not bad eh?
Anyway, back to the film and it’s safe to say that “Castle Freak” lacks the dark comedy of something like “Re-Animator”, although there is some humour buried deep in the movie, such as a scene where the monster hides under a white dust sheet (in a room full of furniture in a similar state) to avoid being spotted by John. The scene is something straight out of “Scooby-Doo” and surely must have been done with the intention of raising a small chuckle. The score by Richard Band (Charles’s brother) works well, if a little too jolly at points and a tad forgettable. The most memorable theme is an off-kilter violin piece similar in style to that of Danny Elfman’s work on “Beetlejuice”.
Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton are great together in this film and it’s nice to see them reunited under Gordon’s direction. They give very believable performances during the family drama sections of the film whilst doing all the necessary screaming and shouting when the monster is about. They are the glue that holds the film together, however, a special mention must be given to Jonathan Fuller who plays the titular “Castle Freak”, who is both animalistic and scary. He has a fantastic sense of physicality, giving the appearance that the years of imprisonment has contorted his body and soul to the point he is barely human. Fuller has to work under a lot of make up but pulls it off beautifully with the right dose of menace and humanity. The monster is kept in the shadows for quite a while and then under a sheet in an attempt to conceal his tortured face and body, but when he is finally revealed in all his glory you can occasionally see that Fuller is in a body suit. Given the movements he is making this is still pretty good going.
For my money, “Castle Freak” is just as good as “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond” and if you enjoy those two movies then you’ll definitely get a kick out of this one. As I said earlier, the name and the poster evokes an image of a far trashier movie than the reality. The ending is a surprise gut punch but is the perfect way to conclude the story. If you are after another recommendation from Gordon’s filmography (other than the aforementioned) then I would suggest his adaptation of “The Pit And The Pendulum” which features a fierce performance from Lance Henriksen, along with cameos from Jeffery Combs and even Oliver Reed.
Stuart Gordon was a master and has left us with a filmography of movies for generations to enjoy for years to come. He had a unique style visually and often tip toed the fine line between horror and jet black comedy, something that is very difficult to do. His films are unmistakably his and his crew of regulars. A genuine auteur of genre cinema. Thank you for the movies Stuart Gordon, you will be sorely missed, but hopefully one day we will work out how to have you re-animated.
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