Castle Freak (1995)
We're back with a brand-new episode of TRAPPO., the show that talks about stuff on purpose! And today the stuff we're talking about on purpose is director Stuart Gordon's 1995 Castle Freak, a "loose" adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Outsider" starring Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton and Jonathan Fuller as the eponymous freak that lives in a castle owned by producer Charles Band. Fun fact: the original plan was for us to review the 2020 "re-imagining" produced by original star Barbara Crampton, but for some bizarre reason, Ky accidentally watched the 1995 film instead, so we just decided to run with that instead of scrapping our recording session, and we will be taking a look at the 2020 film at some point in the not-too-distant future, so have no fear on that account.
The episode waits below for your amusement, and you can also find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Anchor and Spotify, so choose your own adventure and revel in the macabre wherever you like.
While you're here, why don't you join the conversation? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think of the 1995 cult classic. What are some other similar flicks you'd like to see us tackle on future episodes? Spill your guts below, or send us a blood-drenched email and we may read it live in a future episode! And while you're in the spirit, follow us on Twitter and Instagram for the complete TRAPPO. experience.
Thanks for listening!
This podcast was kind of all over the place. The one guy (Dustin?) said pretty early on that he didn't really like the movie all that much, spent most of the episode complaining, then turned around and said it had risen in his esteem b the end of it? Pick a lane, man, I'm getting whiplash here. And what's with the crickets? I've listened to a lot of the recent episodes, and there are no crickets chirping violently in the background. It's not a deal-breaker or anything, but it's just noisy that's all. I enjoyed the episode and I'm glad I listened to it even though the chirps were annoying. There's a pretty cool movie I remember from the 80s called "DEAD HEAT" that my dad rented because he thought it was the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie "RED HEAT" and he was confused as hell when he popped that tape into the VCR. We both ended up really liking it a lot and even rented it a few more times after. It's about a cop played by Treat Williams who get killed then turned into a zombie but he's gonna melt or blow up in a day or two because the zombie making process made his body unstable, so he's got until then to solve his murder and bring the bad guys to justice. His partner, played by Joe Pisccopo from Saturday Night live, helps him out and they have a good time blowing away all the bad guys and saving the day. It's pretty good stuff, cheesy as hell and just fucking 1980s werird. I think Shane Black, the guy who wrote some of the Lethal Weapon movies and he directed Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, co-wrote this. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen Castle Freak, so I don't really have anything to say about it. Based on what I've heard here, I don't think I really want to watch it, so thanks. I saw Reanimator a few times and I thought it was just a little too gory. I'm not a prude or anything, but it just went a little too far for me. But I'm not a gorehound when it comes to horror. It was also a bit too goofy sometimes, but I don't know if that was intentional or not. It's been a while since I saw it so I can't really judge. Barbary Crampton is in a movie that recently came out called Jacob's Wife and she's pretty damn good in that. I'm not very familiar with a lot of her work, but she was fantastic in it, so I'd recommend that for a cult film, since I think Jacob's Wife is destined for that status. I don't want to give anything away, but it's got a vampire in it, and it's a neat twist on the traditional formula I think.
ReplyDeleteCastle Freak mostly bored me to tears. SOmebody mentioned it, but the movie's like an hour and a half long and it feels like two hours long. How could a movie with a castrated monster roaming around a dilapidated castle somewhere in Europe, murdering people and biting off hookers' s nipples be boring? It's a slog. I've seen the remake too on Shudder, and I would tell peple to just watch that instead. It's actually a little longer but it's so fucked up and ridiculous that it feels shorter. I think it's what Castle Freak always should have been to begin with. When's that review coming up, gents?
ReplyDeleteI'll go to bat for this movie. It's cheap as hell, but they spent what little money they did have very shrewdly, because the Castle Freak's prosthetic makeup is damn good. And that's the one effect they needed to nail, so I'd say that's money well spent. And Jonathan Fuller's performance as Giorgio is fully committed. People give Doug Jones a lot of (well deserved) credit for disappearing into his creature roles for Guillermo del Toro, but what Fuller did here was no less impressive. The wordless anguish he expresses with his strangled moans is incredibly effective, and his eerie presence is like a shadow looming over the entire movie.
ReplyDeleteAnd call me crazy, but I genuinely appreciate that Castle Freak gave us something different with its story. It wasn't going for being lurid pulp like From Beyond or Re-Animator, and hallelujah for that, because we already got the lurid pulp. This movie became an opportunity for director Stewart Gordon and his two leads to stretch their dramatic muscles and try to hit a few different notes with their respective work in front of and behind the camera, and I think it was largely successful. The family drama kept me invested in the weird monster roaming the castle business, because I really came to like these deeply flawed adults just trying to work out their shit and didn't want to see them get hurt or worse. Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton were clearly in a toxic relationship, however, and they both would have been better off separating, and they probably would have realized that eventually if all this Castle Freak nonsense hadn't gotten in the way.
I was very happy with their acting performances for the most, part, even if I do have to grudgingly agree that Combs was a little lost from time to time trying to hit the big dramatic beats, but he was trying, dammit, and I appreciate that. In the end, these people got together with what probably amounted to a battered suitcase full of money, traveled to a shabby castle the producer already owned, and took a ridiculous concept literally about "a freak in a castle" and nothing else, and made a decent movie out of it. That's the vintage exploitation ethos to a T, my friends. The producer gives the director a poster, a tagline and a budget, then lets the director make whatever the hell they want to make, as long as the movie includes the requisite "exploitable" elements, and Gordon turned in Castle Freak. It checks all the exploitation boxes, but it goes in its own bold direction that is still underappreciated today. I admit I am a little disappointed that the movie didn't make it into your canon, but shit happens, I guess.
Now what about Bitches Brew?