Giorgio, the villain of "Castle Freak", is a man who has been mistreated by his own mother since childhood, after it was abandoned by the subject's father. It's not like those disposable characters we see in most horror movies. His only knowledge is darkness and pain. He does not seem prepared for the world, and therefore behaves and feels like an animal. The dark sequences were very well filmed, and the soundtrack is shivering. On the other hand, the script is well written, though the argument seems cliché. A castle is inherited by a family, who decides to spend time in the place. But there is more to it. It's a family that's going through a serious problem. John made decisions in his life that end up shaking the people he loves. There is tension inside that castle before Giorgio's appearance. We see a family drama mixed with horror, and these two genres walk so well that it becomes uncomfortable! If it were not for some "dumb-bells" of certain characters, this movie would be a masterpiece, of that no doubt!

If there was any justice in the world, everyone would hold director Stuart Gordon in the same high regard as genre greats George Romero, John Carpenter, and Tobe Hooper. He might not have such a well recognised 'classic' in his resume as those guys (although Re-Animator comes close, I suppose), but it could be argued that the overall quality of his output has been consistently higher than these better-known horror luminaries (who, let's face it, have had their fair share of turkeys over the years).If you don't believe me, check out the director's dark fairytale Dolls, his twisted Lovecraft adaptations From Beyond and Dagon (and Re-Animator, of course), and the gritty shocker King of the Ants—all solid films worthy of a place in any self respecting horror fan's DVD collection. But better than any of those, in my humble opinion, is Castle Freak, a splendid Gothic horror that really does deliver the goods in practically every department: it's stylish, atmospheric, sexy, emotionally charged, scary, gory, and more than a little perverse, and even features the classic combo of Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton amongst its cast.Combs plays John Reilly, who along with his estranged wife Susan (Crampton) and blind daughter Rebecca (played by teen hottie Jessica Dollarhide), has travelled to Europe to take up temporary residence in the 12th century castle that they have recently inherited. As John sets about writing an inventory of the castle's contents, Rebecca explores her new home, unaware that a monstrously deformed freak lies chained up in the dungeon, and he's very, very hungry...In the hands of a less daring director, this could so have been an instantly forgettable piece of cheesy B-movie hokum, but Gordon's unique, twisted approach elevates it way above your usual direct to DVD fare, and guarantees a few eye-openers along the way. Be honest, how many horror films do you know that offer full frontal shots of their creature's mutilated genitalia? And can you name more than a couple of titles that depict a woman's nipple being bitten clean off? Or have you ever seen Jeffrey Combs bury his face deep in a hooker's crotch before giving her a quick knee-trembler? I'm guessing that you answered 'no' to at least two of those questions.

OK, this movie I saw years ago and just now found it again. I have looked for it on Netflix, but they have never added it which is a real shame given the amount of truly awful movies they do have streaming. This movie is a classic horror movie. It is like no other story I have ever seen, the location is creepy as hallway after hallway, stairway after stairway just makes for a very good suspenseful movie. The "Castle Freak" is truly wonderful in this movie, probably the best actor in it. Great special effects used to create his look. There is some disgusting violent moments if you are grossed out easily, and some serious nakedness, though brief. I like that the Castle Freak is not easily overtaken, he is fast, seemingly intelligent despite his horrible upbringing, and at times he even shows true sadness in his emotions. I actually felt myself feeling sorry for him a few times! The lead actor completely overacts throughout the whole movie, the wife and daughter are better. I do think it is weird how this movie, done in 1995, has the look and feel of a movie done in the late 70's/early 80's. Not sure if it is the film quality or if they meant it to be this way. Regardless, I would recommend this to anyone who likes a unique horror movie with an actual story.

Not only is this one of the final films of Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures of the 1990s, but it is the last of the moderately budgeted horror genre's collaborations with the Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs, and Barbara Crampton trio. This is considered by many to be a complete failure on many levels, but good delivery of bad material and some very gory moments give fans a run for their money.Combs and Crampton are grieving parents after a car accident leaves their son killed and their daughter blinded. She can't seem to forgive the distraught dad for being intoxicated behind the wheel when it happened, which leaves the plot open for Comb's inevitable redemption. Sooner if not later, the family inherits a castle in Rome, and unfortunately, they also inherit the hideously deformed and tortured man chained up in the basement. After eating a cat, the freak gains enough strength to break his chains and go on a rampage after anyone found in the castle. Its pretty tasteless stuff as the completely naked creature bites a prostitute to death, tears out the throats of policemen and other sorts of gory mayhem, meanwhile the blind daughter and Combs are the only people convinced that there is someone else in the castle.This is a dingy looking movie that fails to provide mood or ambiance short of trying pretty hard. Combs and Crampton are now pros at what they do considering the material that they're given. The creature is more amusing than scary, but gore fans will be pleased with the overall gruesomeness. Too bad Full Moon Pictures didn't end their stay with a better bad movie, but left audiences in the rain with just plain bad instead.