The Duchess d’Orsino (Helen Stirling) lives in a 12th century castle in Italy. When she has a heart attack and dies, her estate goes to an American relative, John Reilly (Jeffrey Combs). John is the nephew of the duchess. At one time the family had money but now the castle and its furnishings are all that is left. John takes his family, wife Susan (Barbara Crampton) and blind daughter Rebecca (Jessica Dollarhide), to Italy to inspect the castle. John and his family are taken to the castle by the estate’s attorney, Mr. Giannetti (Massimo Sarchielli) where Giannetti’s sister, Agnese (Elisabeth Kaza) is preparing rooms for the new owners.
Unbeknownst to the family, the duchess’ now adult son, Giorgio (Jonathan Fuller), is chained up in the dungeon of the castle. Giorgio manages to escape his chains and begins roaming around the castle. During the night, he wanders into Rebecca’s room and scares her. She tells her parents that there is someone else in the castle, but they don’t believe her.
John and Susan’s relationship is strained. Previously, John had been driving when an accident caused the death of their young son, J. J. (Alessandro Sebastian Satta), and Rebecca’s blindness. Susan blames John’s drinking for the accident. Still wallowing in guilt, John goes to the local tavern and gets drunk. While there he meets a local prostitute, Sylvana Lucci (Raffaella Offidani). He takes Sylvana back to the castle and has sex with her. Unseen, Giorgio watches in the shadows. John passes out and Sylvana works her way through the maze rooms and halls trying to find her way out.
Giorgio kidnaps Sylvana and mutilates her. When Agnese wanders in, Giorgio kills her too. John is arrested for the crime and taken to jail, leaving Susan and Rebecca alone at the castle with a demented killer who is the product of a dark secret.
“Castle Freak” was released in 1995 and was directed by Stuart Gordon. It is an Italian American direct-to-video horror movie.
The film is based on the writings of J.P. Lovecraft. Director Gordon did three films that use Lovecraft as their jumping off point and starred both Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in all three films. The other two films in the loosely defined Lovecraft trilogy are “From Beyond” 1986 and “Re-Animator” 1985.
This ended up being pretty good. The movie has more than its fair share of blood and gore. Sure, not as much as some of Gordon’s other films, but it makes up for it in sinister atmosphere and creepy lighting. Jeffrey Combs as a haunted man with dark secrets and borderline insanity is standard casting. Crazy seems to be Combs’ middle name.
Director Gordon saw a poster called Castle Freak hanging in producer Charles Brand’s office. At the time there was no movie or even a script for it. Brand allowed Gordon to write and direct the film using the title in the poster. Brand’s requirements were that it takes place in a castle and had a freak in it. Gordon agreed, despite the small budget, because he had carte blanche in everything else.
The film was shot in a castle owned by Brand. This was the same castle where Gordon shot “The Pit and the Pendulum” 1991.