John, his wife and his daughter inherit of a castle in Italy. Unaware that a deformed man scours the site in search of fresh flesh, the family moves in.

John’s wife holds a grudge against him ever since he had a car accident after drinking in which their son died and their daughter lost her eye sight. During a night of rejection and desperation, he gets drunk in a tavern and brings a prostitute home. As she leaves the castle, the monster captures her and chews on her genitals until she succumbs. It then attacks the castle’s maid.

The local police arrests John after finding the bodies. Captive, he can’t do anything against what he fears is haunting the castle. His family is far from being safe.

Castle Freak is inspired by popular gothic films. It even avoids following its era’s standards: the action takes places in an old castle, in a foreign country and the plot advances slowly. These aspects help build a funeral like setting. It is chiseled in a way unique to its director, Stuart Gordon. It isn’t his best film but it is definitively one of his best distributed by Full Moon Entertainment. Jeffrey Combs is excellent; he leads the story. His acting is deep as he successfully delivers all emotional states. The supporting cast’s acting is sufficient.

One of Castle Freak’s weaknesses is that it is at times predictable. The monster simply spies on the main characters but murders all passer-bys. I enjoyed the rhythm but it will undoubtedly disturb some. The film prefers to bet on suspense during its first half before letting the blood spout out. It is slightly misbalanced in this concern.

The film contains enough elements to please almost everyone and doesn’t resemble a 90’s flick. It deserves particular attention.