Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks
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Actor: Edmund Purdom, Gordon Mitchell, Loren Ewing, Michael Dunn, Rossano BrazziBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-10-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks
DVD Review: "It's the most incredible case I've ever come across!"
Summary: 3 Stars
That nutty Count Frankenstein is at it again, funking around with forces not meant to be meddled with by man...except this time he's sporting an Italian accent, lives in a less than spectacular castle, populated with oddballs, on a mountain somewhere, and enjoys shmoozing with his daughter's friends in the film Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1975). This Italian feature, originally titled Terror! Il castello delle donne maledette, and released in 1974, was helmed by Robert Oliver in his only directing credit (big surprise), and features Rossano Brazzi (South Pacific, Krakatoa, East of Java) as the irrepressible Count Frankenstein, whose scientific pedigree, in this instance, I find highly dubious. Also appearing is the diminutive (in stature) Michael Dunn (The Werewolf of Washington, The Mutations), Edmund Purdom (City of the Walking Dead), strongman Gordon Mitchell (Atlas Against the Cyclops, The Giant of Metropolis), Loren Ewing (Venus in Furs), Xiro Papas (Frankenstein 80), who is also listed as one of the producers, Simonetta Vitelli (A Man Called Django!), Christiane Royce aka Christiane Rücker (Bedroom Stewardesses), Alan Collins aka Luciano Pigozzi (2019: After the Fall of New York), and Boris Lugosi aka Salvatore Baccaro, who also appeared in a little slice of Heaven titled Cave Dwellers (1984), an affair painfully familiar to Mystery Science 3000 fans.
As the film begins we see a fierce battle being waged between a Neanderthal man, eventually named Goliath, played by Ewing, perched on a hilltop, and some unlikely looking townspeople. There's a lot of rock throwing, as the men finally manage to subdue the creature, and leave it for dead...to which it's snatched up by Count Frankenstein's cronies and taken back to the castle. Oh, there's the phoniest looking hunchback I've ever seen...now it's nighttime and we're in a graveyard, witnessing some individuals unearthing a coffin. Inside is the recently deceased body of a young woman...and look, dwarf named Genz (Dunn) is lovingly pawing at her...that's pleasant...and it's back to the castle, where we meet all the Count's kooky staff...there's google eyed Hans (Pigozzi), the hunchback Kreegin (Papas), who's constantly making time with Hans' wife (the cook) behind Hans' back, Igor (Mitchell), who seems a lot less freakish than the others, and finally the dwarf Ganz, whom we met earlier...and now we're outside on a road leading to the castle, as we see the Count's comely daughter Maria (Vitelli), accompanied by her fiancé Eric, and babalicious schoolmate Krista Lauder (Rücker), arriving home for the holidays. Some stuff happens (Krista takes a milk bath, someone peeps on her through the eyeholes on a wall portrait, Hans' wife likes the rough stuff, the Count makes time with Krista when not working on reviving the Neanderthal man with a little brain salad surgery, etc.), the townspeople get jiggy, and the authorities bumble around trying to figure out who's robbing graves. Eventually the little weasel Ganz gets kicked out of the castle after earning disfavor with the Count, vows revenge against all, and hooks up with a completely different Neanderthal man roaming the countryside (which Ganz names Ook, played by Baccaro). Some more stuff happens, Ganz sneaks back into the castle, releases Goliath from his bonds, and mayhem ensues leading up to a not so climatic finale involving a battle between Goliath and Ook (it was hardly clash of the titans here, believe me).
Generally I like bizarre films, and if they contain a certain amount of sleaze, all the much better...and this film is definitely bizarre and slightly sleazy, but also boring as all get out...I'd venture to guess the story was made up as they went along, as there's so little cohesion throughout. The acting is pretty lousy, with the performers having a tendency to step on each other's lines. Frankenstein's motives toward reanimation are questionable, as is his crummy, little lab, complete with various glassware containing colored fluids and an `electric accumulator' whose purpose is relatively unclear. The dwarf Ganz spends a good deal of time peeping on ladies in various states of undress, prior to his hooking up with Ook, a completely different Neanderthal man than the one the Count is experimenting on...there was some much appreciated pointless nekkidness of some of the women featured in the film, but it was surprisingly brief and far and few between. There was one scene, where Ganz and Ook kidnap a girl from the town and ferret her back to Ook's cave, and we see Ook all ready to hack her up for dinner, by Ganz stops him, as he has plans of his own. He strips off her clothes, and then appears to begin to disrobe, to which we cut away, thankfully, to another scene. There's very little blood, as we never even see the Count operate in any way whatsoever (except with his daughter's friend), only the end results indicating some sort of procedure took place (Goliath sports some very phony head wounds, along with a Larry Fine hairdo as part of his shaggy mane needed to be shaved). I think this was just a case of too many characters running around, with little time spent on any one character, creating an overall feeling of disinterest. And then there was the minimal, offbeat, space age musical scoring complete with ookie sound effects...much of the film is populated with effects that sound, well, like someone in the throes of a fit of explosive diarrhea, making me laugh, but hardly fitting for what I thought was supposed to be a horror film (I suspect there may have been some comic undertones intended in the film, but, if so, it was hardly distinguishable to this viewer). There's really not much worthwhile about this film, even for those who enjoy the exploitation genre.
The picture quality, in fullscreen format, on this Something Weird Video DVD release looks very sharp and clean, and the colors are bright and vibrant. The Dolby Digital mono audio comes through very well. As far as special features, there are some goodies here including a theatrical trailer for the film (which is much better than the actual movie), two film shorts, the first titled `The Monster & The Maiden' (11:00), featuring a sort of burlesque dance routine between a rubenesque blonde (who gets nekkid) and a guy in cheap Frankenstein monster gear, the second one in color titled `Frankenstein & The Naughty Nurse' (4:09), featuring an slightly chunky, attractive brunette (who doesn't get nekkid). Also included is a gallery of exploitation art display while vintage radio advertising for schlocky horror features plays in the background (my favorite line from here was "You pay for the whole seat, but you'll only use the edge!"). All in all I give the actual film, in all of it's boring rottenness, 2 stars, while the DVD release warrants 4 stars, averaging out to 3 stars.
Cookieman108
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