Castle Freak (2020)

**_Mixes the 1995 film with “The Dunwich Horror” and unworthy characters_**

This is a reimagining rather than a remake. The only bits it has in common with the original minor masterpiece are an inherited southern European castle, a blind character, and Lovecraftian influences. Speaking of the latter, the first film reminded of "The Dunwich Horror" (1970) and therefore I wasn't surprised to find out it was inspired by Lovecraft's "The Outsider” (inspired by but not based on).

This flick directly references that particular Lovecraft story in the opening scene and eventually becomes a detectable adaptation of “The Dunwich Horror” with a pretty awesome depiction of such-and-such at the end. Unfortunately, it lacks the heart of the original movie and focuses on drug-addled characters with protagonist John (Jake Horowitz) being especially contemptible. Add softcore excesses and overdone unpleasantness and the movie goes down in flames, for me anyway.

Yet the revelation about the titular character is unexpected and you can’t beat the authentic castle locations. Meanwhile the filmmaking is all-around proficient, except for the drama getting tedious in the midsection. The drama in the original movie, by contrast, slowly and effectively built momentum.

It runs 1h 46m and was shot in 2019 at Castle Gjirokastër in Albania, which is located 540 miles east and to the south of the castle used in the 1995 flick, across the channel that connects the Adriatic and Ionian Seas.

GRADE: C-