Castle Freak has received mixed reviews from critics, although many have praised its disturbing feel and tight storyline. It currently holds a 63% approval rating on. The Prophetic Names trope as used in popular culture. A variety of Meaningful Name, sometimes an offshoot of Theme Naming, but not always. This describes the.

Online shopping from a great selection at Movies & TV Store. Dragon magazine for April 1988 is quite a memorable issue. First, it's an April Fools issue, and it's one I actually kinda liked. Secondly, I LOVE that cover. I mean.

Castle Freak - Wikipedia. Castle Freak is a 1. American horror film directed by Stuart Gordon, slightly based upon the short story The Outsider by H. P. Lovecraft. It was released direct to video on 1. November 1. 99. 5. The film contains elements of splatter and slasher films.[citation needed]After inheriting a 1. Duchess, John Reilly and his family, including his wife Susan and their blind teenage daughter Rebecca, travel to Italy to live.

Susan blames him for the death of their son in a drunk driving accident which killed his five- year- old son and cost their daughter her eyesight. On the advice of the estate's executor, the three plan to stay at the castle until they can liquidate the estate. Little do they know, however, that a horrible, freakish monster has been kept locked away in the basement. Unbeknownst to them, the duchess' son, Giorgio Orsino, who was kept imprisoned and tortured by the duchess in revenge for her husband leaving her, still lives in the dungeons of the castle. Soon, the disfiguredbeast has escaped by means of breaking off his own thumb to get out of the manacles which bind him. The only reference to the H. P. Lovecraft story occurs when the monster beholds his hideous reflection in a mirror.

He has emerged hungry for blood, leading to a series of unexplained deaths and disappearances, including that of a non- English speaking prostitute whom John picked up and brought to the castle after being rejected by his wife, who becomes angry with him for cheating. When the police name John their prime suspect, he must find the true murderer before he or his family becomes the next victim.

Along the way, he must not only battle the creature itself but overcome demons from his own guilty past. The prostitute is sexually mutilated and killed by the monster, who also prowls around the bedroom of the terrified Rebecca, who can hear, but not see, him. The monster later kills one of the policemen investigating the castle, as well as the maid who lives at the castle and finds the prostitute's body. Eventually he abducts Rebecca and she is manacled in his old cell. Susan comes to the rescue and manages to stab the monster and rescue Rebecca but the monster survives his wound and continues to attack Rebecca and Susan. John starts putting together some of the weird things he’s been discovering around the castle and realizes that the Freak is actually his brother, and it was his mother that chained him up and tortured him all of his life because her husband abandoned her for America. John must now save himself and his family from this castle's unknown inhabitant before the "castle freak" has his way with them.

A climactic rooftop battle between John and the monster ensues, ending in tragedy. John's funeral began and the son of the prostitute is seen with the police at the end. Production[edit]Director Stuart Gordon was in Charles Band's office and he noticed a posted entitled Castle Freak with a Quasimodo- like man chained to a wall being whipped by a woman.[1] When Gordon asked about it Band replied "Well, that's a castle and there's a freak."[1] Band said he had no script but if Gordon wanted it, he could do whatever he wanted with the idea as long as he maintained a castle and a freak.[1]Gordon made the film for $5. Critical reception[edit]This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.(July 2.

Castle Freak has received mixed reviews from critics, although many have praised its disturbing feel and tight storyline. It currently holds a 6. Rotten Tomatoes based on eight reviews.[2] Dave Dunwoody from Oh, The Horror! Calling it "a standout among Lovecraft movies".[3] In their book Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H. P. Lovecraft, Andrew Migliore and John Strysik write: "Castle Freak is a solid, even near- classic horror movie. Unlike the gory roller- coaster rides of Re- Animator and From Beyond, it is very serious and very adult. The only major flaw is one unnecessary and detestable scene of brutal violence.".[4]Home media[edit]Castle Freak premiered on VHS on November 1.

United States. The Unrated Director's Cut of the film was released on DVD on December 1. Both were released by Full Moon Entertainment.

The film was featured as part of The Stuart Gordon Boxset, which also contained The Pit and the Pendulum and Deathbed. The set was made available by Wizard Entertainment on January 1.

In the United Kingdom, the film was first release on VHS format by Entertainment in Video. The Unrated Director's Cut was made available in the UK on DVD via Film 2. October 2. 0, 2. 00. May 1. 4, 2. 01. 2, entertainment company 8. Films released the film on DVD in a digitally restored widescreen version. This is the first time Castle Freak has been available in widescreen, all releases prior to this in the United States and other countries had only seen fullscreen versions. Castle Freak was released for the first time in Blu- ray format on April 1.

Films in the United Kingdom. This is the first country in which the film was released in Blu- ray. Full Moon Features released the film in Blu- ray in the United States on April 3. References[edit]^ abcd. Fischer, Dennis (2. Science Fiction Film Directors, 1.

Mc. Farland. p. 2. ISBN 9. 78. 07. 86. Castle Freak - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 August 2.

Dunwoody, Dave. "Horror Reviews - Castle Freak (1. Oh, the Horror. com.

Dave Dunwoody. Retrieved 2. September 2. 01. 5. ^Andrew Migliore & John Strysik, Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H. P. Lovecraft, Night Shade Books, February 1, 2. ISBN 9. 78- 1. 89. External links[edit].

The Other Side blog: This Old Dragon: Issue #1. Dragon magazine for April 1. First, it's an April Fools issue, and it's one I actually kinda liked. Secondly, I LOVE that cover. I mean, Elmore, Snarf. What's not to love?

I am still a Freshman in University still and living the life. I think I bought this issue when it came out, which is something because most of my money was going to drugs, beer, books. Yeah, books.  It's April 1. This Old Dragon! Let's admire this cover for a bit. I don't care, I love Elmore's art.

Though I have to admit I thought Aveeare was silver and not gold. So this is an April Fools issue, but the content is limited really. The first entry has the infamous "Chainsword" in Bazaar of the Bizarre by Stewart Wieck. Role- playing Reviews which is ©1.

Jim Bambra.  We cover some now- classic games; Paranoia, Ghostbusters, and Teenagers from Outer Space. Up next is the first big article of the issue is Beyond the Gate of Dreams by John Nephew. This deals with the "semiclass" of the Dreamer. Now there is a lot of REALLY cool things for this class. I don't think the class actually works as written, to be honest.

I like the idea really and there are a lot interesting spell ideas. There is the option to play this as a single class or as part of a dual class. Resourceful Sorcery which is also ©1. Michael De. Wolfe and it covers some helpful hints for Rune. Quest game sorcerers. It's a cool article really, makes me want to get a Rune.

Quest game going sometime. With All the Trappings by Gregg Sharp deals with trap construction and using some psychology to draw victims in. I'll be honest, I never had the trap fetish that so many gamers seem to have. Sure they can be fun occasionally, but all the time? I got my fill in the early 8.

Skip Williams and Sage Advice cover a variety of topics. Page 3. 7 gives us an ad for New Infinities' Cyborg Commando! The fate of the world is in metal hands. TM. I should not give Gygax shit for this. We now know his world was crumbling down and the new heads of TSR were being colossal dicks to him. Anyone play Cyborg Commando at all? Scott David Gray is up with Let the Good Dice Roll.

This is a collection of individual and cumulative frequency tables for the various methods of rolling a given ability score in AD& D. A nice brief article that is informative, but also a relic of its age. While the numbers are still good and even still apply to any version of *D& D,  these can be generated on the fly with the tools we all have at our disposal now. Not just with Excel, but with Google Sheets which is free and nearly as powerful. Watch Lake Placid Online Facebook. Out of Hand by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is the fiction piece of this issue. Mark Feil gives us a rare non- Ed Greenwood (at least for the last few issues) Ecology Of article.

The Ecology of the Aurumvorax covers the MMII monster also known as the "Golden Gorger". Not a lot of information, but I did learn do not eat one of these things if you kill it. It gives you metal poisoning!

The big feature of this issue is +Bruce Heard's Orcwars game. Set in the Known World you get to play in the Great Orc Wars.

It looks like it would be fun for a rainy afternoon. Set it in your own world. Each player (2- 4) gets to play one of the tribal coalitions of orcs. I like it to be honest. It is not exactly taking D& D back to it's wargame roots, but it is honoring those roots. Given the campaign I am currently running I could see using this as part of a flashback to an ancient battle. Something to add more depth and color to the history of my game world.

Much like Traveller always did with their RPG and tie- in board games set in the Imperium. Arcane Lore is up after all of that with some spells based on traits of animals. Like Oxen Strength and Lion's Courage.

Naturally (ugh) for druids. There are some goods here too. Keith Polster has a bit on Gen Con and what to expect in 8.

The King of Conventions. I certainly get the feeling here that Gen Con was growing more at this point. This article covers the combined Gen Con/Origins Game Fair. Robert M. Bigelow follows up on the next page with how miniatures events will be run at the combine con. Now an aside.  I consider myself knowledgeable about the history of our hobby, but I also fully admit I am far from knowing everything. I had no idea this happened! And I have some vivid memories of reading this issue.

How long did Origins and Gen Con stay together? When did they split up again? Checking the internet I see this was done in 1. And yes Gen Con was seeing a lot of growth during this time.

Cash & Carry, Gamma Style covers the economic structure of Gamma World or least a small part of it. Some small ads. TSR Previews gives us a look ahead at some new releases. This includes two of the biggest disappointments, for me at least, in adventures. First is WG7 Castle Greyhawk.

While I do appreciate the humor in some of the levels and I respect how deadly this module actually is, it does not make up for the fact that it is also not very good. It was also not the Castle Greyhawk we have heard about for years and years. I ran Castle Greyhawk once. Watch Marjorie Prime Online. Not likely to run it again. Next is OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes. If Castle Greyhawk was bad, this one was just lackluster.

The Outer Planes would get a huge boost in a few years with the advent of Planescape. Jon Slobins is next with variable hero creation for the DC Heroes game.

This produces heroes a little less super. Ah yes, we are moving to the 9. Mike Lane has new ships for Star Frontiers. And in a move that would surprise new readers of today, Jeff Grub gives us a Marvel- Phile of "joke" (or no joke depending on your read) hero; Rocket Raccoon.

The Role of Computers has expanded to 6 pages now including a huge review of Beyond Zork. We have a couple of pages of Dragonmirth. Some ads. 5 pages of the Con Calendar. We end with Snarf. Quest on his prospecting mission. About this time I began to loose interest in Snarf.

I think a lot of people did. If had completed its big arc and now seemed to be a little lost. OR what is more likely I could not keep up with it like I used to because I was not buying Dragons regularly anymore. Wormy is also here. About this time Tramp would disappear.

Little did I know at the time he moved to the same town I was living in. I could have passed him in the grocery store and never knew. Really a pretty solid issue.

AD& D 1 was showing its age at this point and the world outside was changing. Soon word would come down that AD& D 2 was on the way and the 9. But until that time there was plenty to do. The Dragon was more and more focused on TSR- only games, but still, a few others snuck in every so often. They were more inclusive than say White Dwarf was at this time. In fact, April 1. White Dwarf #1. 00 would be the last White Dwarf I ever owned.

We are certainly on the verge of something in this issue. That might be my retrospective on it, but some big changes had already happened here and more are coming.