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Film / Castle Freak (2020)

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The 2020 remake of Castle Freak (1995).

This time around, instead of following a troubled husband and father, the story is centered around Rebecca, who was once again blinded in a drunk driving accident by her boyfriend. Sometime later, she inherits the titular castle from her mother, wherein the title character dwells and is stalking her and John. Oh, and this time around, it's an adaptation of The Dunwich Horror instead of The Outsider.


Tropes featured in this movie:

  • Adaptational Heroism: As the castle freak is a malicious Humanoid Abomination this time around, Lavinia wasn't wrong to keep her locked up, though maybe she still went overboard by whipping her.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: Rebecca is, at least at the beginning, a lot more unlikable than she was in the original, though she calms down a bit after being blinded. Then there's John, who was already an unlikable character in the original, but at least had some redeeming qualities and didn't try to kill Rebecca.
  • Adaptational Villainy:
  • Asshole Victim: John spends most of the movie being an irresponsible dick, brushing off Rebecca's warnings that someone else is in the castle with them, cheats on her with Shelly, and ultimately tries to kill her after discovering that she's the castle freak's sister. He gets his comeuppance when the castle freak rips his throat out.
  • Call-Back: John finds a bottle of Casa Giorgio Orsino wine in the cellar. Giorgio Orsino was the name of the castle freak in the original film, and casa means house...
  • Creepy Monotone: Downplayed on the "creepy" part. The professor talks like he's trying to emulate Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, but really, just comes off like he's still reading his lines.
  • Gainax Ending: A prophecy that was never spoken of or even hinted at before in the movie that involves Rebecca and her sister uniting is fulfilled, which summons Yog-Sothoth and opens the gate, and Rebecca gives birth to... something... which seems to mark The End of the World as We Know It. Then in the end credits, the professor marches into the dean's office to grab Herbert West, whose reagent sits on the dean's desk. Wait, what?
  • Gender Flip: The castle freak is Rebecca's sister this time around.
  • Hate Sink: Not that any of the characters are especially likable, but John doesn't seem to be meant to be anything other than a total douchebag who doesn't even have any of the few good qualities that his counterpart in the original did.
  • Hotter and Sexier: The sex and nudity is a lot more gratuitous here than in the original to the point where it comes off as filler.
  • Jerkass: How about almost everyone in the cast? Bonus points for John, the boyfriend of the year who clearly doesn't give a rat's ass about his girlfriend to the point where he blows up at her for things as trivial as believing there's someone in the castle with them.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: The professor comes off as a little too interested in the Necronomicon. Then in the end, he turns out to be in league with Yog-Sothoth.
  • No Name Given: We're never told the professor's name. He only ever goes by "the professor" until the end credits, where the dean reveals his last name is Armitage.
  • Offscreen Teleportation: Just like the original, the castle freak can move like lightning as soon as the camera pans off of it.
  • Race Lift: Giorgio, in the original movie, was still technically human, but lost his humanity after spending years of torture in a single room. This time around, the castle freak is a Half-Human Hybrid, conceived when Lavinia was raped in ritual by her possessed grandfather.
  • Related in the Adaptation: Or rather, more closely related in the adaptation. The castle freak is Rebecca's sister here, whereas in the original, Giorgio was the son of the duchess and John's father, so he was Rebecca's uncle.
  • Unrelated in the Adaptation: John is Rebecca's boyfriend here, as opposed to her father.
  • Villainous Incest: Lavinia was raped by her possessed grandfather, giving birth to the castle freak.

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