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1974 - Italy Directed By: Robert H. Oliver. Starring: Rossano Brazzi, Michael Dunn, Edmund Purdom, Simonetta Vitelli, Gordon Mitchell, Loren Ewing, Luciano Pigozzi, Xiro Papas, Salvatore Baccaro and Christiane Royce.
Aka
Terror! Il castello delle donne maladette
Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks
Frankenstein's Castle
Monsters of Frankenstein
Terror Castle
The House of Freaks
The Monsters of Dr Frankenstein
Current Availability
Available on US R1 DVD from Something Weird Video on an uncut disc that boasts rich fullscreen image quality and some amusing extras. Was also available on UK R2 DVD as part of a "Something Weird Collection" which double-billed it with Guido Zurli's similarly barmy The Mad Butcher (under its alternative title Meat Is Meat). This double bill is now OOP but can still be picked up cheaply online. A new US R1 disc has also been recently released by Shout Factory on their "Elvira's Movie Macabre" line but is of inferior quality to the existing Something Weird release.
Recommended?
Mildly recommended to fans of weird Continental trash. This barking mad Italian monster mash rarely has a dull moment I'll give it that.
Review
We have no doubt all heard the story of David versus Goliath, here however we get Goliath versus Ook (don’t ask) in this delirious dose of Italian-made monster madness directed by Robert H. Oliver. In a rare moment of madness legendary exploitation distributor/producer opted to pick up this bizarre mixture of Frankenstein clichés and cheesecake female nudity for American distribution, releasing it to the Grindhouse and drive-in circuits through his Box Office International stable.
Predictably Frankenstein’s Castle Of Freaks centers around the nefarious activities of Count Frankenstein (Brazzi) (shouldn’t that be Baron Frankenstein?) whose dodgy “scientific” interests are piqued when he learns that Neanderthal men have been found in caves near his castle. Frankenstein has his motley crew of helpers – including evil, necrophiliac dwarf Genz (Dunn) – dig up one of these specimens from the local graveyard and promptly revives the creature as his monstrous new minion whom he dubs Goliath (Ewing).
In between creating a monster, Frankenstein finds time to receive an impromptu visit from his daughter Maria (Vitelli), her fiancé and her beautiful friend Krista (Royce). Frankenstein manages to tear himself away from the laboratory for long enough to begin an amorous dalliance with Krista (Royce) although things are complicated when it turns out that Goliath also has his bestial eye on her.
In the meantime Frankenstein soon tires of the vertically challenged Genz and boots him out of the castle after Genz arouses suspicion by leaving his footprints at the site of a freshly plundered grave. Frankenstein however, soon discovers that there is nothing more likely to scupper ones plans than a poison dwarf with a cob on him as the vengeful Genz soon hooks up with another Neanderthal named Ook (Baccaro). Together Genz and Ook go on a rape and murder rampage across the countryside setting off a bizarre and horrific chain of events which culminate in a climactic monster rumble between Goliath and Ook.
To say that Frankenstein’s Castle Of The Freaks stands out as one of the most conscientiously eccentric films that the Italian exploitation cannon has to offer would be somewhat of an understatement. Unwilling to focus on any particular theme Frankenstein’s Castle Of The Freaks instead opts to encompass a little bit of everything and the result is a totally uneven picture which never decides whether it wants to be a straightforward, sleazy riff on the age old Frankenstein tale or a camp festival of gratuitous T&A and rumbling monster men. In many respects Frankenstein’s Castle Of The Freaks invokes comparisons with Spanish trash auteur Jess Franco’s similarly barmy forays into the same territory with Dracula, Prisoner Of Frankenstein and The Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein (both 1972).
The obvious yet curiously endearing cheapness of Frankenstein’s Castle Of Freaks is evident right from the opening scene in which several of the gang of ruffians attacking poor Goliath appear to be wearing jeans, which somehow leads one to question the integrity of the films period setting. Elsewhere viewers will find more cardboard gravestones and phony flashes of lightning than they can shake a stick at. In fairness to the makers they do however make the best of what they have at their disposal and the film benefits from rich cinematography and generally atmospheric castle interiors.
Some viewers will no doubt recognise several familiar faces amongst the cast although the presence of some of those faces is rather surprising in particular that of the two leads. Rossano Brazzi stars as a rather urbane and vaguely sinister Count Frankenstein but most viewers of a certain age will instantly recognise him for his starring role as Emile de Becque in the fifties screen classic South Pacific. On the same note dwarf actor Michael Dunn who co-stars as the perverted Genz, at under four feet tall predictably became typecast as a character actor (much to his frustration) but was in actual fact a highly talented thespian having appeared in Stanley Kramer’s much acclaimed Ship Of Fools (1965), a role for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. There is something rather odd about seeing these two join an otherwise jobbing European cast overdubbed with woeful, lisping attempts at East European accents.
Other notable faces in the cast are Edmund Purdom, a European horror/exploitation regular who contributes his usual dry Britishness to the role as the town magistrate. Also present is troll-like character actor Salvatore Baccaro (under the hilarious pseudonym ”Boris Lugosi”) who appears as the titular Ook. Seasoned European exploitation fans will no doubt recognise Baccaro as the infamous caged, rapist monster in Luigi Batzella’s bad taste Nazisploitation effort The Beast In Heat (1977) in which he famously raped half the female cast literally to death and even tore one unfortunate wenches pubic region off with his teeth! Baccaro role in Frankenstein’s Castle Of Freaks is somewhat less lively, as Ook he is required to do precious little (actually make that nothing) other than gesticulate wildly, slobber a lot and yell “Ook! Ook! Ook!” – a task at which he succeeds admirably.
Predictably director Oliver attempts to mask the films obvious budgetary and thespian shortcomings by cramming in as much freakish activity and gratuitous nudity as possible. The result while not especially graphic is pretty sordid, sleazy and debauched with much of the dodgy goings on naturally centering on the unsavory dwarf Genz. A truly depraved little specimen, Genz spends most of his time skulking around the Frankenstein castle spying on women in the nude and couples in the midst of torrid lovemaking sessions. He also reveals a nasty penchant for necrophilia as he fondles the bare breasts of female corpses. Later on in the film Genz begins to pass his experience on to the impressionable Ook as he teaches him about what he calls the “pleasures of life” when the pair drag an unfortunate young lady back to the cave for a spot of (offscreen) rape and murder.
Additionally whenever things threaten to get dull Simonetta Vitelli and Christiane Royce as Maria Frankenstein and Krista respectively, arrive on cue to promptly strip naked in a bid to regain the viewers flagging attention. Krista in particular reveals herself to be somewhat of a decadent type, stripping off for a long soak in bath of milk. Later the two lasses scamper off into the mountains together for an impromptu nude bathe and mud smothering in a volcanic spring located coincidentally at the back of Ooks cave.
Eventually the women remember how to keep their clothes on and after more chicanery from Genz half the cast are left dead allowing Goliath and Ook to take centre stage for a climactic Neanderthal battle to the death. The onscreen results would make Paul Naschy proud! The fun is cut short however when the usual drunken mob of flaming torch wielding locals march down to the caves for a typically clichéd conclusion.
Frankenstein’s Castle Of The Freaks stands as the sole directorial and production credit for Robert H. Oliver who is better known for his work as a writer on other eccentric European genre pictures such as the Victor Buono vehicle The Mad Butcher (1971), Eloy de la Iglesia’s Spanish cult favourite Cannibal Man (1972) and the offbeat giallo The Bogeyman And The French Sex Murders (also 1972). While Oliver proves competent in the directors chair he fails to inject much in the way of pace or zeal into the proceedings and as a result the films events unfold rather flatly. Cheap exploitation devices can only carry any film so far and as a result Frankenstein’s Castle Of Freaks begins to outstay its welcome some time before it finale.
Yet although Oliver fails to maintain viewer interest to the end, Frankenstein’s Cstle Of Freaks still offers enough amusement – both intentional and otherwise – to keep lovers of trashy, bad movies both contented and tickled. The film is also blessed with an engagingly camp favour which tends to carry it through even its most ridiculous and inane moments. So overall whilst the curious potpourri of attractive bare female flesh, mild sexual depravity and screwball Neanderthal madness on offer is totally inessential, Frankenstein’s Castle Of Freaks at least warrants a measure of note for being one of the most offbeat and thematically crazed genre entries that the Italian exploitation oeuvre has to offer.
Also Try… Dracula, Prisoner Of Frankenstein /The Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein / Frankenstein Unbound / The Beast In Heat / The Mad Butcher.
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