Reviews

This is one of the most energetic episodes of the series so far. The pacing and the action was very strong and coupled very well with the intrigue sown into the plot. However, this episode also dips into some serious cliché territory that's pretty hard to ignore. Main character gets a weapon, wounds the baddie of the show, can finish it right there, and then leaves for no reason while executing henchmen along the way. Other main character has her husband return from being missing and asks zero questions about it despite it being a central development point for her arc. She has to be told outright "Hey, I'm a baddie," before she even bothers to clue in. The show really isn't bad, don't get me wrong. There are a ton of refreshing highlights I haven't seen in a horror show in quite some time, but the problems listed above are still notable enough to pull my focus away from the excitement.

I went into Castle Freak with very minimal expectations. Unfortunately, it didn't really exceed those expectations in any way. The effects and certain moments within the cinematography do shine. You can see that real care went into some of it. However, essentially every other element of this film serves to bring it down. The acting is very weak, and the fact that the casting itself is actually something they considered to be stand-out trivia isn't great. At best, the acting is B-Movie grade, and at worst, it's barely C-tier. Most of the wooden characters serve no purpose. I did like the implementation of Lovecraftian lore, but this leads me to spoiler territory. The ending is bad. If you want to use Lovecraft's work, you give it a proper end--madness, focused desolation of hope, cosmic insignificance--you don't follow up a fine monster reveal with a weak jump scare and a ham-handed cut to black. Now, perhaps the most important part of this review: the post-credits scene. If anyone with any sway in this production and potential future productions is reading this, please, hear me out. I can't emphasize it enough, do not remake Reanimator. Either do a sequel or leave it alone. Choose from the myriad of other Lovecraft works available to you. The Professor's achingly bad imitation of Jeffrey Combs' personality should be evidence enough that you will not equal or better a one-in-a-million performance like that. There's something in this movie, a start to better things if you play it right, but if you go for fan recognition and nostalgia, it will not turn out well. Horror fans don't play that game the same way as other film buffs. Look at the reboots of Freddy, Jason, and Chucky as points of reference. Overall, to everyone else I will say, a one-time watch wouldn't hurt.