Is Castle of the Creeping Flesh Trash or Treasure?
Blu Ray Distributed By: Severin / February 23, 2021
From writer/director Adrian Hoven – creator of the infamous MARK OF THE DEVIL – comes a rarely-seen EuroSleaze masterpiece packed with krimi depravity, mondo-style shocks and graphic gothic insanity: When a group of bourgeois swingers stumble upon the creepy castle of the cursed Earl of Saxon, they’ll discover an unholy nightmare of sexual violence, bombastic philosophy, deranged performances, grisly medical experiments, inappropriate music cues and one very pissed off bear. A stellar cast of Jess Franco regulars including Janine Raynaud (SUCCUBUS), Howard Vernon (SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY) and Michel Lemoine (KISS ME MONSTER) star in this sumptuous platter of late ‘60s filthwürst – also known as CASTLE OF BLOODY LUST – now scanned uncut & uncensored from the German negative for the first time ever in America.
Jamie’s Take 
(1.5 / 5)
Your flesh will not crawl while viewing Castle of the Creeping Flesh. In fact, if you get the chills watching this boring, poorly made German “horror” film than by God, you may be the world’s biggest wuss. I was told just recently not to say the word “hate” in front of my young nephew so I will say I disliked Castle of the Creeping Flesh. I tried to find the positives and I found two: boobs. Big old German boobs helped saved the day from this turd from getting one can.
Also titled Appointment With Lust (or as I like to say The Movie I’m Going To Sell Back To Disc Replay), this German shocker starts off with a bunch of rich people having a party that is to go on for three days. While on the first day, the party is still going strong with everyone drinking, dancing on tables, running about on the floor, oh those crazy krauts. Deciding to take the party elsewhere, a few of the partygoers decide to venture out to a cottage that resides near a castle where there is a curse on the Earl of Saxon, to which this family does not take kindly to strangers.
As you guessed it, they eventually make their way to the castle and are welcomed by Graf Saxon (played by Howard Vernon from She Killed in Ecstasy) who allows these unwanted guests to stay but unbeknownst to them, he is conducting experiments involving his recently deceased wife having a heart transplant. One of the partygoers just so happens to look like his wife and that sets strange Graf over the edge.
Meanwhile, it seems these few partygoers that are now in the castle seem to be either raping each other or having lesbian sex. None of these people seem to like one another which raises the question of why invite people to a party you do not like? I honestly gave up trying to make heads or tails of their relationships as I was more interested in when the horror was going to start. I like mad scientist films so I was looking forward to some gothic horror but alas, there isn’t much here. Oh wait, there is a scene where a bear (a guy in a lousy bear costume) attacks one guy and actually kicks him when he’s down which had we rewinding that scene a few times. Pretty funny stuff, worth finding on youtube maybe.
Director Percy G. Parker (aka Adrian Hoven) did some uncredited directing work on the 1970 gore flick Mark of the Devil and he simply isn’t much of a writer / director. There are long continuous shots of people walking around a castle and strange moments of characters bitching and complaining about one another that doesn’t move the story along at all. What a complete bore and a waste of a great exploitive title like Castle of the Creeping Flesh.
While there is some print damage the picture transfer does look nice and probably the best this film will ever look. I would recommend watching Castle of the Creeping Flesh dubbed only for the fact that it can at times be unintentionally funny and may wake you up from falling asleep. There are some interviews with the Hoven family on the making of the film as well as trailers and alternate title cards. What I found more interesting is seeing the locations now as opposed to 1968. Shockingly very little has changed. Severin always provides some neat extras.
Ok so I stand corrected: boobs, bears and dubbing is what keeps this movie from receiving one can.
Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?
| Jamie's Take: |  (1.5 / 5) |
| Blu-ray Extras: |  (3.0 / 5) |
| Average: |  (2.3 / 5) |
Special Features
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Adrian in the Castle of Bloody Lust – Archival Interview with Joyce Hoven and Percy Hoven
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MARK OF THE DEVIL Q&A with The Hoven Family at Austrian Pulp Film Fest
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Locations Featurette
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Trailers – English / German / Alt Title APPOINTMENT WITH LUST
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Textless Opening Credit Sequence
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German Opening Credit Sequence
