Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (DVD, 2000)

First of all, need to let you know that this is a review of the Something Strange Video release & NOT the one hosted by Elvira which I haven't seen.
Okay, right off the bat then, this low budget Italian horror film is NOT by any means a "good" movie. Heck, even "Lady Frankenstein" is better.
It stars Rossano Brazzi of "South Pacific" fame as Count Frankenstein & Michael Dunne from "The Wild, Wild West" (the original cult TV series & not the lousy Will Smith movie) at the tail end of their careers (Dunne committed suicide soon after playing yet another evil dwarf in this flick), as well as a cast of unknowns that included someone who called himself Boris Lugosi (& yes, he did get sued for doing so!).
As for the plot, well, this one of those movies where the director seems to spend most of his time trying to find excuses to show all the attractive female cast members naked (I count at least three separate baths alone!) than moving the story along in any sensible way.
It is poorly written & cheaply made, & I've seen better creature make-up in "Monster Kid Home Movies".
However, it's sheer badness has it's own fascination, & there is something about the Frankenstein mythos that even in the cliche ending when the mob of torch-waving peasants chase after the monster (here called "Goliath"), well, you've got to have a heart of stone not to feel sorry for the poor misunderstood slob.
Also, you find yourself asking odd questions like, do Europeans really believe that they've got shaggy-headed cavemen hiding out in the nearby forests a la our North American sightings of Bigfoot? I mean, British folklore talks about the legendary woodwose, so is the 'Wild Man' myth common all over the Old Country, or are the filmmakers just being silly?
Does the film itself does have any good points?
Well, the fact that it was made in Europe means they had access to an actual castle for both exteriors & interiors which does add to the atmosphere as do the cool-looking real caves where the Neanderthals live.
Also the film looks better than it really has a right to, although there is some brief distortion of the music track during one scene where the dwarf & his caveman pal kidnap a farm girl so that they can do nasty things to her.
And it being from Something Strange Video, there are also some cool extras that are well worth taking a look at, including a poster gallery that plays to the accompaniment of old horror movie radio ads.
The real treasures, though, are two shorts involving strippers & the Frankenstein monster, one a color clip from the 1963 Italian movie "Sexy Proibitissimo" (& yes, I don't know why I bothered to look that up either) where a nurse teases the captive creature & one an even older black & white stag reel where a buxom & quite energetic blonde does her act with a big guy in a cheap store-bought Frankie mask who climbs out of a coffin-like wooden box done in the style of an athletically abusive Apache dance (not the American Indians but the Paris street thugs of the same name) which is almost worth the price of the disc alone, especially for the cute ending.
Is the disc as a whole worth getting? Unless you're a Frankenstein fanatic like me, probably not, but it does have its own perversely clunky charm, & I must admit I did enjoy it.
A final warning...this film was made in Europe during the seventies, so be aware that it contains nudity, violence, & several instances of perversion including sadomasochism, rape & even a bit of necrophilia.