Welcome to one of the main features of 'Castle Dracula,' the movie reviews section.
The reviews placed here are from all around the world, from the USA to the UK Japan
and everything inbetween. The formats reviewed are video and DVD. I have included the
origin of the film reviewed so you can check your player for compatibility. You may
also notice that there are some DVD-R reviews. These are not 'bootlegs' or 'copies'
but official screeners that I have been sent containing an as yet unreleased film to 
review. All the reviews here have been reviewed either by myself or my current movie 
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New reviews are normally placed here once a week, check my front page for under 'Castle
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- The Child - US DVD - 

'Alicianne' arrives at a secluded house to begin her job as nanny to the disturbed 'Rosalie'
who lives with her creepy father, 'Nordan' and her emotionless (and badly dubbed) brother, 
'Len.' She’s already been warned of creatures eating small animals in the forest but 'Alicianne'
is not fully prepared to take on a family whose idea of dinner conversation is joking about a
scout troop who ate oleanders and accidentally poisoned themselves to death. Seems as though 
'Rosalie' balances on a delicate wire of love and loathing and when she gets angry, well it 
seems she has some Carrie-like powers which can animate scarecrows or raise the dead!  
It doesn’t take much to set off dear 'Rosalie' who doesn’t fully understand that it’s her 
powers which lead to her mother’s death, so she goes about blaming the death on everyone 
else, including the gardener who shows up just long enough to be shot by a floating rifle!
When 'Alicianne' begins a rather lackluster romance with 'Len,' it sets 'Rosalie' off on a 
final shocking and harrowing rampage where only one will be left standing.
Obviously not a good film in the usual sense, 'The Child' does benefit from its low budget.
Amateurish in every respect and even more bare bones than most films produced by the notorious
Harry Novak ('Please Don’t Eat My Mother' and 'The Pig-Farmer’s Daughter'), director Robert
Voskanian takes full advantage of the shaky camera work and sinister moog score managing to
get underneath your skin until the final showdown of man against zombie. 
Although slow in parts (sometimes mind numbingly so), the last 20 minutes of this film are
upsetting enough you may not want to be alone at 2am when you watch it (which is the mistake
I made the first time I saw it!).   
The cast also deserve a little credit. 
Laurel Barnett is good as 'Alicianne' eliciting some sympathy from the viewer and when she
loses her mind during the final nerve-racking climax, you can feel her terror. 
Rosalie Cole is credible as the twisted little girl though she whines too much to be 
threatening. 
But it’s Frank Janson as 'Nordon' who really puts the creep-on in the film. I don’t know if 
he’s a good actor or just a weirdo but he’s sinister in his few scenes.
'The Child' faded into obscurity despite the unsettling zombie attack but now Something 
Weird Video has released it on DVD chalk full of extras. 
This disc comes with a series of nostalgically sleazy trailers (mostly for Harry Novak 
films); two creepy kids shorts. The first one called 'The Outsider' is about a gangly girl
trying to make friends despite her uncool appearance. It’s an absolutely brilliant 50’s 
classroom flick that will have you smiling at the innocence of the time period.  
The other short 'The ABCs of Babysitting' is a not so brilliant but fun look at the dangers
of babysitting for strangers.  
There is also a gallery of exploitation art, radio and TV spots and it comes complete with
a second feature, the infamous 'I Eat Your Skin' which I was not able to watch as of the
writing of this review.
'The Child' is a mixed bag of cheese and horror but well worth checking out in this wonderful
DVD package and is a MUST for zombie lovers everywhere.

Reviewed By Amanda By Night

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