mark.waltz
Slow-talking non-actors make little attempt to turn this dreadful bore into a piece of art. Speaking from a script that unsuccessfully tries to be literary, they sound like an old Shakespeare acting troop reading his words for the first time. It all surrounds the discovery of evil goings on in the castle of a demented count and the horrific tortures he inflicts on his enemies. Cheaply made on ghostly looking sets, this needs more than that to be a decent macabre tale. Overlong and tedious, this seems to have a cult following, but who could make it through this more than once. The storyline makes little sense, and when it does, it reminds me of many horror classics which were done better. Yes, at times, there are a few genuine chills involving bats, snakes and cruelly violent activities, but that doesn't make at all for a satisfying movie. Bad sound makes it headache inducing. There have been better movies on the legend of the Marquis DeSade (particularly a ghost story with Mickey Shaugnessy), while here, he seems to be a parody of Boris Karloff. Having the hero being a shipwrecked captain is an obvious retread of other recent horror films which were nowhere as pretentious as this tried to be.
Peter_Bark
Some reviewers have called this a turkey, while others have tried to elevate it to a surrealist masterpiece. I found the film to neither be as bad nor as bizarre as they have made out.It brought to mind Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations (e.g. House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum) and Mexican and Italian Gothic horror films from the same period, but done on a shoestring budget. The story, which borrows loosely from The Most Dangerous Game, was actually pretty good, and with a clever twist ending; I'm not sure why some reviewers claim it is incoherent, because I had no problem following it. While there may have been a few draggy bits, I found Dungeon of Harrow to be fast paced overall, which is surprising for an almost completely dialogue-driven movie. The worst that you can say about it is that some of the acting was wooden and some of the props (like a giant spider) weren't exactly state of the art. Given the tiny budget he was working with, I think the director can be excused for not hiring Vincent Price to be the lead man or for using cheesy props.Some will think it's boring, but personally, I find obscure films like this that were made outside of the studio system and major cultural centers (Hollywood, New York, London, Rome, Paris, Berlin) to be fascinating.My true rating is 7 out of 10, but I'm giving it a 10 out of 10 because I find the current IMDb average of 2.8 to be unjustly low.
FilmFatale
This weird movie from Texas is about Fallon, a dilettante rich boy in the late 1800s (although he looks like a 60s C&W singer with greasy hair and sideburns) whose ship wrecks on an island owned by Count DeSade (pronounced de-sayd) with his captain. The count is afraid of pirates and tortures a young girl who was once a pirate hostage and also tortures the captain. Meanwhile, creepy former nurse Cassandra tells Fallon the secrets of the castle. The Countess has leprosy and went mad! Fallon is trapped but brings supplies. The captain is killed by a racist-caricature slave. Fallon is thrown in the dungeon with the leper, who always thinks it's her wedding day. The leper bride is horny, bu Cassandra kills her. Fallon and Cassandra escape the castle, but the Count and his slave chase them with dogs. DeSade kills the slave and Fallon kills DeSade. Fallon and Cassandra fall in love over the course of the next year, but when the supply ship comes, the crew refuses to take our lovers because they're both lepers now. They live for years in the castle...Fallon's hair turns gray and Cassandra goes bonkers. Fallon puts her in the dungeon. Our tale of love and leprosy ends.So bizarre it's watchable, and you can smell the drive-in popcorn.
rwagn
Buyer beware. The Alpha Video release uses a print that defies description. The movie was shot in color but you wouldn't know it for the first 25 minutes or so. The print that is used is so faded and decrepit that it appears almost sepia toned. After 30 minutes some color seeps back into the print but from there to the conclusion the color comes and goes. Keep in mind, even at it's best the color is pale and washed out. It looks like the print was recorded off a television that wasn't getting the best reception. Adding to this travesty is the most plodding delivery of lines that I can recollect. Even the voice over narration is stupor inducing. Every line is delivered in this irritating plodding demeanor. I found myself wishing that they would hurry and get the words out. For this reason I couldn't wait for this movie to end. It's one of those so-bad -it's- good movies but I wish that someone would find a half decent print. Adding notation December 2010--Sinister Cinema offers this title and it is struck from a pristine print. This version still has the nude scene censored.
AD
