| Dungeons Of Harrow aka Dungeons Of Horror |
| Back in the summer of 1968 at the tender age of 9 I happened to catch a horror movie on the 9:30 Morning Movie called Dungeons Of Harrow.While some of it was scary nothing prepared me for the sheer terror of the thing in the dungeon.I watched the last ten minutes of the movie peeking around the overstuffed chair in the living room. Fast forward 34 years later.Not having seen this movie since I was able to pick it up online.It was described as a Sinister Cinema print but actually it was from The Fang.No matter.I popped it in and settled down to see if it was as scary as I remembered it. A ship wrecks on an uncharted island in the 1870's.The only survivors are Fallon, the son of the shipline owner and the captain.While they bemoan their fate we meet the owner of the island, the widower Count De Sade (pronounced deesayid).He is nuttier than an outhouse mouse.He also has a black slave, a nurse and a mute servant girl who had been molested and mutilated by pirates. Fallon and the captain are captured by the Count.The Count tortures the captain on the rack.One gruesome scene as the Count shove a flaming torch in the captain's face.Fallon just roams around the castle and whines a lot. From the nurse Cassandra we learn why the Count is several waves short of a ship wreck.He married a woman and brought her to the island.However she developed leprosy.She didn't die as Fallon was told but went slowly insane. The Count locked her up in the dungeon and went mad himself. The Count kills the captain and chains Fallon up in the dungeon.In the movie's only genuinely creepy and scary scene we hear the insane giggling of the leprous countess.She slowly shuffles into the light wearing her rotting wedding gown.She relives her wedding night in her madness.She is as expected quite a sight as she lovingly coos and fondles Fallon who begins to scream. Cassandra rescues Fallon who finally does what he should have done earlier and kills the Count.He and Cassandra live happily on the island until rescuers arrive.The rescuers take one look at Fallon & Cassandra and flee.They have become lepers themselves. At the end Cassandra is being locked in the dungeon by Fallon as the cycle repeats itself. There isn't much going for this movie.Granted the locked in the dungeon scene is creepy and disgusting as hell.You will feel ill at ease and a bit grossed out.That is the saving grace of this movie and the only reason to watch it.There is a real feel of madness due to the claustrophobic, dingy sets. The opening shipwreck looks like it was shot in a bathtub.In one of his deranged moments the Count encounters a huge rubber spider on what looks like a 3 inch wide cable.Russ Harvey played Fallon only because of his financial backing of the film.He is not an actor.There is way too much dialogue for the non professional actors.Most of them come off extremely stiff. As a side note this movie was written and directed by the late comic book artist Pat Boyette. |