Aaron Fallon (Russ Harvey) and a ships' captain (Henry Garcia) are the only two survivors of a shipwreck. Washing up on an isolated island, they become the guests - or is that prisoners? - of the primary island resident, a maniacal Count named De Sade (William McNulty). Assisted by a simple-minded Dennis Rodman look-alike dubbed Mantis (Maurice Harris), The Count likes to regularly torture people. Eventually, Aaron and The Counts' young companion, Cassandra (Helen Hogan), try to make a break for freedom.
Filmed on the ultra-cheap in Texas, "The Dungeon of Harrow" plays as if it weren't a 1960s film, but something made during the 1930s or 1940s instead. It has that sort of feel about it. It's not without strangeness and atmosphere, thanks to co-writer / director Pat Boyette. (He actually had a solid career after this as a comic book artist; his credits in this capacity include Howard the Duck.) But, far too often, his story is VERY dull and VERY talky. "The Dungeon of Harrow" commits one of the cardinal sins of movies by being boring most of the time.
That's not to say that it doesn't have its amusements. Examples: the hilariously campy performance by McNulty. He manages to save the film, at least whenever he's on screen. And the pronunciation of De Sade by the characters (it's done phonetically) is good for some mild chuckles. The effects, and matte shots, are so crude as to be priceless. Not all of the performances are that great, however (although that's to be expected): Harvey is an extremely, fatally insipid leading man. And Harris joins him in his brand of stiff "acting". Actually, with the exception of McNulty, and TV horror host Lee Morgan as a ghostly "Captain", nobody looks like they WANT to be here.
This viewer wanted to enjoy this a bit more, due to his soft spot for cheesy midnight movies, but this can be a real chore to get through at times.
Four out of 10.
Filmed on the ultra-cheap in Texas, "The Dungeon of Harrow" plays as if it weren't a 1960s film, but something made during the 1930s or 1940s instead. It has that sort of feel about it. It's not without strangeness and atmosphere, thanks to co-writer / director Pat Boyette. (He actually had a solid career after this as a comic book artist; his credits in this capacity include Howard the Duck.) But, far too often, his story is VERY dull and VERY talky. "The Dungeon of Harrow" commits one of the cardinal sins of movies by being boring most of the time.
That's not to say that it doesn't have its amusements. Examples: the hilariously campy performance by McNulty. He manages to save the film, at least whenever he's on screen. And the pronunciation of De Sade by the characters (it's done phonetically) is good for some mild chuckles. The effects, and matte shots, are so crude as to be priceless. Not all of the performances are that great, however (although that's to be expected): Harvey is an extremely, fatally insipid leading man. And Harris joins him in his brand of stiff "acting". Actually, with the exception of McNulty, and TV horror host Lee Morgan as a ghostly "Captain", nobody looks like they WANT to be here.
This viewer wanted to enjoy this a bit more, due to his soft spot for cheesy midnight movies, but this can be a real chore to get through at times.
Four out of 10.