Dungeon of Harrow

Starring: Russ Harvey Director: Pat Boyette

Bizarre and surreal horror story of a shipwrecked man captured by The Count DeSade on a leper's island.

I used to think that "Manos: Hands of Fate" was the worst movie I had ever seen, but I know have to say that "Dungeon of Harrow" takes the title. At least "Manos" was so bad it was funny. Here, the actors, director, and music score take this nonsense so seriously it sucks any unintentional humor out of the film. I'm not surprised that this DVD is also bought by customers who purchased "Bloody Pit of Horror" due to the Marquis de Sade connection, but the ineptitude of "Bloody Pit of Horror" results in a laugh riot that is far superior to this sludge-paced bore. Look closely at the beginning of "Dungeon," when the Captain bangs on the wall of the ship and you will see the wall actually shake. Also pay attention to the over-ripe, high-falutin' dialogue spoken by marble-mouthed actors. I was particularly amused that the film features a "special guest star," as if a major studio was loaning out its biggest name. I added half a star to the review because the film should be seen at least once, but adding it to your film library is a serious waste of shelf space. Use your six bucks towards the purchase of "Bloody Pit of Horror," "Manos: The Hand of Fate," or as a previous poster suggested, "The Most Dangerous Game."

First of all, the synopsis that they've provided for this movie is, at best, an extreme exaggeration. There is a torture chamber in the castle, but there really are not any graphic scenes of torture as described in the synopsis. Fallon really isn't subjected to that much humiliation and indignation, other than being locked in a dungeon with a leper, but the captain of the ship he was on does end up on a rack in the torture chamber, and is later killed with a sword through the chest. There is also a mute serving wench who, after coming on to Fallon, is strapped to the rack, and has water dripped on her forehead. That's pretty much it for the "vivid and degrading" scenes. Unfortunately for the serving wench, Fallon falls for another girl and they seem to forget that the wench is in the torture chamber, and she supposedly dies in the torture chamber? or maybe she left town during the shoot and they adapted the script. The ending was pretty cool, and I wont give it away. Most of the movie has really poor acting, and is very slow moving. I don't know if this will "surpass your worst nightmare" or not, but I can tell you that I fell asleep the first two times I tried to watch it.

Dungeons of Harrow falls not only into the so bad it's good category but in the so weird it's in a class by it's self genre as well. Shot on a teeny weeny budget the plot is not unlike the ethics of an Ed Wood Movie. Not only does the director,screenwriter,setdesigner Pat Boyette bite off way more than he can chew but runs full steam into the next set of horror scenarios without taking the time to swallow the latter. The survivor of a shipwreck encounters a hallucinating sadist on a leprosy ridden Island is the basic thread of the story but it's more like "The Most Dangerous Game " on psychedelics. Director Pat Boyette is best known for his cmic book illustrations for Black Hawk and Eerie magazine. Print quality is fair but I've yet to see a cherry print of this rare title yet. Kudos to Alpha for including it with the fine artwork. Dukey Flyswatter ( film Fiend)

Thank god Alpha has put this title out!! I saw this many years ago and it made one heck of an impression on me!! Two men wash up on an island inhabited by Count DeSade and a few others. No other film can claim to be as weird!! Directed by comic book artist Pat Boyette, this is a demented trip inside a demented mind. Thanks to Alpha video one can finally see this forgetten gem. Overall quality of the disc is excellent and of course the box art, which is from an original lobby card from the film catches the eye. Way to go Alpha Video!!