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Dungeon of Harrow (1962)

Dungeon of Horror


Cast:

Russ Harvey is Aaron Fallon
Helen Hogan is Cassandra
William McNulty is Count Lorente de Sade
Michele Buquor is Ann
Maurice Harris is Mantis


What the IMDB says about the plot:

An evil, sadistic count lives in a waterfront castle with his insane family members. One day the survivor of a shipwreck washes ashore near the castle and finds himself a captive there.


Plot:

In a country manor, a dying man, Alfred Fallon, is writing his story in 1870. He rode a clipper during a storm. The tiny ship was tossed and wrecked. Alfred and the captain survive and manage to land on an island.


Capt'n Jack after long partying...

Elsewhere, Count Lorente is angry with his servant, Mantis,

Dennis Rodman had a time machine which sent him back in time...

has lost the dogs and learn the dogs killed a woman. He starts thinking other people may be on the island. He hears a voice taunting him. Count is talking with his evil conscience who he claims has been doing all the evil.

Got a good Orson Welles joke without "Rosebud" or being as big as Unicron?

The next day, Alfred and the Captain search around the find the maulled woman. Later, both are trapped by Mantis who bolos them and takes them to the castle. Cassandra checks on the guys. The count meets Alfred who realizes that the count is nuttier than a fruitcake.

Alfred searches and finds a fresh trail of blood, and that Captain is gone. Cassandra explains that ships rarely ever come to the island.

Mantis tortures Captain by orders of the count.


Raise your hands in the air, if you just don't care...

The count is positive that the Captain is a pirate.

Cassandra explains to Alfred how the countess was a leper. The count came to the island with his wife to be exiled. The countess went insane and kept relieving her wedding night. The count placed her in the dungeon and considers hiw wife as dead.

Count tells Alfred that the Captain is dead. In the dungeon, Captain talks Mantis into releasing him.

Ann, a mute girl, reveals to Alfred that Captain is still alive. She frees him and knocks Mantis out. However, the count walks in and ties Ann up for the Chinese Water Torture act.

Cassandra talks with Alfred who sees the only way to escape is to kill the count.

Count wants vengeance. He plans to imprison Alfred with his leperous wife.

Captainrushes in to fight Mantis who impales him. Mantis tosses Alfred in the dungeon next door to the countess who sees Alfred as her husband.


Zombies are known for hanging around dungeons for their equivalent of nightly buffets.

Cassandra stabs the countess. Alfred and Cassandra are run from the castle. They're being chased by Mantis across the island. Mantis is driven to exhaustion. The count shoots him for his disobedience. Count versus Alfred who is able to shoot him.

Alfred narration, Alfred and Cassandra are waiting for a ship. When the ship arrives, they run to the beach but the sailors sail from the 'lepers.' Alfred realizes that Cassandra is infected and so is he. Years later, Alfred is alone and hoping the storm will bring some more people for his to talk to since he's had to imprison Cassandra who's gone insane.


What I say:

The Dungeon of Harrow or Dungeon of Horror wishes it could be more like the Roger Corman's Edgar A. Poe's Fall of the House of Usher or Masque of the Red Death by way of Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of the 7 Gables. This is definitely a bad movie without any of the redeeming qualities. It isn't Manos: Hands of Fate-bad. To me, the worst kind of movies are those that are forgettable. How many movies, you wouldn't remember ever watching if not for having a theater ticket for? Jurassic Park 3.

The Count looks like a knock-off impersonating an older Boris Karloff with a twist of Vincent Price. Nice to know so many imprisoned nobles are named de Sade. An insane noble with a fear of pirates, Thalassoharpaxophobia, (Thalasso is sea or ocean, harpaxo is robber and phobia is fear). If that's not enough, he's also paranoid about being invaded by anyone and convinced his servants are totally against him and want to poison him.

Shipwreck, crazy-exiled count with a fear of pirates, crazed-leperous countess in a wedding dress, dungeon, and Chinese water torture...A movie with a hero who has a strange idea about the guy who lives in the deserted-looking castle. Can't say that has been in many other movies besides practically every Dracula, Frankenstein, or mad-scientist movies ever made. This seems more like a few ideas were taken from some stories and put together unfortunately without any sort of cohesion.



2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"I cannot control the weather, Mr. Fallon."
"The count will not tolerate conversation during repast."
"My host was quite mad..."
"That's pirate talk..."
"He's insane, criminally so..."


Morals of the Story

Movies need "Special Guest stars."
Every evil conscience looks like a photo negative of Orson Welles.
Bats are hysterical.
According to exiled nobles, all sailors are pirates.


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