''Dungeons of Horror'', also known as ''Dungeon of Horror'' and ''Dungeon of Harrow'', is a 1964 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

reminiscent of Roger Corman's

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

cycle of films for American International Pictures. Shot in and near

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, it was directed by, co-edited and co-written by San Antonio television anchorman and future comic book artist Pat Boyette who also scored the film with

public domain music Public domain music is music to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Background The length of copyright protection varies from country to country, but music, along with most other creative works, generally enters the public do ...

and drew the

film poster A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

. Co-writer Henry Garcia also appeared in the film. The film starred Russ Harvey who co-produced the film with Don Russell who was the film's art director and co-editor along with Pat Boyette. San Antonio horror host Joe Alston appeared in the film as an

evil spirit Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is generally ...

Plot

In the 1870s, Aaron Fallon, the last of his family, undertakes a sea voyage that meets with disaster. The only apparent survivors are Fallon and the ship's captain, but they hear the screams of one of the women passengers whose body they find, savaged by an unknown animal. They discover a crumbling castle inhabited by the Count de Sade who talks with a spirit and his collection of horrid animals. In addition to the Count, the castle has his manservant Mantis, Cassandra, a former nurse, and the mute servant whipping girl Ann, and the supposedly leprous wife of the Count who is kept in a dungeon. The mentally challenged Count believes the Captain to be a pirate and has him tortured, then he and his manservant hunts Fallon and Cassandra in the manner of '' The Most Dangerous Game''.

Cast

* Russ Harvey ... Aaron Fallon * Helen Hogan ... Cassandra * Lee Morgan ... The Captain * William McNulty ... Count Lorente de Sade * Michele Buquor ... Ann * Maurice Harris ... Mantis * Eunice Grey ... Countess de Sade * Joe Alston ... The Spirit * Henry Garcia * Don Russell

Production

Russ Harvey also made the similar low budget ''

No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

''.

Release

The film was one of ten films picked up for distribution by Herts-Lion in 1964. Boyette said in an interview that ''Dungeons of Harrow ''suffered from the casting of Harvey in the lead, and the fact that his distributor wanted 90 minutes of film that forced the director to leave in at least 20 minutes of unnecessary footage. Herts-Lion soon ceased to exist. In 1963 the company had planned to "package" the release of the film with that of'' The Secret of the Telegian'', a Japanese sci-fi film that had come out in Japan in 1960.

References

External links

* * *{{TCM title, 492209, Dungeons of Horror 1964 films 1964 horror films American historical horror films Gothic horror films Films shot in San Antonio Films set in castles Films set on fictional islands 1960s English-language films 1960s American films