The Dungeon Of Harrow / Death By Invitation (DVD Review)
Directed By: Pat Boyette and Ken Friedman
Rated UR/Region 0/1:85/Number of Discs: 1
Available From: Vinegar Syndrome
The Dungeon of Harrow (1962)
Directed By: Pat Boyette
Starring: Russ Harvey, Helen Hogan, William McNulty
Rated: UR
In this film that replaces the film that was originally intended to be on this disc, 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.
A ship goes down and as you’d expect nobody is ready. This leads to the only two survivors being stuck with a mad man and his hired goons. Take also into account that the mad man we are talking about talks to people or things that might or might not be there. We have some gore shots and some nice for the time makeup effects tossed in, but the movie is just too odd for it’s own good and isn’t much fun trying to follow. It is done in a way that makes you tune out more than once and has no sizzle to go along with the steak. Some of the visuals are still cool, but that is about it.
Death by Invitation (1971)
Directed By: Ken Friedman
Starring: Shelby Leverington, Aaron Phillips, Norman Parker
Rated: UR
Here in this film a young woman learns that one of her ancestors had been burned at the stake as a witch. She decides to revenge her on the descendants of the people who had her killed. In other words, we have a whole lot of witchy things going on here. And, I myself like a good stake burning every now and again.
So we start things off with a nice old fashion witch hunt that results in what you would expect from a town mob witch hunt from back in the day. We flash forward and we see some familiar faces. This of course all leads to the main plot of the film and it isn’t THAT bad for what it is. I mean, the film is far from a gem and far from perfect, but it maintains some charm and a cool vibe regardless. The film would have been much better if scenes didn’t drag. I recall one early on with our leading lady that just seems eerie with how long it runs. The plot is still OK and the film is OK for that matter and should be somewhat fun viewing for anyone who’s into witch movies.
– Commentary by The Hysteria Continues
