Compared are the Public Domain Version on archive.org and the US DVD by Vinegar Syndrome.

After being wrecked on the high seas, aristocrat Fallon and the Captain are the only survivors and they end up on some mysterious island. Noises at night lead them to the castle of Count De Sade who is living there with his servant Mantis, his employee Ann and former nurse Cassandra. The count insane and considers any intruder a pirate attempting to harm him. As a result, the Captain ends up in the torture chamber. In the meantime, Fallon tries to uncover the count's secret and ends up in the crypt in which he encounters the disfigured countess. Cassandra manages to free him. When he makes an attempt to escape from the island, it is almost too late.

Dungeon of Harrow is one of three movies directed by Pat Boyette who made a big career as comic illustrator later on. He was one of the creators of the character "The Peacemaker" on which the comedian in Alan Moore's Watchmen series is based. The quality of his work in the film business however is rather disappointing though. Right at the beginning for instance, a minature ship hits some rocks and a little later, the model castle is being shown. Even with nastalgia bonus, that it looks pretty willing. That kind of low-budget production is in the entire movie. Also, there is a lot of dialog and the action scenes are very rare. The acting is somewhere between ok and not so good - main actor Russ Harvey definately belongs to the latter category. It is no surprise that the cast were not hired for other productions. The exception to the rule however is Lee Morgan who had been in a few genre films before. More interesting is the fact that several story elements are very similar to Roger Corman's The Terror - such as the castle by the sea, the count with a dark secret, the beautiful unknown woman, the strangers who intends to lift the count's secret. Dungeon of Harrow is far from being the ubersuck though and one should not scared off by its veryy low IMDB score either. Fallon's encounter with the countess is very well made - especially due to its illumination. The plot twist with the shcking finale is quite amusing as well.

The US public domain version are (all?) based on a cut TV print. The scene with Ann is throwing herself at Fallon and allowing the audience a look into her cleavage lacks a few seconds. The other cuts in the public domain version on archive.org are jump-cuts. Thanks to the DVD release by Vinegar Syndrome, this is not an issue anymore. The movie has been released uncut for the first time (?) and its quality is superior to any other previous release. As a bundle with Death by Invitation, The Dungeon of Harrow has been released in the Drive-In Collection. Death by Inviation is a rather obscure witch movie with some lengths but also with acceptable shocking scenes. For genre fans, this double feature is quite recommandable.

Since the movie is public domain in the US, one can watch the cut version legally and for free on archive.org.

Screenshot Comparison:

Vinegar Syndrome:

Public Domain:

Running Time:

Vinegar Syndrome: 86:46 min
Public Domain: 86:14 min

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

Missing "The Russell Production" logo at the beginning.

Uncut: 7 sec


[00:31:07][00:29:55]

Jump-Cut: Cassandra approaches the count with the bowl in her hands.

Uncut: 3 sec


[00:56:36][00:55:32]

Ann comes closer and intends to kiss Aaron. One can see her breasts.

Uncut: 7 sec