Product Details

• Actors: Clade Brooke, Ellen Sherman
• Studio: Magnum Entertainment
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000MS6SO2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,660 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A mysterious man is sent deep into the forest to investigate the bizarre behavior of the notorious Dr. Tarr. What he stumbles upon is Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon, a hellish asylum completely cut off from civilization and presided over by the ultimate madman! Once trapped in the wily clutches of the crazy doctor, our hero uncovers dungeon after dungeon of hell on earth! Innocent people have been savagely chained, tortured, and stuck in glass cages- and then forced to take part in gruesome games of ritual slaughter. In a final apocalyptic feast, Dr. Tarr's latest guest may soon become the latest victim - and only one desperate ploy can defeat the dastardly Dr. Tarr once and for all

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars The real torture victims are those foolish enough to watch this wretched film, July 11, 2007

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (VHS Tape)

Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (apparently a shortened - by some eleven minutes - American release of The Mansion of Madness) may very well make your eyes bleed down your cheeks, leave you with both index fingers permanently embedded in your ears, and rob you of your very will to live. Even though the story is based to some degree on a story by Edgar Allen Poe, The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather, attaching Poe's name to this film just seems so incredibly wrong. I mean, this is one putrid, nonsensical mess of a movie. Some people actually seem to find it fascinating, but I would rather rip my own tongue out and eat it than to ever see this film again. I was shocked to learn it dates back to 1973, as the remarkably bad print of the film I watched (which was, admittedly, a public domain offering) led me to believe it was much older. It's a Mexican film (apparently director Juan Moctezuma's first feature) featuring one of the ugliest sets I've ever seen (apparently an old abandoned warehouse). It's not really horror, so don't be fooled by the name. I guess it's some kind of exploitation comedy or something. Now maybe you call watching grown men dress up like chickens and crows to perform elaborate dances or listening to some prissy Napoleon wannabe break out into maniacal laughter far too often funny, but I certainly don't. Even the comical music that accompanies one bound victim having to hop his way through the forest was more discordant than humorous.

As for the story, you have a reporter named Gaston Leblanc (Arthur Hansel) seeking the famed Dr. Maillard (Max Kerlow) at his lunatic asylum to learn more about his unique treatment method. As he tours the place with the doc, he can't help noticing that the lunatics are basically running amuck and that the good doctor is a few cards short of a full deck. After visiting the dungeon and seeing how the doctor is mistreating his patients, he's convinced that this apparent mad man is not Dr. Maillard at all. By then, of course, it's too late for him to escape the awful place. The action (if you can call it that) culminates in a big banquet, with "Dr. Maillard" (Claudio Brook) going on and on about his plans to take over other parts of the world with his "system" and making more immediate plans to take care of Leblanc and Maillard's daughter (Ellen Sherman), who Leblanc took quite a shine to early on. Will they somehow escape with their lives? Who cares?

It took me two days to get through this lousy movie. There is some nudity, but even that doesn't make the film any less painful to watch. The whole story is just hopeless nonsense, there's basically no torture to speak of in the film, and I'm still looking for Dr. Tarr because I didn't notice anyone by that name in the film. This film should be rated DH for Deep Hurting.