Master of Dragonard Hill (1987)
In the 18th-century British Caribbean colony of St. Joseph's, decadent and hedonistic aristocrats rule with an iron fist and terrorize slaves and suspected criminals with a painful whip called the "dragonard."
Watch Trailer
Cast
Reviews
Wonderfully offbeat film!
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
I saw this movie because its description reminded me of Russ Meyers "Black Snake", which is one of my favorites.Master of Dragonard Hill can't cope with Black Snake, but its an entertaining B-movie though.The first half of this movie is full of great antics and perfectly serves the cliché of the bad governor of a Caribbean island. Lots of explicit scenes too.In particular, I liked the character of the self-appointed whore who seemed to have turned her hobby into a profession.The second half was a bit flattened, but there was already enough tension built up to keep you enchained.I were a bit disappointed that the bad governor wasn't lynched in the end. I think he'd deserved it.My vote 7 out of 10 is for being an entertaining B-Movie and valid only if you give good B-movies extra credit.
Contains Spoilers"Master of Dragonard Hill" aka "Dragonard" is a combination of a "Mandingo" rip-off crossed with a boddice-ripper romance aet in a Carribean island during the 1750s. In short, a trashy exploitation flick with great scenery. The plot, what little there is of it, revolves around the plantation holders, their slaves and the salacious revelry at Eartha Kitt's bordello. Patrick Warburton ("The Tick") plays a hunky Scottish nobleman (with a strictly American accent) sold into slavery and lusted after by Claudia Udy the slutty daughter of the island's governor and Annabel Schofield the repressed wife of his new master (she's actually her husband's SISTER, adding some twisted incest shadings to their relationship). Warburton is more interested in Schofield and the soundtrack keeps blasting "Tristan and Isolde" ad nauseum during their scenes together. Hubby finds out and has Warburton whipped in public (this punishment is the "Dragonard" of the title.) Eartha bribes the executioner to spare his life and hides him at the bordello. Claudia blackmails Eartha for his services during a masquerade party where she does a bump and grind kooch dance dressed as Cleopatra! (This really is as silly as it sounds). Eartha's support of an impending slave revolt pays off. Oliver Reed shows up occasionally (for no apparent reason) as the drunken captain of a slave ship to act sauced and get into bar fights.This film could have been good trashy fun if everyone were chewing the scenery with as much gusto as Reed and Kitt and the direction wasn't so pedestrian. What you get is lots of unintentionally hilarious sleaze, lusty love scenes and a pretty nasty whipping. The climactic slave revolt is staged well enough but seems almost anti-climactic after the amount of build-up it is given. Bad film buffs or fans of Eartha might want to give it a look, otherwise don't waste your money or time. I give it a 3 out of 10 rating.