From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Two On A Guillotine (1965)

Posted on April 12, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another from Horror Movie To Horror Comic” updates. This time around, we will be taking a look at a classic 60’s film that featured a crazed magician who is a master of illusions and tries to bring fear to those he has decided to torment and I am of course talking about the film Two On A Guillotine! And what a cool and strange film to get the comic book treatment, but that was the thing about Dell Comics, they made some very interesting and cool comics based on all types of horror and sci-fi films, and I for one miss them as who knows what kind of cool comic adaptations we could have gotten over the years if they would have lasted past 1974. But if you guys are ready, let’s head to the update show as the great John Harley Duquesne is performing, and I heard that tonight he is going to o one killer guillotine trick!

Let’s start by taking a look at John “Duke” Harley Duquesne who was driven mad after a performance act gone wrong. The Great Duquesne was a masterful illusionist and magician who was well loved by his fans and who made lots of money performing alongside his wife, but after an accident that killed his wife, he stepped away from it all even gave up his own daughter, and after seeing a picture of his daughter grown up his mind snapped as she looked just like his dead wife that he lied to the world about saying she ran away. The Great Duquesne is a charming looking man in appearance, but his mental break makes him very dangerous as he is unstable and will do whatever it takes to prove his guillotine act will work and his wife’s death was truly an accident. But The Great Duquesne can shock people who see him after he faked his own death as they think he is a ghost and this can chill people to the bone. He is also very skilled with his illusions and the help him pull off his grand plan of faking his death to lure his daughter back home. Because he is mentally broken, this makes him unpredictable in nature as who knows what he is capable of all to make amends with the spirit of his wife. One of his main ways of getting into the minds of his “victims” is making it seem like he will rise from the grave and leaving little spooky tricks all around making you scared and feeding into your nightmares. He is also a skilled fighter when it comes to throwing fists and can handle himself in a fight. The Great Duquesne is not a violent man as his attacks are more mental and are not coming from a vicious place but more from madness. The Great Duquesne is a living person who can be killed like any normal person so being stabbed, shot, poisoned, crushed, burnt and all other manners of death can end his life. While The Great Duquesne has claimed one life due to accident, he is still a dangerous man as his mental break and illusions make him delusional and insane.

Now that we have talked about John Harley Duquesne and his way of dealing death and fright to those who find themselves apart of his crazed plans, I think that we should now take a look at the 1965 film that he is from and that is Two On A Guillotine. I will be taking the film’s plot from our pals at IMDB and then will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts. So if you are ready, the house show lights are dimming so that means it must be show time!

Two On A Guillotine (1965)

“The daughter of a psychotic magician must stay in his mansion for seven nights in order to inherit his fortune.”

In the 1960’s Warner Brothers decided to make movies that would have directors brought in who mostly worked on TV Shows as they worked cheaper, and they wanted to see if they could find the next big movie maker. And Two On A Guillotine was one of those films as William Conrad was brought in to direct. He had worked directing such shows as The Rifleman, The Rough Riders, Bat Masterson, Route 66 and Gunsmoke to name a few, Conrad would also produce the film. The script was written by John Kneubuhi & Henry Slesar and was given a lower budget with such actors as Cesar Romero, Connie Stevens, Dean Jones, John Hoyt, Parley Baer and Virginia Gregg making up the main cast. The film would only have a three-week shoot time and once done the legendary composer Max Steiner would score it. For those who don’t know, Max is the one who did the music for the 1933 classic King Kong as well as Son Of Kong, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca and these are just a small amount of examples of his work. The film would be released to theaters on January 13, 1965 and it is unknown how well the film did at the box office. The film was met with very mixed reviews from both critics and viewers, but it was actress Connie Stevens and composer Max Steiner who both let it be known that they thought the movie was a stinker. The film was released in 1965 along side such other Horror Films as Color Me Blood Red, Die Monster Die!, The Embalmer, Monster A Go-Go, Orgy Of The Dead, Planet Of The Vampires, The Skull, Gamera The Giant Monster and War Gods Of The Deep to name a few.

So “Two On A Guillotine” is a film that I am not sure if I had seen before watching the DVD in 2023, as it seems like something I would have watched but I remember nothing about it…so maybe watching it for this update was my first time seeing it….but I am not sure. The first thing I want to say is that Cesar Romero is fantastic as John Harley Duquesne as I truly think he is such a underrated actor, most of you readers will remember Romero from the 1966 TV show Batman where he played The Joker and a small amount of you will remember him from the horror films such as The Specture Of Edgar Allan Poe (1974), Judgment Day (1988) as well as playing Count Dracula on an episode of Night Gallery. The film is often looked at as being a low budget throwaway film but when watching it again (maybe first time) I have to say that I found the film to be pretty dang entertaining as it is a mix of haunted house terror as well as crazed killer thrills. Also I have to point out that actress Connie Stevens is absolutely beautiful and is a great actress as she does a great job as Cassie in the film. The film while a slow burn does a great job of making you bond with both Cassie and Val as they stay in this haunted mansion, fall in love and uncover her family’s dark secret. Also for fans of rabbits this film has a white rabbit that runs around the mansion and is a character all it’s self, he even has his own theme song! I am not sure why this film over the years has gotten harsh words from viewers and critics as I found it to be a very fun watch and hope that someday it builds a bigger cult following than it has now. If you enjoy 60’s style Horror and have not seen this one track down the DVD from Warner Archive as well as the Dell Comics adaptation and give them a watch and a read as who knows you might just find yourself drawn into the world of Two On A Guillotine and find the breakdown of The Great Duquesne interesting as I did.

Now that we have taken a look at the crazed magician John Harley Duquesne as well as the film he is from Two On A Guillotine I think now that we should look at the comic adaptation of the film that was done by Dell Comics a classic comic publisher that made so many amazing comics based on Horror and Sci-Fi films. And when it comes to these adaptation comics in modern time I feel that Dell is often over looked but they really shouldn’t be as they made so many great spooky reads with many of them being based on films that starred Vincent Price. I would like to thank a Ebay seller for having this comic in stock and making this update possible, I would also like to thank Warner Brothers for releasing the film on DVD as apart of there Archive collection. I would like to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to the mansion and see if we can last for the seven nights with this psycho magician.

Two On A Guillotine # 1 ***
Released in 1965 Cover Price .12 Dell Comics # 1 of 1

Magician and Illusionist John Harley Duquesne along with his wife Melinda Duquesne are a big hit as their magic show is the talk of the town, and after a show John Harley Duquesne brings his press manager Buzz into a room to show him a new trick he is working on that would involve his wife being “beheaded” by a guillotine as he thinks this will take them to the next level for their tour of Europe. Many years have passed and John Harley Duquesne has passed away and his daughter Cassie shows up to watch her fathers coffin to be locked up with chains as his final words is that he will return! At the funeral she also meets many people including Dolly, a woman who has been a helper to the family for decades, Carl Vickers her fathers lawyer and Val Henderson, a fan of her father’s work who is also a member of the press. And with Cassie’s mother missing his estate is turned over to her, but only if she stays seven nights in his old mansion as he claims he will come back and speak to her…if she fails to, all will go do Dolly and other people who have helped him through his career. Cassie heads to the mansion and Val is waiting for her and the pair walk through the spooky mansion that has been rigged with all types of tricks that are sure to scare from plastic skeletons to weird plants the two wonder around as Cassie remembers back to growing up not known either of her parents. Days pass and Cassie and Val are becoming close and keep find more spooky tricks throughout the house, Val also in private confronts Dolly and Buzz as the pair are trying to spook Cassie to leave so that they can collect the estate. But when Cassie finds out that Val is a reporter she kicks him out of the mansion and that night has bad nightmares and wakes up to find her father is alive and is crazy as his guillotine trick back in the day killed his wife and now he thinks his daughter is his wife as they look alike! Dolly returns to the mansion and tries to save Cassie but fails and calls Val to hurry back to the mansion as John Harley Duquesne is going to try his beheading trick again this time with his daughter as his assistant. Val is able to get there in time and even after the trick works, John Harley Duquesne breaks down in tears as the police enter and arrest him for the murder of his wife those many years ago.

This is such a fun read that does justice to the film it is based on as the moments of the haunted mansion works as does the suspense of John Harley Duquesne being alive and well…not to bring up the fact that the shocking truth about John Harley Duquesne comes to light with perfection on these panels. The plot is very simple and has a daughter coming to town for her fathers funeral as she grew up not knowing her parents and now must stay in the families old haunted mansion in order to receive her fathers money and estate…but there is a trick as her father claims he will come back from the grave in seven days! Our main character in this story is Cassie Duquesne a young woman who was raised by her aunt after her mother went missing and her father became a recluse and leaving his illusionist act behind. You have to feel for her as the press is harassing her, her father fakes his own death and thinks she is his dead wife and she grew up with a strict aunt…plus she is almost killed by her father who is trying to pull off his guillotine act. Val Henderson is also kind of a hero here as while he first starts off as a pressman looking for a story, soon finds himself in love with Cassie and wants to protect her from anyone or thing he thinks is out to get her. Plus I feel in the comic he is more likable of a guy than he is in the film. Plus he does try his best to save Cassie even if he is the one who bumps into the guillotine and causes the blade to fall. Buzz and Molly are good people and while it looks like they are trying to scare off Cassie they are really just trying to watch out for her. John “Duke” Harley Duquesne was a master of magic and illusions who set the world on fire with his act, but after by accident killing his wife and hiding her body he was become a crazed person who wants to fake his own death, lure his daughter back to him as he thinks she is his wife returned in order to pull off his trick to prove it would work…he is a broken man. The comic’s horror comes from the suspense of the haunted mansion and if John Harley Duquesne would truly return from the grave and for those wondering the comic is bloodless. I really like how it has a classic horror feel to it and it really is a fast read that does have a few spooky moments. The cover is great and features John Harley Duquesne grabbing Cassie who is over taken with fear. The interior artwork is done by Unknown Artist and its really good as you have to love that classic Dell Comics style where the characters kind of look like the actors who play them and while the style is simple its prefect. Over all if you enjoy the film and or like classic style horror stories, make sure to check this one out. Check out the art below to see the style that is used by Unknown Artist for this comic adaptation of a classic 60’s horror film.

Two On A Guillotine is a spooky film and comic, and once more I have to give credit to Dell Comics for making some of the 60’s best horror comic adaptations made for comic readers to chill their blood to. While both the film and comic are not for everyone, if you like classic style horror from the 60’s that is a mix of haunted house, mystery, crime and even a possible deranged killer make sure to check it out. But as you can see The Great Duquesne’s show has ended and that leaves us having to leave the theater and as we make our way out I would like to take a moment to let you know that our next update will about that 1973 cult classic film Don’t Look In The Basement and the Blood Scream Comics adaptation of it! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror film or two and as always support your local horror host. See you next update for a crazy good time with the patients at the Stephen’s Sanitarium.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Phantasio

Posted on April 2, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we find ourselves back at the Rotten Ink Arena as it’s time to start our celebration of WWE WrestleMania that is a major sporting event that takes place every April and is like the NFL Super Bowl and MLB World Series for wrestling fans. The Arena is decorated like a kids magic show and every fan has been given a popper as today’s “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” was the master of the squared circle mystical magic arts (kind of like the Burger King mascot The Magical Burger King from the 70’s) who could shoot streamers from his hands and steal your underwear from under your tights and who vanished with a puff of smoke from the WWF after only a few matches and this curiosity was named Phantasio! So let’s head to the snack bar and grab some punch and popcorn and find our seats as this update event is going to be a fast and fun one.

Phantasio started his pro wrestling career on September 13, 1993 working for United States Wrestling Association under the names Spellbinder and Harry Del Rios (his real name) and would work the company until 1995. He would have matches with such names as The Rock And Roll Phantom, Moondog Spike, Doomsday, Wolfie D, Skull Von Crush and Jeff Gaylord, to name a few. During this time he climbed up the card pretty fast and would find himself even in a few main events. This caused him to get a tryout in the WWF for a very short run (more on that later). Spellbinder would quickly return to the USWA and would find himself working the upper middle card with a few main events and would even win the USWA World Title twice. During this time as well Spellbinder would work a few other indie promotions and would be somewhat of a draw for each of the companies. He would also work under other names like Elijah, Streak, Super Spell and Shock, to name a few. He would also win titles in such companies as NWA Main Event, Power Pro Wrestling, Xcitement Wrestling Federation and Memphis Wrestling. He would retire from wrestling in 2012, and while never a huge superstar, he made his mark in Tennessee wrestling. He also would work with such names as Axel Rotten, Giant Silva, Paul Diamond, Reckless Youth, PG-13, Ducth Mantel and Jerry Lawler. But now let’s talk about his off and on employment with the WWF over the years.

In 1995 Phantasio would make his way to the WWF and would be a magician wrestler who wore mime makeup and would do tricks to entertain his fans as well as distract his opponents. His first match would be against Mike Hollow in a dark match and then would have his first and only televised match against Tony DeVito and would shock and entertain the young fans in the crowd. He would then work another dark match, this time against Rad Radford, before he would find himself let go and having to go back to work for the USWA. But in 1997 they would give Phantasio another chance; this time going by Spellbinder he would work against Aldo Montoya during a Shotgun Saturday Night taping. The match would not be aired. Late in 1997 he would work three days at house shows being defeated by Mark Henry at all three events, and with that his WWF career would come to an end, and he would not work for the promotion again. But to be fair in 2001 at a cross promotion event and while working for PPW, he would be on the same card as some WWF Superstars. Phantasio’s final match would be the last of his in ring career as he would beat Simon Dean at the PWS 5 Year Anniversary Show. And just like that with a poof of smoke, Phantasio was gone from WWF and would never make a big impact like he was hoping for.

Phantasio is one of those wrestlers that I can remember seeing his debut match on TV and was like, this guy is strange and his gimmick of magic made me wonder what heels he would be going up against in the future…and just like many others during this time, he just kind of vanished and was never mentioned again. While he was a name in the Memphis, TN area with his Spellbinder character before and after his WWF run, he is pretty much known for his one match for the world’s biggest wrestling company. Most of the time when Phantasio is brought up it’s on peoples worst WWF Gimmicks Countdowns or is mocked by online wrestling critics and bloggers, but I am not going to do that as I feel that he did have a memorable gimmick that was different for the time and if WWF would have stood behind him, they could have had a solid lower mid-card baby face they could have feuded with many heel wrestlers working at the time. I mean his magic was basic in the ring and would amount to poppers, confetti and even a little fire breathing and his in ring work was solid but not main event level. If Phantasio would have stayed in the WWF, I would have liked to have seen him work matches against the likes of Adam Bomb, Jeff Jarrett, Jean-Pierre Lafitte, Tatanka and Owen Hart. And then I would have liked for him to turn heal and have a Black Magic gimmick and feud with The Undertaker. But it was clear that the powers that be in the WWF just were not a fan of his as only one TV match and only two dark matches show that they had no faith in him. There have been many rumors over the years about why Phantasio did not have a full run in the WWF with some saying his appearances was only done as a favor to Jerry Lawler whose son Brian Christopher was friends with Phantasio. Others claim that during his first TV match his fire trick went wrong and set some of the backstage area ablaze. Another big rumor was going around that The Undertaker was upset over him as he thought it was to close to his own, and lastly it was said that they just did not like his in ring work…are any of these rumors true, who knows. But I for one think Phantasio, Spellbinder or whatever name you know him by was not a terrible worker and the magic gimmick was a cool one that set him apart from others.

We are now at the point of this review where we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs, like always between 4 to 8, with sadly this one being a little shorter as we are only going to cover is one WWF Match. I want to thank HyperDevil for having this set in stock that features many great matches of him as Spellbinder and also want to thank Phantasio for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ means a really terrible match, * means a bad match, ** means a below average match, **1/2 means a good average entertaining match, *** means a good match, **** means a great match, ***** means an epic match. So if you are ready, let’s step into the ring with Phantasio.

Best Of Phantasio

Match 1: Phantasio vs. Tony DeVito

Phantasio starts the match off with a shoulder tackle, knocking Tony to the mat and then after dodge a clothesline is able to shoot streamers at Tony that flusters him. Phantasio then hits some arm drag takedowns three in a row and then poses for the crowd as Tony rolls out of the ring and throws a fit out of frustration. Once back in the ring Tony and Phantasio trade off working over each others arms before Tony is able to land a few punches that backs Phantasio into the corner. But after working the ropes Phantasio hits a big shoulder block that levels Tony and has brought the momentum back on to the magic man’s side who then hits a pair of scoop slams before going for an atomic drop and then removing Tony’s boxer shorts from his tights with his magic and then roles him up for the three count and the win. After the bell rings, Phantasio then pulls a prank on the referee and removes his boxers as well. This was the debut and final match for Phantasio in the WWF, and let’s just say it was a little rough and had no sizzle to the action in the ring. The pacing of the match is slow for such a quick match as many of the moments are set of for spots to showcase the magic of Phantasio who mostly throughout the match did very basic moves likes slams and arm drags, but I will say his shoulder block looked really good and impactful. The ending of the match was super silly with the boxers removal and got a pop for some of the live crowd while the second time he did it to the referee was meet with mostly silence. Phantasio while coming out got somewhat of a reaction from the younger fans was meet with wonder by the older ones who seemed to be slightly amused by his magic tricks, but he was doomed when they gave him no music to come out to and he had no finisher to truly pop the fans as he wins by a rollup. Over all, this was a slightly below average TV match and a strange debut for a character that vanished just as quick as he appeared.

Grade: **

Sadly I think that this match is what truly doomed Phantasio in the WWF as he was not able to showcase his in ring work and the magic tricks. While a cool concept, it just came off odd to many in the crowd and this caused him to have a very mixed response from the fans in attendance. During the match poor Gorilla Mansoon tried his best to put Phantasio over, at one point even calling him comic book character Spider-Man! While the DVD set has many of his matches as Spellbinder on it, I just wanted this update to focus on his mirco run in the WWF as he was one of those wrestlers I remember debuting and always wonder what happened and where he went. I do think he was a good worker and worked better matches before and after his time in WWF. It’s a shame he never got to show his skills while there. So as you can see, this update event is over but WWE WrestleMania month continues as our next update will showcase another WWF Superstar who only lasted a small amount of time with the company supposedly because extreme bullying and I am of course talking about Outback Jack! So let’s make our way to the exit and as we do, as always read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you next update back here at the Rotten Ink Arena for a down under good time.