Pit and the Pendulum (The Pit and the Pendulum) (1961)
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81% of critics liked it
(16 reviews) -
70% of users liked it
(8,236 ratings)
American-International's standing "haunted castle" set is exhibited to peak advantage in Roger Corman's Pit & the Pendulum. Save for the climax, Richard Matheson's script bears but little resemblance to the Edgar Allen Poe original, though there are pronounced echoes throughout… More American-International's standing "haunted castle" set is exhibited to peak advantage in Roger Corman's Pit & the Pendulum. Save for the climax, Richard Matheson's script bears but little resemblance to the Edgar Allen Poe original, though there are pronounced echoes throughout of Poe's The Premature Burial. Vincent Price stars as Nicholas Medina, the son of a notorious Spanish Inquisition torturer. Nicholas' wife Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) has died under mysterious circumstances, prompting Elizabeth's brother Francis (John Kerr) to arrive at the Medina castle to investigate. The tormented Medina believes that Elizabeth was buried alive, and is convinced that he can hear his wife's voice calling out to him. In truth, Elizabeth has faked her death, part of a plan concocted with her lover Dr. Leon (Anthony Carbone) to drive Medina mad. She succeeds in this goal (albeit to her own grief, as the film's very last shot reveals), pushing Medina over the brink. Convinced that he's his own father, Medina dons Inquisition robes, straps Francis to a table, and arranges for a huge steel-bladed pendulum to slowly, slooooowwly descend on his helpless victim. You'd never know that Pit & The Pendulum was shot on the budget and schedule of a B western; the film is consistently good to look at, with eerily evocative color camerawork (Floyd Crosby) and sumptuous art direction. Stock footage of the climactic torture sequence would later find its way into the 1966 spy spoof Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, which also starred Vincent Price. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Roger Corman
- Written By
- Richard Matheson
- Genres
- Horror, Cult Movies
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Aug 12, 1961 Wide
- On DVD
- Jun 5, 2001
- Studio
- American International Pictures (AIP)
Critic Reviews
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Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
The film ends up being very nearly as good [as House of Usher], and better in some respects.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
The title calls out for lustrous Freudian hysteria, and Corman delivers
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Vincent Price lording over a giant torture pendulum! Awesome.
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Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
It reminds us that flat, colorless character actors look really flat and colorless when sharing a scene with Price.
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Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Corman estabelece uma boa atmosfera de tensão, sendo auxiliado na tarefa pela bela direção de arte e por um Vincent Price mais do que inspirado.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Vincent Price
as Nicholas Medina
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John Kerr (II)
as Francis Barnard
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Barbara Steele
as Elisabeth Barnard Medina
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Luana Anders
as Catherine Medina
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Anthony Carbone
as Dr. Charles Leon
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Patrick Westwood
as Maximillian the Butler
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Lynn Bernay
as Maria
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Larry Turner
as Nicholas as a Child
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Mary Menzies
as Isabella
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Charles Victor
as Bartolome
