Directed by:
Roger CormanScreenplay:
Richard MathesonCinematography:
Floyd CrosbyComposer:
Les BaxterCast:
Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone, Lynette Bernay, Larry Turner, Mary Menzies, Patrick WestwoodVOD (2)
Plots(1)
A horse-drawn carriage pulls up on a deserted beach. A sombre figure dismounts and gazes up towards his destination a foreboding cliff-top castle perched high above the crashing waves. Thus the perfect Gothic scene is set for Pit and the Pendulum, the second of Roger Corman's celebrated Poe adaptations once again starring the ever-reliable Vincent Price alongside the bewitching Barbara Steele. Having learned of the sudden death of his sister Elizabeth (Steele), Francis Barnard (John Kerr) sets out to the castle of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina, to uncover the cause of her untimely demise. A distraught, grief-stricken Nicholas (Price) can offer only the vaguest explanations as to Elizabeth's death at first citing something in her blood , but later asserting that she quite literally died of fright. What sort of unspeakable horrors are buried within the walls of this castle that could cause one's heart to stop so? With Francis determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, the terrible truth will not stay buried for long. (Arrow Films)
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Reviews (3)
With its beautiful set designs and quality actors, The Pit and the Pendulum is rather more an esthetic than emotional experience. There’s nothing wrong with the script, which gradually uncovers the mystery, but the film wouldn’t have scared me at the time of its release, much less now. The lack of suspense is unfortunately not offset by any kind of a deeper message, which was present in the best Universal horror classics. B-movie maestro Roger Corman focused more on delivering spectacular formal aspects than on bringing greater depth to the content.
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I cannot find a better description for this movie than gothic horror, as the reviewer sud wrote. Edgar Allan Poe, the sixties, pasteboard sets, fear, filth, torturing devices and atmosphere which even the medieval fighter Ivanhoe would approve of. Even though it was not that scary, the charm of it is unforgettable.
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Hands down, the best thing out of the collaboration between Vincent Price and Roger Corman. But I wonder the effect the fact that I watched The Pit and the Pendulum before The Fall of the House of Usher and others had on the previous sentence. A big effect, I’m afraid. Those films are like peas in a pod.
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