Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Pit and the Pendulum"

Year: 1961

Actors: Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele

Director: Roger Corman

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: £3.89

Mini Review

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is yet another Vincent Price/Roger Corman movie based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Set in the period of the Spanish inquisition the plot regards and Englishman (Francis Bernard) that is investigating the death of his sister (Elizabeth). Since this is a Poe story this all takes place in gothic castle. Throughout the movie there are ghostly goings on, mystery and attempts to block his questioning. In particular Nicholas (Vincent Price) seems to be covering up the true nature of Elizabeth’s death by claiming that it was a rare blood disorder. There are ghostly sightings, harpsichords, mysteries and a climactic ending.

Verdict

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is yet another chance for Vincent Price to shine. He’s both creepy and mysterious. My verdict on the movie is that considering that this was originally a short story there was a lot of work done to adapt it in to an interesting enough full-length feature. As a result I think that the pacing of the movie suffers slightly in the middle. After all, the movie implies a pendulum and most people will already know the short story. Sadly, since I’m from the UK Edgar Allan Poe is not currently on our core reading list as part of our school literature education. I believe that for most American students though he must be quite engrained in the literature culture and be waiting for the pendulum scene.

The movie overall is a paradise for 1960’s horror movie goers. There’s suspense, good direction and a strong story line to follow. There are some excellent flash back scenes with Barbara Steele. For its time I can only speculate that this was quite a thought provoking movie. There are strong themes of murder, torture and the slight madness in Price’s character. As with many of the Corman movies I was left feeling slightly depressed and nauseated. It’s a tale well told and a very solid movie for anone looking to get in to 1960’s horror.

Pros: Great imagery (especially the iron maiden), solid story, Vincent Price.

Cons: Now looks slightly dated and slow paced at times.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 iron maidens out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: The Pit and the Pendulum
Wikipedia: The Pit and the Pendulum
Amazon: Pit & The Pendulum [DVD]


Happy hauntings, Jiblet.