The Pit and the Pendulum

Rating:
Summary: Spend some time in the dungeon
Review: Somewhat flat acting by everyone except Mr. Price (who is quite entertaining, if a bit over the top) is redeemed by terrific sets and subtle, effective direction by Mr. Corman. The widescreen transfer of the very good source print is crisp and bright, with wonderful colors. Mr. Matheson's story goes off in its own direction from the Poe original, but it nevertheless preserves many of the troubled author's beloved themes, and is involving and entertaining in a "literate comic book" type of way. A wonderful commentary track by Mr. Corman (who always has lots of great stories and inside info in his DVD commentaries) and a nice selection of genre trailers make this inexpensive DVD a great bargain. You get a lot for your money here.

Rating:
Summary: Sins of the Father
Review: The best of Roger Corman's AIP Edgar Allen Poe flicks, and a superior horror film.

Vincent Price is a Spanish nobleman haunted by the sins of his Inquisitor father. While a small boy, Price accidentally witnessed his sadistic sire murder his uncle and wall-up his mother alive, believing them to have committed adultery together. His greatest fear, since that day, has been that his evil father's genes will somehow evidence themselves in him. Now an adult, the gentle Price discovers he has accidentally buried loving wife Barbara Steele while still alive, and is near suicidal with grief. But his suffering has only begun. His wife's spirit seems to be coming after him - or is it something worse?

Vincent Price and Barbara Steele never turned in better performances. Before the story is done, each of them get to play both victim and vengeful ghost - which can't be explained without ruining the sinisterly splendid plot, penned by veteran horror screenwriter Richard Matheson. The imagery is hauntingly grotesque, the atmosphere and mood often unbearably intense. Price has a mad scene that is simply unforgettable.

The movie gets off to a slow start, but once it kicks into high gear, it grabs you by the vitals and won't let go. Young hero John Kerr is a bit wooden, but performs capably enough to further the frightening plot. The always wonderful Luana Anders plays Price's sister, who gets to narrate the tale - with stylishly done flashbacks - of her and Price's evil progenitor. The sets are gorgeous. The soundtrack is especially effective, a combination of low, lengthy bass notes and frenetic, atonal percussion.

This is Gothic and psychological horror at its finest. The ending is chilling, and will haunt your nightmares for a long time to come.

Rating:
Summary: All in the Family
Review: The Medina family has a lot of skeletons in the family closet. And the torture chamber. And the crypt. In Roger Corman's adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's classic "The Pit and the Pendulum", we even get to see some of them. There is a vague, sketchy storyline to Poe's nightmarish tale, making it next to impossible to translate into a feature length film. Corman, the low-budget wunderkind of American International Pictures, along with screenwriter Richard Matheson, made a memorable filmic adaptation of the Poe story. The setting is 1540s Spain, where Englishman Francis Barnard has traveled to investigate the sudden, mysterious death of his sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth, wife of Nicholas Medina, son of a brutal grand inquisitor, has died of fright. Her grief-stricken, guilt-ridden husband fears that she has been interred prematurely. He has good reason, too. As a boy, Nicholas witnessed his father kill his uncle, then wall up his mother alive. And that's only part of the story! The film has its mysterious goings-on and recriminations, and builds to a heart-pounding climax featuring the title device. And there is a final, ironic twist to the film which I won't divulge to new viewers. Screen Matheson incorporated all of those feel-good Poe elements, i.e. madness, guilt, revenge, torture, premature burial, and of course, the title device, into the film. Corman's direction, along with Floyd Crosby's photography and Daniel Haller's art direction, make the film visually memorable and sumptuous, which is something of a miracle, due to budget-conscious American International. The matte paintings of the Medina castle and the "Pit and the Pendulum" are images wrenched out of a nightmare. The Renaissance costumes are handsome (altho the women's hairdos and makeup date the film), and Les Baxter's vivid score adds a great deal to the drama. Baxter's "love theme" takes on a very ironic meaning in the end credits. And now for the cast. Vincent Price gives a wonderful, over-the-top performance as Nicholas and his father Sebastian in an hallucinatory flashback. His Nicholas is classic Poe, a man living on the very edge of sanity. Some critics describe Mr. Price as hammy, but with such baroque, larger-than-life material, I don't think the "mumble" school of acting would exactly fit the bill. John Kerr is sulkily appealing as Francis, and the late, underrated Luana Anders and Paul Simon lookalike Antony Carbone lend good support as Nicholas' sister and best friend. And, of course, there is the strikingly beautiful Barbara Steele as Elizabeth. The tall, slender British brunette with the high cheekbones, pouty lower lip and large hazel-green eyes has been described by one fan as "horror chic personified", and "the illegitimate daughter of Christopher Lee and Cyd Charisse" by another. The talented Ms. Steele scored a hit in the Mario Bava classic "Black Sunday", and became one of the screen's most famous "Scream Queens", appearing in several European horror films, as well as several non-horror films. Her screen time in "Pit" is brief but unforgettable. Even when she is offscreen, she is spoken of, referred to, and you find yourself thinking, "When will we see her again?" Inexplicably, Ms. Steele's voice was dubbed in this film.
The picture quality on the DVD is superb. I have seen this film innumerable times, and seeing it in DVD format was like seeing it for the first time. The colors are rich, and the detail is razor-sharp (couldn't resist!) The sound is okay, not spectacular. There is also the rarely-seen prologue, which was filmed years after the film was made for its television airing in the late 1960s. It neither adds nor detracts from the film, but it is an interesting curio nonetheless. "The Pit and the Pendulum" is my favorite of ther Corman/Poe adaptations. Now, when are "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Haunted Palace", and "The Tomb of Ligeia" going to be released? So, for a real swingin' time, watch "The Pit and the Pendulum"!

Rating:
Summary: readers review
Review: The Pit and The Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe is a dark and chilling story of pain, suffering and torture. This story explores the portrail of a man's death and explains all the events that lead up to his death.
This old horror story is an interesting read. The story starts of a little slow and then it picks up and gets really good. I would not recommend this story to a reader that doesn't like stories with a slow start, but if you like reading old horror stories then this is a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Secrets down below
Review: The Pit and the Pendulum. One of the most popular supense/horror films of all time comes back in a completely restored edition on DVD. In comparison to the VHS, you may see things you never did before, considering things are much more clear.

When Francis Barnard (John Kerr) here's his sister Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) has strangly died in Spain where she and her husband Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price) resided, he goes to find out more of the details. When he gets to the mysterious place, he knows that Nicholas is keeping something from him. He is even more shocked to hear that she died 3 months from the date he arrived. When the family doctor (Antony Carbone) arrives, Mr. Barnard is informed of what really happened after the Dr. Leon unintentionally tells him what happened. It turns out that Elizabeth became obsessed with the torture chamber that was inherited by Nicholas from his father who was a Grand Inquisitor.
Then, one day Elizabeth accidentally locked herself inside the iron maiden and died of shock. Nicholas' sister Catherine (Luana Anders), who is visting the castle for the time being, tells Mr. Barnard to take pity on her brother for he witnessed their father torture their Mother and Uncle when he was a little boy. Strange things soon start to happen around the Medina castle. The Harpsicord, which Elizabeth used to play, is heard being played throughout the castle even though no one visiting, or who lives there can play. Elizabeth assumingly whispers to Maria the maid while she was cleaining a room. Elizabeths room is in smitherings after presumably being destroyed by her. While Catherine, Mr. Barnard, and Dr. Leon are all in hot pursuit to find out what's going on, Nicholas seems to be going crazy. But there's more to this story then meets the eye, for is Elizabeth really dead?

The acting in this movie I have to say was wonderful. It couldn't have been any better. When you watch the trailer on the DVD, it is true when the narrorater says John Kerr has a challenging roll, for I thought he may have had a little trouble doing it. Vincent Price, now he was great at his part. He could change his personality so well, it kind of makes you think. Luana Anders and Barbara Steele, both very beautiful and talented actresses make this movie an even better addition to your collection. Antony Carbone, now there's a man that can act like a deciever and a friend at the same time. I can understand why this movie was a hit. It keeps you at the egde of your seat and never gets boring. Luana Anders just mesmerized me in her beauty. By the way, she's my cousin.

Rating:
Summary: THE PENDULUM SWINGS......
Review: The second of the Corman/Price/Poe films is a masterwork of Gothic horror and features one of Vincent Price's most outre' performances. He's Don Nicolas Medina, son of an infamous Spanish inquisitioner going mad in an eerie castle off the coast of Spain after the unusual "death" of his wife Elizabeth (Barbara Steele). Elizabeth's brother Francis comes to the castle seeking information on his sister's death and the terror begins as the ghost of Elizabeth seems to be roaming around causing Nicolas to feel he buried her prematurely. Flashbacks explain Elizabeth's weird "death" and Nicolas's own childhood trauma witnessing his insane father (also Price) torture his mother and wall her up alive in the torture chamber. But Elizabeth is anything but dead and Nicolas goes over the edge becoming his own father in madness and putting the dreaded Pendulum kept in the Pit to use...with Francis as his victim. Elizabeth gets her own just rewards in the torture chamber. Beautiful Gothic mounting, costumes and a tight script by Richard Matheson keep this completely watchable throughout. Good acting from Steele, John Kerr as Francis and Luana Anders ("Dementia 13") as Dona Catherine Medina--Nicolas's worried sister, and Corman regular Antony Carbone as the evil Dr.Leon. But it's Price who keeps things humming---going mad scene by scene until he's full blown insane and working the Pendulum on poor Kerr. Excellent moody music score from Les Baxter, too. I consider this a classic along with "Masque of the Red Death", "House of Usher" and "Tomb of Ligeia". All of them are first-rate films from the Corman/Poe cycle of the 60's. Just enjoy....

Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD release
Review: This film and HOUSE OF USHER can be seen on TV fairly often, so why buy the DVD? There are a few good reasons to buy it. (1) The film is presented in its original "widescreen" format, in almost pristine "full color"; (2) the DVD comes with a rare extra -- the "original theatrical prologue," about 5 minutes of preliminary shock-stuff before the opening title sequence -- which is a revelation to those of us who know the Corman/Poe films primarily from TV; and (3) the producer/director Roger Corman provides running commentary through the whole film, which is both entertaining and informative. Corman passes along some of his general film theories and also some history about the various actors and scenes in the film. Personally I find (3) the best aspect of the DVD. Consider also: (4) at approximately $12, this is truly a bargain DVD -- so if you've never seen the film, this isn't a risky proposition. It's a lot of fun, and the final 10 minutes are classic Gothic horror. Go for it!

Rating:
Summary: Good Corman
Review: This is a movie I remember from the early 60's in a theater packed with kids screaming during the scary parts. It's atmospheric and the commentary from Corman really adds to the enjoyment as you get an insider's perspective on the making of horror movies on a budget. Vincent Price is in great form!

Rating:
Summary: Price has a feel for Poe
Review: This is an excellent piece of work from Price. Dealing with several of Poe's stories and his continual fear of being buried alive, this film uses an Gothis atmosphere to convey a sense of doom.
Price is a Duke who has recently "lost" his wife. Her brother comes to investigate and so begins a chain of events that ends in madness and death.
It combines elements of a love betrayed, a love born, revenge, madness and fear into a story loosely based on Poe. Price's sense of Gothic surrealism and horror carries the movie.

I enjoy it and recoomend it.

Rating:
Summary: A retelling of the classic Poe story
Review: This movie was done very well, and is a nice addition to the MGM Midnite movie line, many of which are based on Poe stories. Price brings his classic acting style to this film, and really shines above all the others in it.

If you're a fan of Vincent or collect this series, you'll definitely want this movie.