Once again VINCENT PRICE is harboring a dark secret about a torture dungeon, a father who sadistically used it during the Inquisition, and a wife who has died mysteriously. JOHN KERR is a young man from England who comes to Spain to find out what happened to his sister.
When the story of the Spanish nobleman's boyhood is related to Kerr, you can understand why Price is about to go insane, haunted as he is by witnessing the death of his mother and uncle in the chamber. The plot thickens when it turns out that two of his loyal friends are at the heart of a cruel deception.
All the Gothic elements are here in all their clichéd glory: the hidden passageways, the steep stairways, the cobwebs and spiders, the handsome castle interiors and all of the interiors beautifully photographed. Les Baxter's music provides an appropriately chilling background score. Roger Corman's direction is a major asset and BARBARA STEELE does nicely as the adulterous wife.
Kerr is adequate as the young man inquiring into the death of his sister, but it's Price's show all the way. His mad scene at the end is extremely well handled, a bit over-the-top in many ways, but still effective. The pendulum scene is a nail biter.
Summing up: Top rate Gothic mystery makes good combination of Poe, Corman and Price once again.
When the story of the Spanish nobleman's boyhood is related to Kerr, you can understand why Price is about to go insane, haunted as he is by witnessing the death of his mother and uncle in the chamber. The plot thickens when it turns out that two of his loyal friends are at the heart of a cruel deception.
All the Gothic elements are here in all their clichéd glory: the hidden passageways, the steep stairways, the cobwebs and spiders, the handsome castle interiors and all of the interiors beautifully photographed. Les Baxter's music provides an appropriately chilling background score. Roger Corman's direction is a major asset and BARBARA STEELE does nicely as the adulterous wife.
Kerr is adequate as the young man inquiring into the death of his sister, but it's Price's show all the way. His mad scene at the end is extremely well handled, a bit over-the-top in many ways, but still effective. The pendulum scene is a nail biter.
Summing up: Top rate Gothic mystery makes good combination of Poe, Corman and Price once again.