Much darker than I was expecting, this is the second in the Corman/Poe cycle, following on from the previous year's FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is a chilling, extremely bleak tale involving murder, deception, adultery, and inherent madness. It's a film where Vincent Price is called to display a range of emotions, not from A to B but rather A to Z. It's a film where you can almost feel an air of dread and decay hanging in the air. I would definitely say this is one of the finest Poe adaptations I've seen, and which comes closest to the atmosphere of his stories. An atmosphere of regret, guilt, and the memory of dark deeds in the past hangs over this film, threatening to suffocate all involved.
This isn't a happy film, instead more of a tragedy. It's also got a pretty complex plot too, thanks to Richard Matheson who wrote the screenplay. The setting is an excellent one, an ancient castle complete with a crypt, lots of cobwebs, secret passages and the like. The Spanish setting also makes for some interesting, different costumes for our characters. The supporting cast are flawless in their roles, from Patrick Westwood as a loyal servant, to Luana Anders as the concerned sister of Price. Particularly good are John Kerr as the hotheaded brother of Steele, who uses aggression to discover the family secrets, Antony Carbone as the apparently kind-hearted doctor with a dark secret, and of course Barbara Steele herself. Steele appeared in this film after achieving worldwide fame in BLACK Sunday, and though her role here is small, it's a good one, well-suited to the actress.
Good although they may be, all of these actors and actresses cannot hold a candle to Vincent Price as the antihero. I consider this to be one of his finest and most moving performances. For the first hour he portrays a man blighted by nightmares, suffering from depression and guilt, and bordering on the verge of madness. You feel very sorry for his put-upon character, who is very human here, and free of the bizarre afflictions he had in other films in the series. At the hour mark, there's a totally unexpected twist in the tale (which resembles the one in HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL a lot), and Price's character turns into the scheming, hammy villain we all know and love.
The twenty minute finale is fantastic, ending with the classic scene of a man being tied to a slab while the pendulum of the title lowers towards him, swinging inexorably towards his doom. The suspense is built up incredibly here, in what has to be one of the classic scenes of the period and the Gothic genre as a whole. The ending is typically unnerving and tragic, as you would expect.
I'm not totally sure why, but something connected this film with me. I think it's by far the best of the Corman/Poe cycle. The elements of the series (the actors, the settings, the stories, and the incidents) all reach their peaks in this film, making it an influential masterpiece of the genre. Although the first hour may be slow-moving, it effectively builds up the tension and atmosphere to pave the way for the shocking denouement. THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM should be seen by all serious genre fans.
This isn't a happy film, instead more of a tragedy. It's also got a pretty complex plot too, thanks to Richard Matheson who wrote the screenplay. The setting is an excellent one, an ancient castle complete with a crypt, lots of cobwebs, secret passages and the like. The Spanish setting also makes for some interesting, different costumes for our characters. The supporting cast are flawless in their roles, from Patrick Westwood as a loyal servant, to Luana Anders as the concerned sister of Price. Particularly good are John Kerr as the hotheaded brother of Steele, who uses aggression to discover the family secrets, Antony Carbone as the apparently kind-hearted doctor with a dark secret, and of course Barbara Steele herself. Steele appeared in this film after achieving worldwide fame in BLACK Sunday, and though her role here is small, it's a good one, well-suited to the actress.
Good although they may be, all of these actors and actresses cannot hold a candle to Vincent Price as the antihero. I consider this to be one of his finest and most moving performances. For the first hour he portrays a man blighted by nightmares, suffering from depression and guilt, and bordering on the verge of madness. You feel very sorry for his put-upon character, who is very human here, and free of the bizarre afflictions he had in other films in the series. At the hour mark, there's a totally unexpected twist in the tale (which resembles the one in HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL a lot), and Price's character turns into the scheming, hammy villain we all know and love.
The twenty minute finale is fantastic, ending with the classic scene of a man being tied to a slab while the pendulum of the title lowers towards him, swinging inexorably towards his doom. The suspense is built up incredibly here, in what has to be one of the classic scenes of the period and the Gothic genre as a whole. The ending is typically unnerving and tragic, as you would expect.
I'm not totally sure why, but something connected this film with me. I think it's by far the best of the Corman/Poe cycle. The elements of the series (the actors, the settings, the stories, and the incidents) all reach their peaks in this film, making it an influential masterpiece of the genre. Although the first hour may be slow-moving, it effectively builds up the tension and atmosphere to pave the way for the shocking denouement. THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM should be seen by all serious genre fans.