ThiefHott Too much of everything

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Smoreni Zmaj Drama/Fantasy/Horror ?! Drama... let's say it is drama. Fantasy... only if we put everything that is not historical into this category. Horror... not even close.Pit and the Pendulum is THRILLER, set in XVI century Spain. It's adaptation of Edgar Alan Poe's short story of the same title with some additions from other stories. I have no objections, but it's really nothing special. OK for one watching.6/10

GL84 Receiving notice of her death, a man travels to the castle of her husband to see his sister only to learn that his belief in her being corrupted by it's torturous past makes him believe that he has prematurely buried her and begins tormenting them to ensure his secret is kept hidden.This here was a pretty pleasant surprise. Like the majority of the film's in this series, what really makes for a great time here is the overwhelming and truly glorious Gothic splendor featured here, which is the generally prerequisite grand Gothic castle and it's usually elaborate surroundings. The castle itself isn't that bad, but the catacombs are it's best locations, with the cobwebbed walls, hidden rooms astutely located, and also features some great places within that manage to go for the usually grand spectacle of the overly large mansion. The second half here, though is what really makes it watchable with a spectacular series of actions. This all starts when the revelation is made about it being possible she's still alive and the torment undergone and it only gets better from there as this starts with the ploys about it being in the imagination from the childhood trauma and the evidence presented against it. Carrying on from the discovery of the personal items left behind, the ghostly voices and noises heard in the night and the trashed room, this is all quite fun and sets the stage for the group wandering into the crypt. The shocking discovery of the dead body is quite enjoyable as the one found is quite grotesque, looking realistic and freaky at the same time while the other really big scene, the resurrection, is completely eerie and creepy, with the bright spot of not revealing everything about the figure until the end. Only the body is shown, with the face kept in the shadows even during the ensuing chase through the catacombs, which is the bright spot about the scene. There's also an elaborate stalking chase right after it and a mystery as well where the complete identity of the figure is kept in the shadows and only a small portion seen throughout for a wonderfully brilliant scene. The final ten minutes, where the title comes into play, is simply fantastic done within a pretty creepy location and actually generates some really suspenseful moments where the closer it comes, the more suspenseful it is, and it really drives the scene. The location used for this scene is actually almost as good, comprising of an elaborate crystal design of weird structures along the outer edges and being a similarly beautiful and creepy place. This is all quite enjoyable since it doesn't have a whole lot of negatives. One of the most apparent is the slow build-up in the beginning of the film. This starts out incredibly slow, as the beginning is full of nonsensical dialog about what he's there for. It sets up a nice mystery, but there's nothing interesting in the characters wandering around spouting dialog about a character's battle with a disease. It tries to set-up a mystery, but it's not that interesting and never really means as much as it should due to the incredibly boring introduction and really doesn't do much for the film. It's also apparent that it's a low-rent version of the film film in the series and plays through many of the same features without doing much else differently. Otherwise, this here was pretty entertaining.Today's Rating/PG: Mild Violence.

Prichards12345 Pit and The Pendulum is an iconic example of what film-makers can do on a relatively low budget. Director Roger Corman's second Poe adaption (he made 8 in all - although 1 was actually based on Lovecraft) is arguably the best of the whole bunch. Edgy, cunningly developed (there are 4 major twists in the plot alone, as well as some minor ones), well photographed and brilliantly directed, Pit builds up to its shocks carefully (these days they'd just throw blood at the screen) and the final sequence is a master-class in how to create cinematic suspense.All this, of course, comes from a story by Poe that runs less than 17 pages - I checked my Penguin edition! What perhaps often escapes viewers, is that the additions to the plot provided by writer Richard Matheson are basically taken from the French 1955 movie Les Diaboliques, which also has a great twist ending (the same twist, in fact!) Yet this movie has 3 more. Twist 1 - Elizabeth Medina really has been buried alive, making her doctor, who stakes his reputation that she wasn't, a bit crap! Twist 2. Aha, Elizabeth is not dead after all, but in league with the dastardly doctor and gunning for her hubby!. Twist 3. Nicholas, supposedly driven hopelessly insane, takes on the persona of his evil inquisitor father( or is he possessed?). Twist 4. Well, it's the final shot of the movie and I'll leave you to discover it for yourself.This is a film that is still frightening today, and of course, where would horror films be without Vincent Price? In truth this isn't one of his best showings, he's over the top in some scenes; but that moment, when Nicholas' comatose expression suddenly takes on an evil smile, is one of the most chilling moments in all movies, and confirms what a great actor Price really was.Pit is a great movie, one I never get tired of watching. It was preceded by House Of Usher and followed by The Premature Burial, Tales Of Terror, The Raven, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of The Red Death, and Tomb Of Ligeia.

Red-Barracuda Like most Edgar Allan Poe adaptions, The Pit and the Pendulum only the barely resembles the original text. But if you have read any Poe you could hardly be surprised by this seeing as his stories were very short and had very limited plot-lines. They were more a case of a single horrible idea with a small amount of story surrounding it. In this case, the screenplay was adapted by Richard Matheson who was the writer famous for the novel 'I Am Legend'. He does a good job of fleshing out the story, adding more interesting detail while still incorporating the central idea. It's not until the excellent finale that we really see the material taken from the book but it's well worth the wait as the ending is very strong both in terms of suspense and visual artistry.On the whole, for a low budget movie this looks quite sumptuous. It's consistently nice to look at with great use of colour, including some monochrome flash-back scenes. The sets, costumes and quality of actors are of a high standard. In this sense, it mimics the approach of the Hammer films, whose low budget Gothic horror films similarly had a very polished feel on a similarly low budget. I guess director/producer Roger Corman was intentionally aiming for this and he himself directed a further handful of Poe adaptions for his company AIP; all of which followed the same basic template and were equally impressive productions on a small budget. Of course, it is never going to hurt a film to have Vincent Price on board. He always delivers quality in my opinion and here is no different. He is especially good in the final third once he goes insane and believes himself to be a reincarnation of his infamous father, a notorious torturer from the Spanish Inquisition. Additionally, it can also never hurt a film to have Barbara Steele in it either. She was the queen of 60's Gothic horror and starred in a number of productions. In this one she only has a small role but it's very important and memorable.It's probably a movie that is best defined by its excellent ending though. The first two-thirds build up the tension and intrigue but events spiral to a crescendo in the final third. It's really once we meet the terrifying wonder that is the pit and the pendulum that the movie moves into iconic status. Overall, this is certainly one of the best examples of 60's Gothic horror.