Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Pit and the Pendulum is an American horror film first released in 1961, directed by Roger Corman.  The film is based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe and stars Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele, Luana Anders and Antony Carbone.  It has also been released under the title: The Pit and the Pendulum.  Our overall rating for this film is: excellent.


16th Century Spain.  When he learns of the death of his sister, Elizabeth, Francis Barnard travels to the remote castle where she lived with her husband, Nicholas Medina, hoping to discover how she died.  First Francis is told that Elizabeth was carried off by a sudden illness, but then he discovers that she accidentally killed herself whilst exploring the castle’s torture chamber.  The latter was constructed and equipped with Hellish instruments of death by Nicholas’ father, a supporter of the Spanish Inquisition.  In his childhood, Nicholas saw his father subject his mother to the horrors of the torture chamber, before immuring her alive.   Stricken with guilt, Nicholas begins to imagine hearing his wife’s voice and becomes convinced that she too was alive when she was buried...

An unequivocal all-time classic in the horror genre, Pit and the Pendulum is the second in a series of eight films inspired by Edgar Allen Poe stories that were made by American International Pictures and directed by Roger Corman, most with Vincent Price gleefully chewing the carpet as the sinister villain.  The film was made immediately after Corman’s previous film, House of Usher, proved to be a surprise box office success.  It was shot in just 15 days on what, by Hollywood standards, was a shoestring budget – not that you would notice it. 

Beautifully photographed in widescreen, with vibrant colours, atmospheric Gothic sets, and a suitably bravura performance from Vincent Price, Pit and the Pendulum is one of the most memorable and finest of American horror films.  What makes it so effective, so mesmeric and so chilling, is the gradual build up, the slow ratcheting up of the tension and suspense, towards the spectacular and truly horrifying denouement, one that is practically guaranteed to give you nightmares (and also a nasty sensation in the midriff the next time you slice up carrots).

This is the kind of film at which Roger Corman excelled and with which he will forever be associated.  Every shot is constructed with meticulous precision to achieve maximum impact.  Camera movements and angles are skilfully employed to build tension and create an unsettling dreamlike feel that has an almost Cocteau-esque poetry. Corman’s technique has been emulated many times, but rarely matching the excellence that Corman consistently achieved.

Low budget horror films tend to come in for a lot of stick on account of their ludicrous storylines, dodgy performances and poor production values.  Pit and the Pendulum is an out and out exception that achieves stunning results on a modest budget, thanks to the imagination and skill of the designer, cinematographer and director.  Not only is the film immaculately crafted, it is also genuinely frightening (although there is also some humour).  The final shot, an instant blood-chiller if ever there was one, will surely rate as one of the highpoints of the entire horror genre.  Scream and scream again.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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