The Pit and the Pendulum

With its beautiful set designs and quality actors, The Pit and the Pendulum is rather more an esthetic than emotional experience. There’s nothing wrong with the script, which gradually uncovers the mystery, but the film wouldn’t have scared me at the time of its release, much less now. The lack of suspense is unfortunately not offset by any kind of a deeper message, which was present in the best Universal horror classics. B-movie maestro Roger Corman focused more on delivering spectacular formal aspects than on bringing greater depth to the content. (01/07/2010)

I cannot find a better description for this movie than gothic horror, as the reviewer sud wrote. Edgar Allan Poe, the sixties, pasteboard sets, fear, filth, torturing devices and atmosphere which even the medieval fighter Ivanhoe would approve of. Even though it was not that scary, the charm of it is unforgettable. (03/31/2016)

Hands down, the best thing out of the collaboration between Vincent Price and Roger Corman. But I wonder the effect the fact that I watched The Pit and the Pendulum before The Fall of the House of Usher and others had on the previous sentence. A big effect, I’m afraid. Those films are like peas in a pod. (06/07/2011)