Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel (1967)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Harald Reinl

Writers:

Manfred R. Köhler (screenplay)
Edgar Allan Poe (story)

Release Date:

21 May 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

UNBELIEVABLE! Until You See It With Your Own Eyes!

Plot:

In the Olden Tymes, Count Regula is drawn and quartered for killing twelve virgins in his dungeon torture chamber...

Plot Keywords:

Torture Chamber | Drawn And Quartered | Cross | Pendulum | Castle

Cast

Lex Barker	...	Roger Mont Elise / Roger von Marienberg
Karin Dor	...	Baroness Lilian von Brabant
Christopher Lee	...	Count Frederic Regula, Graf von Andomai
Carl Lange	...	Anatol
Christiane Rücker	...	Babette
Vladimir Medar	...	Pater Fabian
Dieter Eppler	...	Coachman

Also Known As:

Blood of the Virgins (USA) (reissue title)
Castle of the Walking Dead
Pendulum
The Blood Demon (USA)
The Snake Pit (video title)
The Snake Pit and the Pendulum
The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (USA) (TV title)
The Torture Room
Torture Chamber (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Sweden:15 | USA:M

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Studios, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Constantin Film Produktion

Trivia:

German Import DVD has two Super-8 Versions (German language only), as special features on the disc.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stephen King's World of Horror (1986) (TV)

Decent & Atmospheric 60's Gothic

I have the Aikman Archives 2003 DVD release which has a quoted running time of 81 minutes, but I do not know if it is uncut. It says that it is digitally remastered... but that is a pretense only. The opening scenes have some severe film scratches on it, and minor scratching is visible in many later scenes, although the color is not too bad.

The charm of this film is obviously the sets and general creepiness. Story wise, it is typical of the "Revenge" and "Curse" plot lines in horror movies, but adds a few twists to make it a little more bizarre. It's mostly a vehicle for the well-realized castle and torture chambers. Huge Hieronymus Bosch paintings dominate the walls while trained vultures greedily peck at bloody leftovers. Corpses hang along dimly viewed roadside trees; and with every move a spiked portcullis or oaken door closes behind the protagonists sealing their passage. With a more coherent plot and more subtle and cohesive dialog and editing this would have been more than a "B" movie. To me, it lacks some measure of suspense, although the torture chamber sequences aren't too bad. Christopher Lee needed more screen time and better lines, and Lex Barker could have been replaced with Ron Ely or Gordon Scott (my favorite Tarzans).