Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Richard Matheson (screenplay), Edgar Allan Poe (story "The Pit and the Pendulum")

Stars:

Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vincent Price	...	Nicholas Medina / Sebastian Medina
John Kerr	...	Francis Barnard
Barbara Steele	...	Elizabeth Barnard Medina
Luana Anders	...	Catherine Medina
Antony Carbone	...	Doctor Charles Leon
Patrick Westwood	...	Maximillian
Lynette Bernay	...	Maria (as Lynne Bernay)
Larry Turner	...	Nicholas as a Child
Mary Menzies	...	Isabella
Charles Victor	...	Bartolome

Storyline

Francis Barnard goes to Spain, when he hears his sister Elizabeth has died. Her husband Nicholas Medina, the son of the brutest torturer of the Spanish Inquisition, tells him she has died of a blood disease, but Francis finds this hard to believe. After some investigating he finds out that it was extreme fear that was fatal to his sister and that she may have been buried alive! Strange things then start to happen in the Medina castle.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | torture | gothic horror | spanish inquisition | buried alive | 

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Taglines:

The Greatest Terror Tale Ever Told!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Studios [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Edgar Allan Poe's Pit and the Pendulum

Filming Locations:

Palos Verdes, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alta Vista Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pendulum was made out of wood and had a rubber blade.

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Goofs

As the pendulum is being brought down, we eventually see it slice open the shirt. In one of the following overhead scenes, we see the shirt no longer sliced open.

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Quotes

Doctor Leon: We will exhume Elizabeth.

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Alternate Versions

2 shots of a corpse's face in a coffin were cut by the BBFC from the original UK cinema version. All later versions were uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Madhouse (1974)

User Reviews

Matheson's medley

The movie adapted from Edgar Allan Poe is par excellence a movie made up of sketches:for instance ,"tre passi nel delirio"(Fellini,Malle,Vadim,1968) encompassed three short stories.

The problem with Edgar Poe's short stories lies in the fact that they are...short!Here Richard Matheson double-jumped his contemporaries by combining elements from several Poe stories in a single classy film. Some kind of" the writer's greatest hits " so to speak.

The beloved late wife subject directly comes from "Morella" which will be filmed by Corman in "tales of terror" the following year.The doomed house which is slowly sinking down recalls "the fall of the House of Usher"."Burried alive" or "premature burial" plays a prominent part in the plot too.The walled up character was present in "the black cat" and "the cask of Amontillado".As for "the pit and the pendulum",it provides the movie with its final,but it's only a small segment of the whole.

The actors are excellent ,the sets wonderfully Gothic,but there's something hollow in these Corman movies.Fellini was able to transcend Poe (eg segment "Tobby Dammit" in "tre passi nel delirio") ,Corman remains a respectful director,and one sees little of the madness which emanates from Poe's best works.The same goes for such works as "premature burial" or "tales of terror".Outside technically,it does not show any improvement on,for instance Jean Epstein's (helped by Luis Bunuel)"chute de la maison Usher" a silent movie from 1928.