Review of Pit And The Pendulum, The

Introduction

Roger Corman followed up the first of his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations The Fall Of The House Of Usher with this uber-gothic enterprise. Once again turning to the always-magnificent Vincent Price to star and Richard Matheson to adapt Poe`s prose, the result is quite possibly the most recognised and iconic of American International`s Poe cycle. Corman and Price would eventually send themselves and the picture up in the wildly silly Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

The Pit and the Pendulum is an exercise in creepiness that actually owes very little to Edgar Allan Poe. It owes a lot more to the imagination of Richard Matheson, who has brought us his fair share of horror stories in his time.

Haunted by childhood memories of his father`s activities in the days of the Inquisition, Price`s character Nicholas Medina hovers on the brink of madness. His wife has died from what he says was a blood disease, but circumstances suggest she died of terror - linked to the torture chamber in the dungeon that Nicholas`s father kept.

It doesn`t take much to tip Nicholas over the edge, and when his marbles do scatter, the plot to drive him looney-tunes backfires on the perpetrators...

Video

Like their transatlantic rival Hammer, American-International Pictures were making small budget movies that looked big on the silver screen. When they could afford colour, they used it for effect. "Pit" is no exception. Shot in Panavision and Pathecolor, it is a gothic assault on the eyeballs. More constrained than Hammer in the application of gore, AIP went for spectacle - extensive torture chambers, tapestry hung halls and scream queens like Barbara Steele wafting about the place until Mad Vince locked them in an Iron Maiden. The movie is reproduced here in its full glory thanks to a decent 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There is some wear and tear that is unsurprising for a forty-three year old movie (actually it is surprising given "Pit"`s pedigree that quality isn`t considerably lower). Detail is excellent, contrast ditto and colour that borders on the gaudy, just the way the movie was shot.

Audio

"The Pit And The Pendulum" was made in an era when soundtracks mostly came in one flavour - mono. The soundtrack features a score by frequent Corman collaborator Les Baxter, and is reproduced here in multilingual options, but all in plain vanilla Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.

Features

When MGM do a bare-bones release, they do a bare-bones release. We can be thankful for multilingual subtitles, including English Hard of Hearing, but that`s your lot. It is galling, however, that the R1 version contains an audio commentary which could have been ported across to this edition with little fuss, but wasn`t.

Conclusion

A satisfactory presentation of one of Vincent Price`s signature horror outings, based very loosely on a story by Edgar Allan Poe and pretty much an excuse for Uncle Vince to chew the scenery, bless `im. The movie was a commercial success for American-International and helped make Roger Corman`s reputation. Full of gothic trappings, medieval intrigue and a fully operational torture chamber complete with razor-sharp pendulum, you just know somebody`s going to have a bad day as a result.