191) The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

"...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair."

Director

Roger Corman

Cast
Vincent Price - Nicholas / Sebastian Medina
John Kerr - Francis Barnard
Barbara Steele - Elizabeth
Luana Anders - Catherine Medina
Antony Carbone - Doctor Leon
Patrick Westwood - Maximillian
Lynette Bernay - Maria
Larry Turner - Nicholas as child
Mary Menzies - Isabella
Charles Victor - Bartolome

Ever since I started this blog, I've developed an appreciation for the works of director, producer, and actor Roger Corman. 

Among all his work, he stands out in my head as the guy who created "Little Shop of Horrors." 

The more I read about Corman, particularly his Edgar Allan Poe films, the more I wanted to watch them in chronological order. Of course, there's a list of other movies he directed in his long reign as the "King of cult cinema" which I hope to get to in the future. 

I was sad to hear of Corman's passing last May. He certainly has an amazing legacy in horror/thriller cinema. 

In March, I started watching Corman's Edgar Allan Poe series starting with the first film, "House of Usher" (1960). As I mentioned in my review, Usher is followed by "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961). And that's followed by "Premature Burial" (1962), "Tales of Terror" (1962), "The Raven" (1963), "The Haunted Palace" (1963), "Masque of the Red Death" (1964), and "The Tomb of Ligeia" (1964). All of these films except "Premature Burial" stars horror icon Vincent Price.
I'll also mention again that there's a few odd balls in this mix. To begin with "The Haunted Palace" is actually based on H.P. Lovecraft's novella, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." However, the title belongs to Poe.
The 1968 British horror film, "The Witchfinder General," directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price, is based on Ronald Bassett's 1966 novel. When it was released in the U.S. by American International Pictures, it was retitled "The Conqueror Worm" in order to connect it to Corman's Poe films.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" continues Poe's obsession with premature burial. Like the other Poe films, this is loosely based on his works.

The story takes place in Spain during the mid-1500s. Francis Barnard (John Kerr), an Englishman, drops in on his brother-in-law, Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price) who lives in a huge castle overlooking the sea. Barnard is looking into the disappearance of his sister, Elizabeth (Barbara Steele).

Nicholas, who lives with his sister Catherine (Luana Anders), tells Francis that his sister died from some sort of blood disorder three months ago. 

As Francis presses for more details, Nicholas and Catherine seem reluctant to give him any answers. But Francis is determined to know what exactly happened to his sister. And he refuses to leave the castle until he knows the facts. 

John Kerr and Vincent Price in "The Pit and the Pendulum."

During supper one evening with the family physician, Dr. Leon (Antony Carbone), Francis asks again about Elizabeth. 

Dr. Leon informs him that Elizabeth actually died from heart failure. As he puts it, she "died of fright." 

Things turn stranger from there. 

Francis demands to see where Elizabeth is buried. Nicholas obliges and takes him into a torture chamber. He also reveals to Francis that Elizabeth became obsessed with the torture devices housed within. So much so that she locked herself within the chamber's iron maiden where she died after whispering the name "Sebastian." 

Francis doesn't buy it. In fact, he picks up on what seems like guilt from Nicholas. He shares his thoughts with Catherine. And she tells him of Nicholas's traumatic childhood experiences as his father was a Spanish inquisitor named Sebastian Medina.

Once during his youth, Sebastian snuck into the torture chamber with his mother, Isabella, and Sebastian's brother, Bartolome. While hiding, he watched as his father tortured Bartolome with a hot poker while shouting "adulterer" at him. 

Bartolome didn't survive the ordeal. And after he died, Sebastian tortured Isabella in front of Nicholas. 

Then, Dr. Leon lets the morbid ugly cat out of the bag. 
He tells Francis and Catherine that Isabella was buried alive behind a stone wall in the castle. 

This news leads Francis to believe the same fate befell his sister Elizabeth. Dr. Leon says that if Elizabeth is roaming around the castle, chances are it's her ghost that's doing the roaming. 

The idea of premature burial is Nicholas's most dreaded and traumatizing fear. 

Soon, all kinds of noises start coming from within Elizabeth's room. 

Everyone goes to investigate these noises, and find her room demolished. And the portrait Nicholas painted of her is torn and slashed. 

Nicholas is now convinced his wife's angered soul is truly haunting the castle. He also starts hearing the harpsichord she loved so much play in the middle of the night. 

Shortly after, he insists her tomb be opened. 

Francis opens her grave and finds her corpse frozen in a terrified position with eyes wide open and her mouth wide open as she died screaming. Scratches mark the coffin lid. Clearly, she was buried alive.  And the sight of her makes Nicholas faint. 

That night, Nicholas is bombarded with mental anguish. He can hear Elizabeth calling him. 

He follows the sound of her voice until he reaches her gravesite. There, he witnesses his late wife crawl out of her grave and follow him as he tries to run. Scared out of his wits, Nicholas falls down a flight of stairs. 

Just then, Dr. Leon appears on scene and confirms to Elizabeth that Nicholas is gone. 

But it doesn't end there!

Like "House of Usher," the horror and apprehension grows and grows in  this movie. The excitement intensifies all the way through.

It's horror that doesn't rely on blood and guts, or jump scares, or gnarly hideous zombies and monsters. This fear is pure mental anguish and anxiety culminating in a superb twist ending. It's a fear of a real possibility. The only way out of that fear, as far as the story goes, cannot be met without inflicting a permanent scar. Horror writer Stephen King applies such a technique for the endings of some, if not many, of his stories. 

Once again, Vincent Price is well cast and maintains himself to be the master of horror and the macabre. 

He conveys the terror within the plot remarkably through his face and reactions. It's in his eyes. Through his defeated, lonesome, fear-filled eyes, Price insights those same emotions to the audience with no need for exposition. 

The performances are brilliant all around, but Price carries the entire thing on his shoulders as though it takes no effort. Yet, it's full of effort.

For a low-budget picture, Corman somehow manages to put the audience in a dreamlike atmosphere while the thought of being buried alive where no one can hear you is forced to stay within the audience's collective imagination for sometime.  

Perhaps the term "horror classic" is thrown out loosely for most of my posts, but that term needs to be applied to Corman's "The Pit and the Pendulum." 

As much as I found "House of Usher" to be a well-made horror flick, "The Pit and the Pendulum" manages to earn a few extra points for hitting the right fearful spots, and for Price's continued impressive performance. I have yet to see Vincent Price performance I didn't like.