Search - The Pit and the Pendulum on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1961 DVD Release: 06/05/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 20 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Horror, Period Film, Costume Horror, Gothic Film

American-International's standing "haunted castle" set is exhibited to peak advantage in Roger Corman's Pit & the Pendulum. Save for the climax, Richard Matheson's script bears but little resemblance to the Edgar Allen Poe original, though there are pronounced echoes throughout of Poe's -The Premature Burial. Vincent Price stars as Nicholas Medina, the son of a notorious Spanish Inquisition torturer. Nicholas' wife Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) has died under mysterious circumstances, prompting Elizabeth's brother Francis (John Kerr) to arrive at the Medina castle to investigate. The tormented Medina believes that Elizabeth was buried alive, and is convinced that he can hear his wife's voice calling out to him. In truth, Elizabeth has faked her death, part of a plan concocted with her lover Dr. Leon (Anthony Carbone) to drive Medina mad. She succeeds in this goal (albeit to her own grief, as the film's very last shot reveals), pushing Medina over the brink. Convinced that he's his own father, Medina dons Inquisition robes, straps Francis to a table, and arranges for a huge steel-bladed pendulum to slowly, slooooowwly descend on his helpless victim. You'd never know that Pit & The Pendulum was shot on the budget and schedule of a B western; the film is consistently good to look at, with eerily evocative color camerawork (Floyd Crosby) and sumptuous art direction. Stock footage of the climactic torture sequence would later find its way into the 1966 spy spoof Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, which also starred Vincent Price. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vincent Price - Nicholas Medina
John Kerr - Francis Barnard
Barbara Steele - Elisabeth Barnard Medina
Luana Anders - Catherine Medina
Anthony Carbone - Dr. Charles Leon

The second (and arguably the best) of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, The Pit and the Pendulum offers up plenty of ghoulish fun for fans of the gothic and macabre. MGM's disc is a vast improvement over their release of The Fall of the House of Usher (1960). That's not to imply that Usher was a poor release (it's not) -- it just didn't disguise its age as well. Pendulum, on the other hand, looks stunning throughout. The high-contrast print is stable and there are few, if any, moments of digital artifacting. There are a couple instances of color fibrillation, but for the most part the saturated blues, greens, and reds remain controlled. The disc has been properly letterboxed in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, finely showcasing the film's excellent cinematography and opulent sets. Corman's production may have been made on the ultra-cheap, but one would never think so after viewing this disc. It really is amazing how much care Corman and his oh-so-small production team put into these films. As in Usher, Corman offers up an audio commentary track, and despite some rather long-winded ideas about the Freudian themes running wild through the Poe films, the commentary is basically a rehash of background information and production details that were discussed in more detail on the Usher DVD. No matter, for Pendulum does contain a special treat -- a rare four-minute prologue. The scene is offered in full-screen format only, and has not been color corrected or remastered. The film's great theatrical trailer is also included. English and French mono soundtracks are available, as well as French and Spanish subtitles. =The Pit and the Pendulum is not only a thoroughly fantastic disc, it is also a fine addition to MGM's excellent Midnight Movies series. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide