Structured almost identically to Usher, Richard Matheson's script fleshes out the brief original text with a fast-paced and twist-filled plot that never loses sight of the psychological themes of Poe's work. It also provides Price with the richest of his many AIP/Poe roles, a sympathetic, deeply emotional man who is unhinged by the sins of his father. Corman's direction is equally driven and fluid, and features some impressive quasi-psychedelic visuals in the tense climax. Also noteworthy is art director's Daniel Haller's impressive design of the title set piece. MGM's widescreen DVD features commentary by Corman, which focuses primarily on the film's technical aspects. Also included is the original trailer and a prologue (shot by Norma Rae producer Tamara Asseyev) featuring costar Luana Anders, which was added to fill out the film's 1968 television broadcast. --Paul Gaita

MGM Midnight Movies keep coming out, and my collection keeps growing. When I think of Vincent Price and Roger Corman, this gem is the movie that comes to mind. It is the perfect late-night horror film. If you've seen this movie on VHS, you know what I mean, but you're not getting the whole thing until you get this widescreen DVD.

The quality of the film it perfect. I saw no noticable wear of picture quality. The sound it fantastic. Vincent Price's perfomance as the tortured and soon demented son of a mad Spanish Inquisitioner is perfectly played out. The lonely castle setting is pure gothic. The interiors of castle give the feeling of wondering in a huge and rambling castle. Barbara Steele is pefectly wicked and sexy. The love story between the hero and heroine never really developes, but who cares! We want to see Vincent go mad and take his revenge.

After I watched the film, I watched it again with the audio commentary turned on. It was fun hearing Roger Corman explain some of his movie tricks for giving depth and beauty to one of his low-budget masterpieces. Normally, the MGM Midnight Movie films only include scene access and the theatrical preview as the extras, so this was a fantastic extra for no extra cost!

Keep 'em coming MGM. You put them in the store, I'll put them in my collection!


Sins of the Father   June 1, 2002
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

The best of Roger Corman's AIP Edgar Allen Poe flicks, and a superior horror film.

Vincent Price is a Spanish nobleman haunted by the sins of his Inquisitor father. While a small boy, Price accidentally witnessed his sadistic sire murder his uncle and wall-up his mother alive, believing them to have committed adultery together. His greatest fear, since that day, has been that his evil father's genes will somehow evidence themselves in him. Now an adult, the gentle Price discovers he has accidentally buried loving wife Barbara Steele while still alive, and is near suicidal with grief. But his suffering has only begun. His wife's spirit seems to be coming after him - or is it something worse?

Vincent Price and Barbara Steele never turned in better performances. Before the story is done, each of them get to play both victim and vengeful ghost - which can't be explained without ruining the sinisterly splendid plot, penned by veteran horror screenwriter Richard Matheson. The imagery is hauntingly grotesque, the atmosphere and mood often unbearably intense. Price has a mad scene that is simply unforgettable.

The movie gets off to a slow start, but once it kicks into high gear, it grabs you by the vitals and won't let go. Young hero John Kerr is a bit wooden, but performs capably enough to further the frightening plot. The always wonderful Luana Anders plays Price's sister, who gets to narrate the tale - with stylishly done flashbacks - of her and Price's evil progenitor. The sets are gorgeous. The soundtrack is especially effective, a combination of low, lengthy bass notes and frenetic, atonal percussion.

This is Gothic and psychological horror at its finest. The ending is chilling, and will haunt your nightmares for a long time to come.


Secrets down below   October 13, 2003
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

The Pit and the Pendulum. One of the most popular supense/horror films of all time comes back in a completely restored edition on DVD. In comparison to the VHS, you may see things you never did before, considering things are much more clear.

When Francis Barnard (John Kerr) here's his sister Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) has strangly died in Spain where she and her husband Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price) resided, he goes to find out more of the details. When he gets to the mysterious place, he knows that Nicholas is keeping something from him. He is even more shocked to hear that she died 3 months from the date he arrived. When the family doctor (Antony Carbone) arrives, Mr. Barnard is informed of what really happened after the Dr. Leon unintentionally tells him what happened. It turns out that Elizabeth became obsessed with the torture chamber that was inherited by Nicholas from his father who was a Grand Inquisitor.
Then, one day Elizabeth accidentally locked herself inside the iron maiden and died of shock. Nicholas' sister Catherine (Luana Anders), who is visting the castle for the time being, tells Mr. Barnard to take pity on her brother for he witnessed their father torture their Mother and Uncle when he was a little boy. Strange things soon start to happen around the Medina castle. The Harpsicord, which Elizabeth used to play, is heard being played throughout the castle even though no one visiting, or who lives there can play. Elizabeth assumingly whispers to Maria the maid while she was cleaining a room. Elizabeths room is in smitherings after presumably being destroyed by her. While Catherine, Mr. Barnard, and Dr. Leon are all in hot pursuit to find out what's going on, Nicholas seems to be going crazy. But there's more to this story then meets the eye, for is Elizabeth really dead?

The acting in this movie I have to say was wonderful. It couldn't have been any better. When you watch the trailer on the DVD, it is true when the narrorater says John Kerr has a challenging roll, for I thought he may have had a little trouble doing it. Vincent Price, now he was great at his part. He could change his personality so well, it kind of makes you think. Luana Anders and Barbara Steele, both very beautiful and talented actresses make this movie an even better addition to your collection. Antony Carbone, now there's a man that can act like a deciever and a friend at the same time. I can understand why this movie was a hit. It keeps you at the egde of your seat and never gets boring. Luana Anders just mesmerized me in her beauty. By the way, she's my cousin.


4 stars for drama! Sound - what happened?   February 2, 2002
 4 out of 8 found this review helpful

When I review a DVD I prefer to stick to the technical details and give folks my impression of the quality. That said, I have to point out that for some reason the sound fades away at the end of this movie and of course that is during the pendulum scene. What gives with that? Otherwise, the sound is okay and the picture is VERY NICE for a 1961 film.

Above and beyond the call of duty: Luana Anders is the star AND the atmosphere to this movie! It would not be the same without her. From what I read, she is a natural blonde but is not in "The Pit and the Pendulum." Most eerie, and it is hard to tell her origin here. Most charming too; however, her performance is spooky -- perfect casting (of her) and perfect direction!

I purchased this DVD for other reasons but was totally enriched by Ms. Anders. Haven't seen this movie since I was a child so it was quite a thrill for me to see it again, and obviously with new eyes (or more mature eyes). The DVD does not come with an insert booklet or chapter list.


"The shrieking of the mutilated victims became the music of his life."   July 11, 2006
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Pit and the Pendulum (1961) was the 2nd of numerous successful Edgar Allan Poe inspired collaborations (the first being 1960's The Fall of the House of Usher) between writer/producer/director Roger Corman (It Conquered the World, Teenage Cave Man, The Little Shop of Horrors), writer Richard Matheson (The Incredible Shrinking Man, House of Usher, Tales of Terror), actor Vincent Price (House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler), and American International Pictures or AIP, for short. Also appearing here along with Price is Barbara Steele (Black Sunday, Castle of Blood), John Kerr (Tea and Sympathy, South Pacific), Luana Anders (Easy Rider, The Last Detail), and Antony Carbone (A Bucket of Blood, Last Woman on Earth).

The movie, set in 16th century Spain, begins as we see a man riding in a carriage along a coast approaching a matte painting of an ominous castle. The driver, unwilling to go all the way (isn't that always the case?), drops the man off a good distance from the matte painting...er, I mean castle, where he then has to hoof it the rest of the way. Turns out the man is named Francis Barnard (Kerr), and he's come all the way from England to inquire about the untimely demise of his sister, Elizabeth (Steele). Seems she married one Nicholas Medina (Price), moved into his castle, and then passed away under mysterious circumstances. As Francis arrives at the castle, he meets Nicholas' sister Catherine (Anders), who's returned home to look after the welfare of her brother (apparently Nicholas doted on his wife, and is taking her loss particularly hard). Soon Doctor Charles Leon (Carbone) makes the scene, and Francis learns his sister contracted some strange ailment Nicholas believes came from the `atmospheric miasma of barbarity that permeates the walls of the castle'...you see, Nicholas' father Sebastian was an inquisitor of grand proportions, so much so he had his own, private and extensive torture chamber set up within the caverns beneath the castle which saw a whole lot of action back in the day. After some flashbacks we learn of a couple incidents that occurred during Nicholas' childhood, incidents that have affected him in such a way as to make him a little unbalanced, a situation that isn't helped by the fact that the spirit of his dead wife is now haunting him. Things get a whole lot creepier as Nicholas decides to exhume his wife's corpse (seems she's interred in the crypts below the castle) after which some revelations are made, marking the real decent into madness as the comeuppance is dished out to all deserving, and even to some who aren't...I got to say, the last fifteen minutes alone is worth the price of admission, and that's one hell of a pendulum...

I've always felt The Fall of the House of Usher and Pit and the Pendulum to be among strongest and most accessible of the Poe based Corman films. Price gives an excellent turn as Nicholas, a character plagued by his father's past transgressions, driven to the brink of madness by circumstances beyond his control. Of all the aspects Price brings to these films, the one element that always seems to stand out for me is a sense of class. Price is the star here, and it seemed the rest were very content to follow his capable lead. My favorite bits in this film are when Price, in a dual role, is portraying Sebastian Medina, the inquisitor extraordinaire. He's a loathsome, vindictive character and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. The inclusion of Ms. Steele, who had just come from appearing in Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960), was a bit of inspirational casting, in my opinion, as while her part may not have been large, it certainly was memorable. Few could pull off some of the facial expressions she was capable of, some of them quite frightening (I would have dreaded getting one of her wild-eyed, maniacal stares in the middle of the night). I thought Anders and Carbone did well enough in their roles, but I felt Kerr was slightly miscast. He's certainly a decent actor, but I never felt like he got completely into his role as some of the others...perhaps this an unfair judgment on my part as I think it would be difficult to compete against the likes of a Price or a Steele...ah well, this is was a fairly minor aspect compared to the whole. As far as Richard Matheson's screenplay, it comes off exceptionally well. Even if you're not familiar with the story, I think it's fairly obvious where things are going, but that didn't take anything away for me as the fun here was watching the events unfold. I thought the overall atmosphere of the production, assisted by Les Baxter's ookie musical scoring, went a long way, although I thought the use of the fake cobwebs a bit excessive at times. The usage of various matte paintings was obvious, but they were done well enough as not to take anything away for me. Normally I dislike the inclusion of flashbacks, but I thought they were handled well here as various hues were incorporated dependant on the mood of the flashback (a violent flashback would feature a blood red hue, etc.). I thought Corman's direction quite good but then it's no secret his affinity for the material. The film may seem a little slow going in the beginning, but I didn't mind at all as it allowed for Price to display his talents, and provided for an exceptional build up (as I said earlier, the last fifteen minutes or so are definitely worth hanging around for...). All in all this is an excellent feature, one that I think manages to capture a good deal of the mood within the original material, and just a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

The picture, presented in non-anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) looks clean and comes across well, while the Dolby Digital mono audio, available in both English and French, felt a bit off at times, coming across a little uneven at times. Special features include a goofy original five-minute prologue segment, which I believe was used to help pad out the running time for television broadcast, an original theatrical trailer (in widescreen no less), a commentary track with Roger Corman, and French and Spanish subtitles. While this film was originally released onto DVD by itself, it was re-released later onto DVD as a double feature with The Fall of the House of Usher, so if you're interesting in purchasing this film, I'd recommend searching out the double feature as you may get a better value.

Cookieman108