The Pit and The Pendulum (1961), based on the E. A. Poe story of the same name, stars the venerable Vincent Price as Nicholas Medina, the tragedy-ridden lord of a Spanish castle. An Englishman shows up to investigate the death of his sister, the deceased wife of Nicholas; a sister of Nicholas and a doctor also appear, but all revolves around the dead woman, from Nicholas’ immense love, to the Englishman’s suspicions, the doctor’s examination, even, it seems, the dungeon of deadly devices.
Soon enough, there are ghostly knocks and cries of untraceable grief, and the company is beset with mystery and fright; in a particularly effective scene, boy-Nicholas sees his father killing his own brother and then torturing his wife in revenge for alleged adultery, all done in a harrowing monochromatic and variable focus, which highlights the importance of this scene both in forming the personality of Nicholas, and his current state of mind.
The knot is tightened to the sticking point, and then abruptly undone, as Nicholas loses his mind and his innocence and begins to emulate his father. The pendulum of yore is, indeed, a terrifying device of both physical and mental torture, and brings the piece to a close which, while acceptable, could have been darker than achieved.
Judging from the plot summary of the story, it might be more accurate to say the movie is inspired by some ideas in the original story, as the plots seem quite dissimilar. That said, be not dissuaded on this point alone from seeing the film. Vincent is in fine form in this performance, and while we cannot add this movie to the list of shows in which a castle burns down around Vincent, the turns and twists of the story are intriguing and, so far as I could see, quite logical. And if the final twist of plot might seem a bit predictable, that minor failure only detracts a little from the horror of it. I still would not care to be in the ghost’s position.
Very passable for a stormy afternoon, or even better, a stormy night.
