Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

jacobjohntaylor1 This is a very scary movie. It has great acting. It also has a great special effects. It also has a great story line. This is scarier then The Exorcist and that is not easy to do. 7.1 is a good ratting. But this is such a great movie that 7.1 is underrating it. I give it 10 out of 10. This movie is scarier then A Nightmare on elm street and that is not easy to do. This is scarier then Friday the 13th and that is not easy to do. This is scarier then Halloween and that is not easy to do. This is a great movie see it. It is scarier then The silence of the lambs could ever be. See this movie. It is a great movie. It is very scary. It is scarier then The Shinning and that is not easy to do.

Scott LeBrun Young Francis Barnard (John Kerr) travels to Spain after learning of the death of his sister Elizabeth (Barbara Steele). There he meets grieving widower Nicholas (Vincent Price), as well as Nicholas's sister Catherine (Luana Anders) and doctor / family friend Dr. Leon (Antony Carbone). Francis is suspicious, and indeed these people don't seem to want to give him too many details. He's determined to get to the bottom of things, but seemingly supernatural occurrences are starting to drive Nicholas mad. As it turns out, Nicholas and Catherine are the offspring of the most sadistic torturer of the Spanish Inquisition.In the second film of his eight film Edgar Allan Poe series, producer & director Roger Corman creates more lavish "old dark house" atmospherics and visuals with the assistance of his very talented crew, including production designer & art director Daniel Haller and cinematographer Floyd Crosby. He makes this a great Gothic horror in the classic tradition, one that does admittedly start slowly but builds to a hair-raising final quarter. Adapting the Poe story is Richard Matheson, who uses it as the third act in a three act styled script. The dialogue is wonderfully literate, and as always it just flows off of Prices' tongue with the greatest of ease.Most other cast members do fine work, especially Anders, although if one is watching this for Barbara Steele, you must be advised that she doesn't get much to do until that final quarter. Kerr, however, is simply dull and inexpressive most of the time. Fortunately Price does the heavy lifting so passionately that he makes up for that quite easily.Corman begins the film with interesting visuals and it also must be noted that the majority of the credits are saved for the final minutes. The sequence with the pendulum of the title may very well have you on the edge of your seat. The flashback sequences are handled in a very stylish way. And that ending is positively chilling.Highly recommended to all fans of old school horror.Eight out of 10.

Claudio Carvalho After the mysterious death of Elizabeth Barnard Medina (Barbara Steele), her brother Francis Barnard (John Kerr) travels from London to Spain and without previous notice he arrives at the castle of her husband Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price). He is received by Nicholas' sister Catherine Medina (Luana Anders) that invites Francis to have dinner with her brother and her.Francis learns that their father Sebastian Medina was a cruel torturer of the Spanish Inquisition and Nicholas is a traumatized man that has witnessed the murder of his uncle Bartolome (Charles Victor) and his adulterer mother Isabella (Mary Menzies) being tortured and killed by his father when he was a kid. During the dinner, the family's friend Doctor Charles Leon (Antony Carbone) unexpectedly arrives and Francis discovers that his sister died of heart attack after visiting the torture chamber in the dungeons. Soon the place is haunted by strange events and Nicholas suspects of his servants Maximillian (Patrick Westwood) and Maria (Lynette Bernay) but Francis is convinced that Nicholas is the responsible for the death of his sister. "Pit and the Pendulum" is one of the best Roger Corman's movies despite the poor scenario that shakes in many scenes. The last time that I saw this movie was on 16 November 1999 on cable television and today I have just watched it again on DVD. The creepy story of Edgar Allan Poe is still engaging even when the viewer watches more than two times. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "A Mansão do Terror" ("The Manor of Horror")

Red-Barracuda Like most Edgar Allan Poe adaptions, The Pit and the Pendulum only the barely resembles the original text. But if you have read any Poe you could hardly be surprised by this seeing as his stories were very short and had very limited plot-lines. They were more a case of a single horrible idea with a small amount of story surrounding it. In this case, the screenplay was adapted by Richard Matheson who was the writer famous for the novel 'I Am Legend'. He does a good job of fleshing out the story, adding more interesting detail while still incorporating the central idea. It's not until the excellent finale that we really see the material taken from the book but it's well worth the wait as the ending is very strong both in terms of suspense and visual artistry.On the whole, for a low budget movie this looks quite sumptuous. It's consistently nice to look at with great use of colour, including some monochrome flash-back scenes. The sets, costumes and quality of actors are of a high standard. In this sense, it mimics the approach of the Hammer films, whose low budget Gothic horror films similarly had a very polished feel on a similarly low budget. I guess director/producer Roger Corman was intentionally aiming for this and he himself directed a further handful of Poe adaptions for his company AIP; all of which followed the same basic template and were equally impressive productions on a small budget. Of course, it is never going to hurt a film to have Vincent Price on board. He always delivers quality in my opinion and here is no different. He is especially good in the final third once he goes insane and believes himself to be a reincarnation of his infamous father, a notorious torturer from the Spanish Inquisition. Additionally, it can also never hurt a film to have Barbara Steele in it either. She was the queen of 60's Gothic horror and starred in a number of productions. In this one she only has a small role but it's very important and memorable.It's probably a movie that is best defined by its excellent ending though. The first two-thirds build up the tension and intrigue but events spiral to a crescendo in the final third. It's really once we meet the terrifying wonder that is the pit and the pendulum that the movie moves into iconic status. Overall, this is certainly one of the best examples of 60's Gothic horror.