Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Fine Gothic horror based on a story of maestro Edgar Allan Poe and a classic and masterpiece of Roger Corman and the great Vincent Price. The plot is also a classic - madness is spreading between the last members of a haunted family. Other must-see by the duo Corman/Price: House of Usher, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia. All made between 1960 and 1964.

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.

We will start out by saying that Edgar Allen Poe's story has nothing to do with this movie. All that connects it is the giant killer pendulum. A man comes to a castle to find out what happened to his now dead sister. Vincent Price is in the middle of all this, having been involved in her death, but realizing the there are some weird circumstances. As the story progresses, Price gets more and more weird and unhinged. We are led on a merry chase by the resurfacing Ms. Steele. Of course, the old torture chamber is going to come into play at some point. I need to mention that the final scene of this film has stayed with me for decades. Thank you Roger Corman. I think this may be your crowning moment.

The AIP Poe films are always a pleasure, especially when Roger Corman and Vincent Price are involved. This one, The Pit and the Pendulum, entered production after House of Usher (1960) found unexpected success at the box office. This film is thus more grandiose than its predecessor in both visual scope and action, with Vincent Price turning in a particularly stunning and larger than life performance as both Nicholas Medina and his Spanish inquisitor father. What struck me on my last viewing, and my first with another person, was how subversive the film is by the standards of then-mainstream horror. These Poe films were generally marketed towards a youth audience, yet they contained very mature themes: sadism/torture, infidelity, family dysfunction, and childhood trauma. Likewise, Price's grotesque performance in the climax of the film confidently straddles the line between camp and chilling lunacy; his frenzied, almost orgasmic monologue, in which he describes the hellish nature of the titular torture device to its victim, was sure to freak out more than a few kids in the audience. The film may not have been as soul-scarring as the infamous double feature of The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) and The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962), but I'm sure it led to many sleepless nights, and more than a few uncomfortable talks with parents and their children. All that aside, Richard Matheson's script cleverly expands on Poe's original story, introducing both a Gaslight-style plot (or perhaps House on Haunted Hill is a more appropriate reference?) and plenty of Poe motifs, such as premature burial and men haunted by the deaths of beautiful women. Corman's direction is stylish and assured; Floyd Crosby's cinematography is as impeccable as ever; and the Les Baxter score is a strong combination of melodramatic strings, brash scare chords, and dissonant soundscapes. Its reputation as a classic is well deserved. I daresay I like it even more today than I did as a Vincent Price-worshiping child.