Fuji reviews Pit and the Pendulum

[Fuji Vice]

Pit and the Pendulum


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When his sister Elizabeth dies suddenly, Francis Barnard visits his brother-in-law Don Medina to find out exactly what happened to her. Don Medina lives a lonely life since his wife's death. He loved her dearly and can't explain what she died of. Francis clearly isn't welcome and it is only Don Medina's sister Catherine that seems to have an interest him. As Francis and Catherine explore the events surrounding Elizabeth's death, Francis learns of Don Medina's horrific childhood experiences and discovers an attempt to drive him mad.

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While The Fall of the House of Usher was the first and The Masque of the Red Death the best, arguably the most remembered film from the Roger Corman/Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe love triangle is 1961’s Pit and the Pendulum. This is at least partially due to the iconic scene near the end that employs the pendulum of the title; stills from that scene routinely turn up in books about horror films and the scene itself has been used in other films. It also routinely made the rounds on television after Vincent Price’s death, as I can remember seeing that damn pendulum about 100 times a day in late October, 1993. Aside from establishing an iconic scene and guaranteeing its place in history for it, the film also proved that Corman’s success adapting The Fall of the House of Usher had been no fluke. Pit and the Pendulum performed admirably at the box office and has had a long and healthy life on television and in home video. Hell, it was just released on Blu Ray this week, proving beyond any doubt that it’s a horror film with a lot of staying power.

"Not exactly the nicest guest room in the torture chamber."
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Directed by Roger Corman and written by Richard Matheson, the film plays a lot like a replica of The Fall of the House of Usher. Obviously Corman realized that he’d stumbled onto some sort of winning formula after that film and decided to mimic it as best he could. In both films, a handsome stranger arrives at a gigantic fortress like structure only to be met by the weird owner, played in both instances by Vincent Price. However, unlike Usher, Corman was able to bring the cast in this film up to a whopping six actors, thereby creating more opportunities for multiple character interactions. These characters, written by Richard Matheson, are all excellently rendered, as is the rest of the script. Although the Poe story really only comes into play during the climactic finale, Matheson proves quite adept at weaving his own little sordid tale of horror and madness. This shouldn’t come as a surprise given his penchant for turning out top notch writing wherever he went (The Twilight Zone, The Legend of Hell House, The Omega Man AKA I Am Legend) but it’s impressive nonetheless.

"Vincent Price can choke a bitch out with the best of them."
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Speaking of impressive, the performances here are all that and even a little more at times. I know I’ve used the term “deliciously evil†to describe the work of Vincent Price more than once, but it’s just so appropriate and once again he is just that here. I’ve also mentioned that I think he’s a little bit hammy at times, and again, here he gets a chance to portray that side of himself. From some bizarre facial tics to a bunch of weird giggles, it’s sometimes silly but also oddly fascinating and it’s very hard to turn away from the man. While I wouldn’t say this was his best performance (either of the previous two films I’ve reviewed were better) I believe this may be the best example of his overall acting style. Meanwhile, John Kerr portrays Francis Barnard and is pretty subdued throughout the film, though this is by no means a poor reflection on his acting abilities. Rather, Kerr must have realized that it would be foolish to match over-acting wits with a man of Price's talents, and so instead sought to be a true foil by slowing things down significantly. The two women, played by Barbara Steele and Luana Anders, are both really hot and do good work playing off of both Price and Kerr. They may not be the best actresses to ever grace the screen, but they sure have the assets for the roles and more than hold their own in scenes with both leads.

"Every good horror story deserves a scary castle."
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Pit and the Pendulum, like The Fall of the House of Usher before it, makes the most of its single location, in this case the Medina estate. Of course, within the estate there are many rooms, including the crypt and the torture chamber. Let's face it folks, even if you've never seen this film or read the story on which it's based, do you honestly think they'd show that torture chamber if somebody wasn't going to end up in it? Sure it's an obvious direction for the film, but even knowing in advance doesn't diminsh how excellent the scene is when it finally occurs. There’s also a great deal of suspense in this film, providing the audience with only small clues about what’s really happening until the final revelation. While a film like The Masque of the Red Death really had something to say on an intelligent level, there’s no need to worry about that here. In other words, what I’m saying is that Pit and the Pendulum is a movie that’s more over-the-top than anything else, never willing to take itself too seriously yet still going for the freaky bone at times. If you’re going to enjoy a movie like this, you have to be able to go into it knowing that it needs to be accepted on its own terms to be enjoyed properly. It’s a little bit less ambitious than some of the other Corman/Price/Poe films, but it’s a ton of fun, the final scene is an all-time horror classic and there’s even one final shock that should drop your jaw to the floor. 7/10.

"Coming up tomorrow....it's a boy."
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