The Pit and the Pendulum

A nobleman (Vincent Price) is convinced his late wife (Barbara Steele) is haunting him.

Pit and the Pendulum is the second, and one of the best of director Roger Corman’s series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. This film improves on Corman’s previous Poe adaptation (House of Usher) in almost every way.

Similar to the Hammer Film productions, Pit and the Pendulum features great sets and makes wonderful use of color. Unlike Hammer, however, Corman didn’t have a pool of great English actors to pull from. While Price and Steele are great, John Kerr is distinctly American in what should have been and Englishman’s role.

The script by Richard Matheson runs a lean 80 minutes and manages to strike just the right tone, while providing a truly memorable set piece for the finale.