Classic Film Review: 'The Pit and the Pendulum'

[Steve Miller]

The Pit and the Pendulum
Director: Roger Corman
Starring Vincent Price and Barbara Steele
Studio: American International
Three Out of Five Stars

I can't remember liking a film directed by Roger Corman, so why did I waste my time on one of his 'classics'?

Because I still have very vivid memories of the film's climactic scenes from watching it as a young child in a hotel room; the man chained down as a massive axe swings back and forth and starts cutting into his stomach, the twsited man in black pulling the chain to lower it further... aaaiiiiieeee!

The last 15 or so minutes of the film match my youthful experiences, even through the jaded eyes of an adult who's watched waaaay too many B-movies. What's more, this is probably the BEST Corman film I've been exposed too. And the final shot of the film is very creepy!

Price's performance is fabulous here; the slide into madness of his character is actually believable, as is the terror on his face. The supporting cast also does a great job, although Barbara Steele isn't used to her fullest because they've redubbed an American actress over her. (I supposed someone said, "Gee.. her BROTHER sounds American, so she should too.") The sets and camera work, even the musical score also stand head and shoulders above other Corman films I've seen.

The three stars are, partly, because the film does show some of the usual Corman defects--pan shots that I imagine are supposed to be suspenseful but are just boring and lame exchanges between actors stating the obvious, but also because the video seems to have been taken from a flawed print; the color is off in a number of scenes.