When Francis Barard ( John Kerr) hears about the death of his sister Elizabeth Barard Medina( Barbara Steel) he travels to Spain. When he arrived at Nicholas Medina's ( Vincent Price) castle, he is met by Nicholas sister; Catherine Medina ( Luana Anders). She is there to comfort her brother during his time of need, also there is a Maximilian. Maximilian his a servant of some kind, who sees to Nicholas's needs. During dinner Nicholas's good friend Dr. Charles Leon ( Leon Carbone), comes in. Dr. Leon was there when Elizabeth died. When Francis hears two different stories on the death of his sister, he gets upset. Nicholas tells him one thing while Dr. Leon tells him another. Francis talks to Catherine about her brother and his behavior. Catherine tells Francis about the time her brother was a child. Nicholas was hiding in the torture chamber, when he saw his father Sebastian Medina( Price) torture his mother to death. He saw both this mother and uncle tortured due to an affair. Catherine tells Francis, that Nicolas has never been the same since. One day everyone hears a harpsichord playing, Nicholas believes his Elizabeth's ghost is back. There are several other strange things that occur. Strange voices are heard, the possibility that Elizabeth was buried alive. Then the accusation that Nicholas could be doing these this without knowing it.The truth is Elizabeth and Dr. Leon were having an affair. It is out that Elizabeth is alive and well, living with Dr. Leon. Elizabeth is in the house and Nicholas finds her. Leon told her to wait, but she couldn't wait to get it out in the open. When the two of them follow Nicholas into the torture chamber, he falls down the stairs. Elizabeth thinking Nicholas is dead tells him about the Medina Adulterous history. Then Nicolas begins to laugh, and she gets the surprise of her life. Nicolas has snapped and believes he his Sebastian Medina. When this occurs he puts Elizabeth in a torture device, and then goes after Leon. Leon runs and falls to his death into the Pit and Pendulum chamber. Francis is captured and taken to the Pit chamber. When Catherine and Maximilian hear the device start they run toward it. When there Nicholas believes they are Isabella and Barthemu. His mother and uncle, a fight ensues between Maximilian and Nicholas. In the end, Nicholas falls to his death; and Catherine closes the torture chamber for good. At the very end you see Elizabeth still locked into the torture device. This is a classic Gothic tale that still gives me chills, I highly recommend it.

How valuable was Vincent Price as an actor; I don't mean simply as a star, that should be obvious even to casual horror fans much less people who watch a lot of movies. But it might be too easily assumed - I'm not sure exactly by who but I'm guessing it's by some who only watch these and other horror movies for the (cheap?) thrills - that Price could only do the creepy-spooky voiced character, the man who speaks that inimitable narration in Jackson's 'Thriller', or The House on Haunted Hill or House of Wax or House of Usher or any of the Houses. Watching Pit and the Pendulum and you can get another take on him, that, as hammy as he might appear, it's not something that he's doing inauthentically. I'm not sure he had it in him to do anything that wasn't deeply felt - Corman, in his book about his life and work, said that Price was trained in the method, of some sort at least - and you can see that 10-fold as Nicholas Medina, the (ex?) husband of Catherine (Luana Anders), as he comes apart over the course of this story. It's a tour-de-force really and it sneaks up on you.The rest of the production is actually pretty good; some of that reaction may be that one may not immediately think of Corman as someone who could make classy, atmospheric horror movies, the kind that could actually feature a character (like Price as Nicholas does at one point in the film) walking down a hallway/stairwell littered with spiders and rats and cobwebs with terrifying music and that it would make one's skin crawl. I think it also helps knowing that it's doubly impressive considering, if one knows their history, how little Corman and AIP usually put into their films - this looks like the real deal, as far as a low budget production could go, and (like 'Usher'), the giant house and the dark cavern and hallways of Medina are exquisite and do the job. I think if there's a weak spot here it's not totally in the script but in John Kerr; I think it may be due to being up against Price and even other decent players like Steele, Anders and Carbone (Anders, though her screen time is limited and some of the time only seen in blue or red tinted flashbacks, well photographed by the way), but he seems a little stiff and wooden. I don't think it's being misdirected or even miscast, he's just the... straight man, in an odd way one could say, where Price gets to have all of the BIG emotional scenes, or can even walk away with a scene when it seems like he's doing very little. At the heart of Pit and the Pendulum is one of Poe's great stories, one that has been if not ripped-off then certainly done the homage- route - I could see heavy traces in something as recent as A Cure for Wellness to a degree, or really any movie that has to do with an outsider going to a dark, bad place to discover what happened to 'A' character and if 'B' is responsible or not. What also helps is that it's not long at all - 77 minutes before credits (though those are given a wonderful, psychedelic tinge) - so it's compact and doesn't waste time. Yet at the same time it uses every minute it's got in spellbinding intensity and intrigue, and when Price has to breakdown or, later on, turn (or even when he plays Nicholas's father - the one who "punishes" the "adulterers"), he's gangbusters. If this isn't Corman's masterpiece then it may be Price's.

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.

The second of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations stars Vincent Price(again superb) as Nicholas Medina, tormented son of an infamous Spanish Inquisitor who is visited by his brother-in-law Francis Barnard(John Kerr) who demands to see his sister Elizabeth(played by Barbara Steele) He is informed that she has died of a blood disease, but refuses to believe this, and investigates matters himself with distressing consequences...Equally good follow-up to "House Of Usher" is once again atmospherically directed by Roger Corman and written by Richard Matheson, who create a moody and ultimately tragic tale of fate and madness, with fine production design and a memorable climax and end.