The Pit and the Pendulum

Lance Henriksen devouring the screen. Oliver Reed shows up for the feast. I’m not a witch, oh first sign denial. I’m a witch. I KNEW IT. The olden days were stupid but 2020 so far , whooo boy.

Sicko genre flick is notable for its full commitment to the grotesque and dark undertones of its potent story, especially its savage critique of religious hypocrisy as a cover for lust, embodied in a hypnotic star turn from Henriksen; echoes of THE DEVILS abound, especially when Reed turns up as emissary from the Pope. De Ricci and Bay are both very effective as accused women. Loses some steam in the final act; a forced 'happy' ending doesn't quite work, but this is still an impressive effort.

I completely love the atmosphere and the edge that Stuart Gordon has going here, but everything is so unpleasant and without a satisfactory dive into bonkers-ville that you typically find with Gordon. Henriksen just eats up the screen but the two female leads (Bay and De Ricci) ground the movie. It's fine.

Em honra de Stuart Gordon (1947 - 2020) filme #6. Tô adorando descobrir essas pérolas perdidas dos anos 90 do Gordon. Plus: Há uma razão do Ollie ter uma participação aqui, é o fato de ter protagonizado o melhor filme de inquisição já feito: The Devils. BlurayRip RARBG.

The two heroes are not very good, but everything else here is great. Lance Henriksen really brings the intensity and makes the movie, with Frances Bay and Jeffrey Combs as the other standouts. That and the perfect gothic setting. I'm not sure how they managed to make a movie this good looking and in a damn castle on a Full Moon budget but it's lovely and a lot of fun.

(Viewed in 2015): Charles Band took the old saying about location making a film quite literally: Gordon shot this low budget adaptation of Poe in an Italian castle he owned. Bava could have made a great film under these conditions, but Gordon nonetheless creates an appealingly dark and claustrophobic world marked by moral corruption and religious zealotry, most effectively embodied by Henriksen in a scenery chewing role as the psychotic Torquemada. It is grim and intense but not without humour.

Charmingly trashy and strangely appealing, probably attributed to Poe's source material.

Only scoring it this high because the actors did good jobs, and because the goings-on are so energetic. If you like your horror yucky and frankly vile, then, hey, you might like this.

50.500

Henriksen is wound up very tight, Combs is underutilized (as usual) but Rona De Ricci is who really shines in this. Its black sense of humor feels a little more Charles Band than Stuart Gordon but is pretty good none the less. One of the better screen plays and cast but its flat production cheats it. Still an overlook effort by Gordon. Recommended.

Captures the demented obsession of Poe's writing fairly well. Henriksen is terrific and it's fun to see Oliver Reed in a hammy cameo appearance. One of Gordon's best.

It's such a shame that a master actor like Lance Henriksen is wasted on so many terrible horror movies. This is one of the worst Gordon/Paoli movies I've seen, and the contrast between Henriksen's sweeping, luminous performance and the film's stupidity is mind-boggling. The fantastic Oliver Reed also stumbles into a small role. Like other "adaptations" of The Pit and the Pendulum, this has nothing to do with Poe save for the Inquisition setting and the Pit/Pendulum set piece.

While it doesn't reach _Re-Animator_'s heights, this _Pit_ -- bolstered by supporting thesps Reed, Combs, and Towles -- is the most creative Poe-inspired fear flick to turn up since Roger Corman's _Masque of the Red Death_.

good movie

Probably the best film Full Moon Entertainment ever made. Surprisingly classy affair, budget be damned.

Best Full Moon production yet