Saturday, November 27, 2010

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Notes: 11/27/10
Trippy opening titles.
Spotty acting. I can't tell if John Kerr is trying too hard or not hard enough.
Vincent Price is just the right level of looney.
The sets and chilling atmosphere offer the most highlights.
Love that shot of the castle on the stormy cliffside.
The exhuming scene is pretty effective.
Barbara Steele is very exotic looking.
The pendulum set piece is fun.
No one will ever enter this room again.” - frightening ending!

Review: B-
Roger Corman creates an effectively creepy atmosphere for his Edgar Allen Poe adaptation. At the center of it all is looney Vincent Price stealing the movie away from everyone. Some chilling sets and fun scares help the viewer along, despite John Kerr's sleepwalking performance and some uninteresting flashbacks. Above all, it's the ending that really makes this movie worth seeing. That final shot will haunt me forever.

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