We will start out by saying that Edgar Allen Poe's story has nothing to do with this movie. All that connects it is the giant killer pendulum. A man comes to a castle to find out what happened to his now dead sister. Vincent Price is in the middle of all this, having been involved in her death, but realizing the there are some weird circumstances. As the story progresses, Price gets more and more weird and unhinged. We are led on a merry chase by the resurfacing Ms. Steele. Of course, the old torture chamber is going to come into play at some point. I need to mention that the final scene of this film has stayed with me for decades. Thank you Roger Corman. I think this may be your crowning moment.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" is the second of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe's adaptations with a screenplay by Richard Matheson.Vincent Price's performance is an obvious highlight of the film.Legendary horror actresses Luana Anders("Dementia 13")and Barbara Steele("Shivers","Silent Scream","Black Sunday")co-star in this extremely atmospheric chiller.To sum up,"The Pit and the Pendulum" is one of Roger Corman's finest offerings-it's creepy,unsettling and extremely entertaining.A masterpiece that easily gets 10 out of 10!

After the mysterious death of Elizabeth Barnard Medina (Barbara Steele),her brother Francis Barnard (John Kerr) travels from London to Spain and without previous notice he arrives at the castle of her husband Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price). He is received by Nicholas' sister Catherine Medina (Luana Anders) that invites Francis to have dinner with her brother and her.

Francis learns that their father Sebastian Medina was a cruel torturer of the Spanish Inquisition and Nicholas is a traumatized man that has witnessed the murder of his uncle Bartolome (Charles Victor) and his adulterer mother Isabella (Mary Menzies) being tortured and killed by his father when he was a kid. During the dinner, the family's friend Doctor Charles Leon (Antony Carbone) unexpectedly arrives and Francis discovers that his sister died of heart attack after visiting the torture chamber in the dungeons. Soon the place is haunted by strange events and Nicholas suspects of his servants Maximillian (Patrick Westwood) and Maria (Lynette Bernay) but Francis is convinced that Nicholas is the responsible for the death of his sister.

"Pit and the Pendulum" is one of the best Roger Corman's movies despite the poor scenario that shakes in many scenes. The last time that I saw this movie was on 16 November 1999 on cable television and today I have just watched it again on DVD. The creepy story of Edgar Allan Poe is still engaging even when the viewer watches more than two times. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Mansão do Terror" ("The Manor of Horror")