Review of The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) by Scott C — 31 Jan 2013

Maria is declared a witch and cast into the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition after making an open objection to their cruel torture devices. Once there, her untamed beauty captures the affections of the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, who sentences her to an early death for casting an evil spell over him.

Maria's husband Antonio is left to face the perils of the Inquisition in order to save his wife, but for his troubles, he will have to answer to THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM! Stuart Gordon does for Poe what he has so often done for H.

P. Lovecraft in the 1991 adaptation of THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM from Full Moon Entertainment. Screenwriter Dennis Paoli injects the same twisted sense of humor into the mix as he had in RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND, lending a lighter edge to the dark Gothic motifs.

THE PIT is filled with quirky characters played out by the talented cast, including off-beat performances by genre favorites Jeffrey Combs and Oliver Reed, as well as Tom Towles, Mark Margolis, and Stephen Lee.

It is Lance Henriksen's fiery lead as the maniacal Torquemada that truly sets the film apart with his bloodthirsty sense of absolution and atonement. The grand designs reach the height of Full Moon's production quality in the 90's, ranking THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM alongside CASTLE FREAK as two of their finest films.