Review of The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) by Bryan G — 17 Jul 2009

I thought that Stuart Gordon worked best when he was adapting one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, but here is a film from Gordon that is an adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story. The Pit and the Pendulum, or The Inquisitor as it was actually called in the film, is inspired by Poe's take on the tortures that prisoners had to go through during the Spanish Inquisition. And it turns out to not only be another solid film from Gordon, but also further proof that Gordon was one of the best, if not the best, directors who ever made films for Full Moon Entertainment.

The movie isn't a faithful adaptation of this dark period in human history, but it works enough believability in the story that I was able to forgive the film for the liberties it took. And some of the casting choices did seem a little odd at first, especially Jeffrey Combs (a regular in Staurt Gordon films) and Tom Towles as two of the inquisitors. But the film presented its characters in a fashion that worked, like in the case of both Combs and Towles who were more weasely than menacing so it was easier to buy these two actors in their roles.

Lance Henriksen was a great choice to play Torquemada, the head of the inquisitions. Henriksen has one of those faces that looks menacing, and one of those voices that sounds both tormented and frightening. He delivers a pretty great performance in the film, and I liked how the film allowed the character to be multi-layered instead of just being a completely evil villain. I liked the personal struggle he had to go through when he becomes infatuated with Maria (Rona De Ricci), a prisoner being held on charges of being a witch, and the twisted relationship they go through in the film.

The setting of the film is decent, but the castle does have a striking resemblance to the castle used in Subspecies and/or Castle Freak. The costumes were realistic, although I had to question whether or not men walked around with cod pieces during this time. And like most Full Moon movies, The Pit and the Pendulum has a great score from Richard Band.

In the past week I watched both Castle Freak and The Pit and the Pendulum, both films were in the Stuart Gordon box set I purchased from Full Moon's website, and both films have quickly shot up to the top of the list of my favorite films from this studio.