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The Pit and the Pendulum [DVD] [1961] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
 
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The Pit and the Pendulum [DVD] [1961] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

DVD ~ Vincent Price
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Region 1 encoding (requires a North American or multi-region DVD player and NTSC compatible TV. More about DVD formats.)

Note: you may purchase only one copy of this product. New Region 1 DVDs are dispatched from the USA or Canada and you may be required to pay import duties and taxes on them (click here for details). Please expect a delivery time of 5-7 days.


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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Pit and the Pendulum [DVD] [1961] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
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Product details

  • Actors: Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone
  • Directors: Roger Corman
  • Writers: Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson
  • Producers: Roger Corman, James H. Nicholson, Samuel Z. Arkoff
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language English, French
  • Subtitles: Spanish, French
  • Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: MGM
  • DVD Release Date: 5 Jun 2001
  • Run Time: 80 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005AUK4
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 78,283 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

The success of The Fall of the House of Usher in 1960 spurred American International Pictures to quickly launch another production based on an Edgar Allan Poe story. While producer-director Roger Corman had hoped to next adapt "The Masque of the Red Death" (which wasn't produced until 1964), Pit and the Pendulum (the on-screen title) became the second in AIP's long-running Poe series. Set in post-Inquisition Spain, the film stars John Kerr as a young Englishman who travels to the seaside castle of his brother-in-law (Vincent Price) to uncover the circumstances behind the death of his sister (a dubbed Barbara Steele). Price is tormented by memories of his mother's premature burial by his inquisitor father (also Price) and fears that this sadistic legacy has contributed to Steele's demise. Furthermore, he believes that Steele was also buried alive--a belief compounded by the mysterious destruction of her room, and the sound of her harpsichord playing in the night...

Structured almost identically to Usher, Richard Matheson's script fleshes out the brief original text with a fast-paced and twist-filled plot that never loses sight of the psychological themes of Poe's work. It also provides Price with the richest of his many AIP/Poe roles, a sympathetic, deeply emotional man who is unhinged by the sins of his father. Corman's direction is equally driven and fluid, and features some impressive quasi-psychedelic visuals in the tense climax. Also noteworthy is art director's Daniel Haller's impressive design of the title set piece. --Paul Gaita, amazon.com

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Vincent Price hams it up perfectly, 16 Oct 2004
By E. A. Redfearn "eredfearn2" (Middlesbrough) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)   
This review is from: The Pit And The Pendulum [DVD] [1961] (DVD)
This 43 years old classic makes a welcome addition the the DVD catalogue of classic movies. A typical Roger Corman low budget flick which succeeds admirably. The story which has little to do with the original Poe classic which was more surreal than anything, concerns an Englishman Francis Bernard(woodenly played by John Kerr) who is investigating the death of his sister Elizabeth (Barbara Steel). He finds a lot more than he bargains for in the gloomy castle of Dom Nicholas Medina (played by the wonderful Vincent Price who hams it up superbly) the tormented son of Sebastian Medina once leader of the Spanish Inquisition. I dont really want to say too much about this film really because it is worth seeing. The sets are wonderful; particularly the torture chamber. And the final scenes are very good indeed. As for the picture quality, it is quite good showing much detail in the dark scenes. Sound is only adequate though which is understandable bearing in mind the film's age. Worth adding to anyones collection.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, 9 July 2009
By Mr. John K. Bishton "bishton3" (Chesterfield, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Fall of the House of Usher /The Pit and the Pendulum [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Just to offset the negative effect of the previous review, I must point out that everything about this DVD warrants a full 5 stars.

Firstly, it's part of the celebrated MGM Midnite Movies series, renowned for their superb quality of presentation, artwork and packaging. Every title, whether schlock like I BURY THE LIVING or classics like the two films contained herein, is offered in superb transfers, always in the correct aspect ratios, great sound, perfect tones and clarity of image, and you don't get that from every company!

Secondly, these two pictures are absolute classics of the genre - full of gothic atmosphere, from literate scripts from Richard Matheson, with Vincent Price's masterful playing (Roderick Usher in the first film being a quite different character from Nicholas Medina in the second) and fabulous photography from Floyd Crosby - in fact, the entire production credits belie the fact that these films were made initially as 'drive-in fodder' for AIP until somebody realised that director Roger Corman was aiming his sights at a much classier audience. As every buff knows, he continued his cycle of Poe treatments, culminating (though it was not the last film) in that all-time masterwork, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

All Corman's Poe films are available in this Midnite Movies series as double-bill discs and each one makes for an excellent evening's entertainment, preferably on a dark and stormy night!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars isn't related to poe's story but still great., 16 Aug 2006
By Mr. A. E. Ward Davies (Canterbury , England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Pit And The Pendulum [DVD] [1961] (DVD)
like most of roger corman's films based on edgar allan poe, there isn't much taken and used from poe's original stories.
however, that doesn't make a lot of difference as corman's work with vincent price is some of the best i've seen in horror films.
this, their second film together, is a specially written screenplay that only includes a reference to poe at the end with the swinging pendulum. a marvellous and imaginative scene.
the plot is a conspiracy to drive vincent price insane by convincing him that his wife isn't quite so dead after all. over the course of the film, you will witness price give one of his definitive performances. as the supporting cast don't add up to much, it is left to vincent price to carry the film acting wise and he does so effortlessly.
the film certainly has a low budget look to it, but that is partly due to the popularity of these films just like the hammer films.
the film sets used are very good and quite spooky.
this is my second favourite corman-price film after "the raven."
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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Vincent Price a name, one title, a spectacular moment of cinema
Champion of a cinema cheaper, able to manage the low-budget and to match the pure kind of culture is not trivial to subpoenas, Roger Corman is a special case in American cinema... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Massimo Santilli

1.0 out of 5 stars Film 'oddity'.

PLEASSE NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR 'HOUSE OF USHER' ONLY:


An alternative title could be: 'Mad Madeline'! Read more
Published 17 months ago by FAMOUS NAME

5.0 out of 5 stars Vincent Price goes over the top with his toy in the crypt
After the success of "House of Usher," American International asked director Roger Corman to "adapt" another Edgar Allen Poe work to the screen. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2004 by Lawrance M. Bernabo

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