The Pit and the Pendulum backdrop
The Pit and the Pendulum poster

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

1991 IT HMDB
June 27, 1991

Set during the height of Spanish Inquisition. The beautiful and kind-hearted Maria is arrested as a witch when she inadvertently cries out in horror at the public whipping of a child. As Maria’s husband Antonio tries to save her, Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, determines to punish Maria with torture for the desire she inflames in him. Loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story.

Directors

Stuart Gordon

Cast

Lance Henriksen, Stephen Lee, William Norris, Mark Margolis, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Barbara Bocci, Benito Stefanelli, Jeffrey Combs, Tom Towles, Rona De Ricci
Horror Romance

REVIEWS (1)

MC

Marco Castellini

We are in Spain during the Inquisition: a young and beautiful peasant girl is accused of witchcraft and brought before the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, who, struck by her beauty, immediately falls in love with her. To suppress his sexual instincts, he decides to condemn her to death, but the young woman, thanks to the help of a real witch and the intervention of her fiancé, manages to save herself, while it is the terrible inquisitor who meets a bad end… Based on one of Poe's most famous stories, Gordon crafts a good "historical" horror with actors of decent level (among others Lance Herinksen, protagonist of the TV series "Millennium" and Jeffrey Combs of "Re-Animator") and some effective and surely impactful sequences, such as those in which the torture techniques used by the "Holy" Inquisition are shown. More positive notes than negligible flaws. Enjoyable.

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