the grand inquisitor and torquemada ( lance henriksen ) and know for his public execution and torturous method of those he and his foot soldier deem heretic and witch and be overcome with lust when he gaze upon the naked body of baker antonio ( jonathan fuller ) lovely wife maria ( the stun beauty rona de ricci ) on trial for be a witch after halt the never end whip of a boy child in front of a crowd of people . the film show torquemada battle with his desire for maria and how antonio will try to save her and which will not be an easy task . i think the main success of this film be lance henriksen powerful performance a the sadistic and psychotic inquisitor . while his choose men and gomez ( stephen lee ) and dr. huesos ( william j norris ) bask in the joy of make others suffer and don carlos ( tom towles ) drunk with the role of captain rid his horse with great pride and and francisco ( jeffrey comb and who look like a bookish accountant tend to his recorded testimony of sin and acknowledgment of witchcraft a if he be an irs agent seek debt owe by client ) log the accuse and very business like and with little remorse and torquemada be completely serious in his role a executioner and judge wield his power a if he be the mighty hand of god strike down anyone he so choose . henriksen always intense and frighteningly believable . i do feel that he best represent what kind of monster those inquisitor be like during this horrible time in history . while we often watch a his victim suffer and thanks to director stuart gordon and screenwriter dennis paoli and those who mistreat get their comeuppance in the end . it fun watch torquemada fall prey to his own madness and guilt and hypocrisy and bury iniquity which surface and confront him in a fantastically realize climax . france bay steal every scene she in a accused and imprisoned witch esmeralda and who befriend maria and get revenge on heckler and executioner when she set at the the stake to burn with the use of gunpowder . mark margolis ably portray the abused torturer mendoza and a puppet torquemada ( . and his goon ) use to do his dirty work ( . he have these nasty christ like wound on his hand which torquemada give to him as punishment a a reminder of what can happen when you sin ) . stuart gordon wife and carolyn purdy gordon ( . a an ancestor of one torquemada deem a heretic a his torturer whip the skeletal remains of an unearthed corpse . ) get you know what again ( . he like to murder his wife on film in devious way ) and it quite a grisly fate . she be strangle by a rope over the back of an executioner a her child watch helplessly . oliver reed have a very memorable cameo a a visit cardinal and with quite the taste for drink and who bring order from the pope for torquemada to end his violent method and meet a horrifying end ( . yep and the dependable wall entombment ) . i also love the preposterous and but ingenious and way one escape the swing razor sharp pendulum which close in to his body thanks to rat . that pit of spike and underneath a trap door where the poor victim lie a the pendulum swing and be also put to good use . and and i think that gordon utilizes rona de ricci beauty and innocence quite well . she certainly a sympathetic figure we root for a it seem her fate be doom because of the trap torquemada have place her in . but and this be henriksen movie . he a force of nature and gordon ideally shoots him in sinister way . you do not want this man point you out of a crowd for the possibility of consort with the devil and that for sure .