The Pit and the Pendulum (1991 film) The Pit and the Pendulum (1991 film) The Pit and the Pendulum (released on DVD in the United States as The Inquisitor) is a 1991 American horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on the eponymous short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The film is an amalgamation of the aforementioned story with other Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado", and it also appropriates the anecdote of "The Sword of Damocles", reassigning it to the character of Torquemada. In 1492 Spain, Grand Inquisitor Torquemada leads a bloody reign of terror. Opposed to the use of torture by the Church, Maria speaks
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film) poetic." "The Hollywood Reporter" described it as "...a class suspense/horror film of the calibre of the excellent ones done by Hammer...It is carefully made and has full production values...Vincent Price gives a characteristically rococo performance..." "The Monthly Film Bulletin" was negative, writing that the production values "cannot prevent a strong impression of "déjà vu"," and that Kerr, Anders and Carbone were all "glumly wooden" in their performances. Charles Stinson of the "Los Angeles Times" was notably unimpressed by the film: "The uncredited scenario violates Poe's gothic style with passages of flat, modernized dialogue…But the pecadilloes of the script pale beside