The Pit and the Pendulum Charles III and Charles IV only four persons were condemned. The Inquisition was, however, abolished during the period of French intervention (1808–13). The original source of the pendulum torture method is one paragraph in the preface of the 1826 book "The history of the Inquisition of Spain " by the Spanish priest, historian, and activist, Juan Antonio Llorente. relating a second-hand account by a single prisoner released from the Inquisition's Madrid dungeon in 1820, who purportedly described the pendulum torture method. Most modern sources dismiss this as fantasy. One theory is that Llorente misunderstood the account he heard; the prisoner
The Innocents (1961 film) Festival. "The Innocents" is regarded as a classic psychological horror film. With the British cinematic re-release of "The Innocents" as part of the BFI's Gothic Season in December 2013, the film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from contemporary critics. "The Innocents" holds a 96% "fresh" rating on the internet review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from a sample of 47 reviews. Its consensus reads, "Creepily atmospheric, "The Innocents" is a stylishly crafted, chilling British ghost tale with Deborah Kerr at her finest". Peter Bradshaw, film critic for "The Guardian", gave the film five out of five stars in December 2013, praising it