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My main attractions to Pit and the Pendulum were Edgar Allan Poe, I love his sense of atmosphere and the fun, haunting writing style, and Vincent Price, who no matter the film or the quality of the script is one of those actors who always delivered. Pit and the Pendulum is an example of both and the genre at their best. Visually, I never really got the sense that it was a limited budget, the Gothic air and the eerie settings worked wonders, and the whole film is directed beautifully. The score is atmospheric, the story, cleverly expanded from Poe's work, is still fun, disturbing and shocking and the dialogue is intelligently arch. The acting is very good. John Kerr is rather wooden, but Barbara Steele is great in her brief appearances and Luana Anders and Antony Carbone are excellent in their supporting roles. Best of all is Price, his distinctive commanding voice, a demeanour that is both scary and sympathetic and almost Shakespearean delivery of his dialogue altogether makes for yet another brilliant performance. Overall, a terrific film, one of Price's best, both in film and performance. 9/10 Bethany Cox
9/10
