I'd simply be lying if I said I didn't have high expectations for this. I absolutely loved Roger Corman's 1961 film starring Vincent Price and Barbara Steele, an outstanding classic that continues to make a huge impression. Not all of Stuart Gordon's works are equal, but he's been the mastermind behind some terrific genre classics. The cast is no joke, not least with noteworthy names involved like Lance Henriksen, Jeffrey Combs, and Mark Margolis. I think it's hard to go wrong with Edgar Allan Poe - and hey, only belatedly did I realize that this was a Full Moon production, but for all the low-grade schlock the Band family has churned out at one time or another, some of the features they're associated with are genuinely great. All this is to say that I had high hopes for Gordon's 1991 flick 'The pit and the pendulum' when I sat to watch. Very plainly, I'm taken by surprise, because this is definitely not what I was expecting - and I couldn't be more delighted!
Points of comparison come to mind, yet they are few, and I don't think there could ever be any mistaking this for anything else, or vice versa. The picture balances on a bizarre, extraordinary needlepoint of being many things all at once, with many aspects in conflict with one another. It does take ideas from Poe, but then twists them into a mishmash conglomeration of something very new. It's a period piece, replete with sets and costume design of terrific visual detail, but from dialogue and accents (or rather, the lack thereof) to scene writing, acting, and direction, the approach here is generally one of cheeky modern bluntness, and indifference to nuance or more esoteric detail. On the one hand this unquestionably falls into the category of "horror" in light of the violence and cruelties visited upon characters, the blood and gore, the fantastical elements, and above all the horrendously bleak darkness of the Inquisition, the absolute authority of the church, and the total absence of reason in the face of superstition and dogma. On the other hand, there are sidelong strains of comedy all throughout - not just levity sprinkled throughout, and seen in the ridiculousness of some plot points, and not just the wry gallows humor of people making light of awful circumstances, but even more so a wholesale absurdity of the (historically based) scenario, at times pointedly recalling Monty Python. And yet with the latter especially in mind, this is an instance where the comedy and the horror walk hand in hand: the horror of the goings-on, rooted in real-life history, is so wholly beyond comprehension as to be absurd, and freely gives way to humor; the very idea of finding humor in such tremendously horrible events lends itself to a sense of horror; the bolstered horror cycles back to the absurdity of it all - and so on, ad infinitum, in a spiral.
I don't know how much of these flavors can be attributed to writer Dennis Paoli, how much to producers Albert and Charles Band and Michael Catalano, and how much to director Gordon. Whichever the case may be, 'The pit and the pendulum' also balances on a needlepoint of seeming utterly ingenious in all that it does, and waffling and incohesive. Sometimes I can't tell if this is completely brilliant, or a godawful mess, and I don't know if the verdict is easier to determine or more difficult for the fact that the tone may flip to and fro within the same scene. Based on the strength of all the craftsmanship, and the recognizable and esteemed names involved in addition to the Bands, I'm inclined to think the movie is one of those comparatively rare examples of a Full Moon flick that is firing on all cylinders and is consequently an exemplar of excellence in all regards. Then again, maybe I'm just too generous when it comes to watching movies. Is there even any right or wrong answer here?
It's a hodgepodge in every regard. Yet it's expertly constructed, including marvelous effects and stunts, genuinely fantastic cinematography, flavorful original music (from yet another Band, Richard) - and, when they're not deliberately overacting, earnestly wonderful acting from the cast. For all the good things he has done, Henriksen has participated in no few titles that were just clunkers, but here he embraces the madness of the Grand Inquisitor with a panache that's at once tortured, conflicted, malicious, and devious, and he's obviously loving every minute of it. Rona De Ricci, starring as Maria, seemingly has few credits to her name, her she gives a wholehearted performance here that definitively outshines all those around her, and frankly many others in any other number of films. And, why, unlikely cinematic icon Frances Bay manages to steal the show even from De Ricci with each scene in which she appears. There's so very much going on in this, in every way, including even winking references to other pictures, and somehow the wild conglomeration is stupendously fun, clever, well-made, and even altogether smart. What is going on here?!
I had high expectations, and it turns out that they were solidly met, but in a manner that I never could have anticipated. For all the oddness of what this is and represents, I can most certainly understand that this won't appeal to all comers. For those who are open to all the wide, weird flavors that cinema has to offer, however, the result is honestly nothing less than exceptional. Think well on what it is one looks for in their viewing experiences, but if you're open to the strangest of kaleidoscopic cornucopias, 'The pit and the pendulum' is a rich, striking, outrageous modern classic that deserves much more recognition!
Points of comparison come to mind, yet they are few, and I don't think there could ever be any mistaking this for anything else, or vice versa. The picture balances on a bizarre, extraordinary needlepoint of being many things all at once, with many aspects in conflict with one another. It does take ideas from Poe, but then twists them into a mishmash conglomeration of something very new. It's a period piece, replete with sets and costume design of terrific visual detail, but from dialogue and accents (or rather, the lack thereof) to scene writing, acting, and direction, the approach here is generally one of cheeky modern bluntness, and indifference to nuance or more esoteric detail. On the one hand this unquestionably falls into the category of "horror" in light of the violence and cruelties visited upon characters, the blood and gore, the fantastical elements, and above all the horrendously bleak darkness of the Inquisition, the absolute authority of the church, and the total absence of reason in the face of superstition and dogma. On the other hand, there are sidelong strains of comedy all throughout - not just levity sprinkled throughout, and seen in the ridiculousness of some plot points, and not just the wry gallows humor of people making light of awful circumstances, but even more so a wholesale absurdity of the (historically based) scenario, at times pointedly recalling Monty Python. And yet with the latter especially in mind, this is an instance where the comedy and the horror walk hand in hand: the horror of the goings-on, rooted in real-life history, is so wholly beyond comprehension as to be absurd, and freely gives way to humor; the very idea of finding humor in such tremendously horrible events lends itself to a sense of horror; the bolstered horror cycles back to the absurdity of it all - and so on, ad infinitum, in a spiral.
I don't know how much of these flavors can be attributed to writer Dennis Paoli, how much to producers Albert and Charles Band and Michael Catalano, and how much to director Gordon. Whichever the case may be, 'The pit and the pendulum' also balances on a needlepoint of seeming utterly ingenious in all that it does, and waffling and incohesive. Sometimes I can't tell if this is completely brilliant, or a godawful mess, and I don't know if the verdict is easier to determine or more difficult for the fact that the tone may flip to and fro within the same scene. Based on the strength of all the craftsmanship, and the recognizable and esteemed names involved in addition to the Bands, I'm inclined to think the movie is one of those comparatively rare examples of a Full Moon flick that is firing on all cylinders and is consequently an exemplar of excellence in all regards. Then again, maybe I'm just too generous when it comes to watching movies. Is there even any right or wrong answer here?
It's a hodgepodge in every regard. Yet it's expertly constructed, including marvelous effects and stunts, genuinely fantastic cinematography, flavorful original music (from yet another Band, Richard) - and, when they're not deliberately overacting, earnestly wonderful acting from the cast. For all the good things he has done, Henriksen has participated in no few titles that were just clunkers, but here he embraces the madness of the Grand Inquisitor with a panache that's at once tortured, conflicted, malicious, and devious, and he's obviously loving every minute of it. Rona De Ricci, starring as Maria, seemingly has few credits to her name, her she gives a wholehearted performance here that definitively outshines all those around her, and frankly many others in any other number of films. And, why, unlikely cinematic icon Frances Bay manages to steal the show even from De Ricci with each scene in which she appears. There's so very much going on in this, in every way, including even winking references to other pictures, and somehow the wild conglomeration is stupendously fun, clever, well-made, and even altogether smart. What is going on here?!
I had high expectations, and it turns out that they were solidly met, but in a manner that I never could have anticipated. For all the oddness of what this is and represents, I can most certainly understand that this won't appeal to all comers. For those who are open to all the wide, weird flavors that cinema has to offer, however, the result is honestly nothing less than exceptional. Think well on what it is one looks for in their viewing experiences, but if you're open to the strangest of kaleidoscopic cornucopias, 'The pit and the pendulum' is a rich, striking, outrageous modern classic that deserves much more recognition!