''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 1842 short story by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

. The film is an amalgamation of the aforementioned story with Poe's "

The Cask of Amontillado "The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado" ) is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of ''Godey's Lady's Book''. The story, set in an unnamed Italian city at ca ...

", and it also appropriates the anecdote of " The Sword of Damocles", reassigning it to the character of Torquemada.

Plot

In 1492

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Grand Inquisitor Grand Inquisitor ( la, Inquisitor Generalis, literally ''Inquisitor General'' or ''General Inquisitor'') was the lead official of the Inquisition. The title usually refers to the chief inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, even after the reuni ...

Torquemada leads a bloody reign of terror. Opposed to the use of torture by the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, Maria speaks out during the public execution of a disenfranchised noble family. Torquemada is tempted by Maria's beauty, and atones through self-torture. Confused by these new desires, he accuses Maria of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

and orders that she be tortured until she confesses. During Maria's interrogation, Torquemada cannot stop himself from staring at her naked body; he orders that she be imprisoned. Maria is befriended by fellow prisoner Esmerelda, a confessed witch. Together they struggle to save themselves from the sinister Torquemada. Maria's husband Antonio breaks into the castle to rescue his innocent wife. He fails and is imprisoned for his actions. Torquemada decides to test a new torture device, the Pit and the Pendulum, on Antonio.

Cast

Lance Henriksen Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millenn ...

as Torquemada * Rona De Ricci as Maria * Jonathan Fuller as Antonio *

Frances Bay Frances Evelyn Bay (née Goffman; January 23, 1919 – September 15, 2011) was a Canadian-American character actress. In a career that spanned 35 years, she acted in a variety of roles both in film and television. Bay was inducted in Canada's W ...

as Esmeralda *

Mark Margolis Mark Margolis (; born November 26, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alberto "The Shadow" in '' Scarface'', Antonio Nappa in '' Oz'', and Hector Salamanca in ''Breaking Bad'' and '' Better Call Saul''. His performance in ''Break ...

as Mendoza *

Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fr ...

as Francisco * Stephen Lee as Gomez *

Tom Towles Tom Towles (March 20, 1950 – April 2, 2015) was an American character actor of film, theatre, and television, known for his portraying villains and intimidating supporting characters. His breakthrough role as Otis in '' Henry: Portrait of a Ser ...

as Don Carlos * William J. Norris as Dr. Huesos * Carolyn Purdy-Gordon as Contessa D'Alba Molina *

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

as Cardinal *

Benito Stefanelli Benito Stefanelli (2 September 1928 – 18 December 1999) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and weapons master who made over 60 appearances in film between 1955 and 1991. Biography and career Stefanelli is best known in world cinema for his ...

as Executioner *

Geoffrey Copleston Gerald Geoffrey Copleston (18 March 1921 – 1999) was an English actor, voice actor, and translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The Englis ...

as Butcher

Release

The film was given quick runs at many film festivals until its home video release in the summer of 1991. In 2000,

Full Moon Features Full Moon Features is an American motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series '' Puppet Master'', ''Trancers'', and ''Subspecies'', as well as the film ''C ...

released a DVD of the film, which has now been discontinued for

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

reasons. Since then it has been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

as part of the "Stuart Gordon Boxset", which also includes ''

Castle Freak ''Castle Freak'' is a 1995 American direct-to-video horror film directed by Stuart Gordon. The film stars Jeffrey Combs as John Reilly, an American recovering alcoholic who inherits an Italian castle when a distant relative passes away. John s ...

'', ''Deathbed'', and a bonus disc. The film was re-released on DVD on 2 August 2011 by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. The film was released on Blu-ray on April 30, 2013 by Full Moon and on August 12, 2013 by 88 Films in the U.K.

Critical reception

''The Pit and the Pendulum'' has received a mixed reception from critics, and currently holds a 56% 'rotten' rating on movie

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on nine reviews.

References

External links