The film 's critical reputation has continued to grow over the years , and it is now generally held to be one of the best entries in Corman 's Poe series . '' Time Out '' has opined , " Corman at his intoxicating best , drawing a seductive mesh of sexual motifs from Poe 's story through a fine Richard Matheson script . " In '' The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural '' , Timothy Sullivan wrote : " '' The Pit and the Pendulum '' is even better than its predecessor … The plot is heady stuff , and Roger Corman drives it forward — with wonderful matte shots of the castle perched on the seaside cliff , odd camera angles , the thickest cobwebs in horror-movie history , a spider in the face , and an iron maiden — all before our hero is strapped under the pendulum ... in a sequence that still stands one 's hair on end . " Phil Hardy 's '' The Aurum Film Encyclopedia : Horror '' observed : " If Price 's performance is noticeably more extravagant than in the earlier film , this is offset ( or matched ) by the markedly greater fluidity of camera movement . '' House of Usher '' seemed unsure of how to cope with the rush of action as Madeline returned from the grave ; '' The Pit and the Pendulum '' has no such hesitations . From the great sequence in which Steele lures Price down into the crypt to the finale … its action is terrific . " Tim Lucas , in reviewing the film 's DVD release in 2001 , wrote , " Benefitting from the box-office success of '' House of Usher '' , '' Pit '' is a more elaborate production and features some of the definitive moments of the AIP Corman/Poe series . " And Glenn Erickson , reviewing the DVD on his " DVD Savant " website , noted , " Roger Corman 's second Edgar Allan Poe adaptation is a big improvement on his first , '' House of Usher '' … Remembered as a first-rate chiller by every kid who saw it , '' Pit and the Pendulum '' upped the ante for frantic action and potential grue … " Recent critical opinion of the film is not all positive . Of the 17 reviews included in a Rotten Tomatoes survey of critics regarding the title , 17 % reflect negative reactions . FilmCritic.com opines that the film " ... is quite a disappointment ... In the end , it feels like one of Corman 's rush jobs , which of course , it was . " The film was selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival
2016 Cannes Film Festival
2016 Cannes Film Festival
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film)