The Pit and the Pendulum. 1961. Directed by Roger Corman

Film

Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 1:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

The Pit and the Pendulum. 1961. USA. Directed by Roger Corman. Courtesy of American-International/Photofest

The Pit and the Pendulum. 1961. USA. Directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Richard Matheson, based on the story “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe. With Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele. 35mm print. 85 min.

B-movie impresario Roger Corman presents another impressive Gothic film using Edgar Allan Poe’s literature as the catalyst for a tight, suspenseful horror story. Nicolas Medina is widowed and living solo in a gargantuan, spooky castle. Is he going mad or did he actually bury his wife Catherine alive? Catherine’s brother Francis doesn’t quite believe the story of her death, but when he demands that Nicolas take him to the place where Catherine died, he ends up in the castle’s torture chamber! And is it just his imagination, or does Nicolas hear Catherine trying to scratch her way out of her premature tomb?

This film accompanies Modern Matinees: Vincent Price.

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