The Pit and the Pendulum (also known as Pit and the Pendulum Williams, Lucy Chase. The Complete Films of Vincent Price, Citadel Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8065-1600-3. As Williams notes, the actual onscreen title has no initial "The". Some references follow suit and refer to the film as Pit and the Pendulum ) is a 1961 horror film directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luana Anders. The screenplay by Richard Matheson was very loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name. Set in 16th Century Spain, the story is about a young Englishman who visits a forbidding castle to investigate his sister's mysterious death. After a series of horrific revelations, apparently ghostly appearances and violent deaths, the young man becomes strapped to the titular torture device by his lunatic brother-in-law during the film's climactic sequence.

The Pit and the Pendulum was the second title in the popular series of Poe-based movies released by American International Pictures, the first having been Corman’s House of Usher released the previous year. Like House, the film features widescreen cinematography by Floyd Crosby, huge sets designed by art director Daniel Haller, and a film score composed by Les Baxter. A critical and box office hit, Pit's commercial success convinced AIP and Corman to continue adapting Poe stories for another six films, five of them starring Price. The series ended in 1965 with the release of The Tomb of Ligeia.

Film critic Tim Lucas and writer Ernesto Gastaldi have both noted the film’s strong influence on numerous subsequent Italian thrillers, from Mario Bava’s The Whip and the Body (1963) to Dario Argento’s Deep Red (1975). Lucas, Tim. Video Watchdog Magazine, issue #74 (August 2001), pg. 55. Review of The Pit and the Pendulum DVD Gastaldi, Ernesto. Interviewed by Tim Lucas in Video Watchdog Magazine, issue #39 (May-June 1997), pgs. 28 - 53, "What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood in the Scripts of Ernesto Gastaldi?" Stephen King has described one of Pit’s major shock sequences as being among the most important moments in the post-1960 horror film. King, Stephen. Danse Macabre, Berkley Books, 1981. ISBN 978-0-42-518160-7.

The Pit and the Pendulum is a 1990 horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Francis Barnard goes to Spain, when he hears his sister Elizabeth has died. Her husband Nicholas Medina, the son of the brutest torturer of the Spanish Inquisition, tells him she has died of a blood disease, but Francis finds this hard to believe. After some investigating he finds out that it was extreme fear that was fatal to his sister and that she may have been buried alive! Strange things then start to happen in the Medina castle. Written by Leon Wolters

Nicholas Medina è figlio di un famoso inquisitore. Da ragazzo aveva assistito alle torture inflitte dal padre alla madre ed allo zio, accusati di tradimento. E' convinto di aver sepolta viva la moglie e che il fantasma della donna voglia vendicarsi di lui. Si tratta solo della fantasia malata dell'uomo (la moglie è viva e sta ordendo una trama malefica contro di lui, in compagnia del suo amante), che si convince della cosa e si trasforma in carnefice, inquisitore anch'egli contro tutto e contro tutti. Written by rosebud6

It is the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Maria does not like what is going on during the "Auto De Fe". When she speaks out, she is arrested and accused of being a witch. Torquemada has plans for her! He orders her tortured, and her tongue to be cut out. Her husband attempts to free her... Written by Anonymous