It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Blistering performances.

Fine Gothic horror based on a story of maestro Edgar Allan Poe and a classic and masterpiece of Roger Corman and the great Vincent Price. The plot is also a classic - madness is spreading between the last members of a haunted family. Other must-see by the duo Corman/Price: House of Usher, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia. All made between 1960 and 1964.

The second Poe movie was even a better experience for me than the first (The House of Usher). I doubted they could beat the atmosphere of House of Usher but they did. The torture room in the basement with all the gruesome devices covered in dust and spider webs, just great. The story and back story were here also better (deeper more elaborate) than House of Usher. The scenes from the past are shown in flash backs in blueish black and white while the rest of the movie is in color. The time setting is 16th century, the whole interior of the castle and the clothes it all seems true to its era. Those final scenes are marvelous with the elements named in the title being the central point. Not only breathtaking, edge of the seat stuff they are the perfect result of how Vincent Price's character was driven to insanity. Or how bad things that happened in the past get repeated again by future generations. I don't think anyone but Price could have played this role with such charisma as he did.

Young Francis Barnard (John Kerr) travels to Spain after learning of the death of his sister Elizabeth (Barbara Steele). There he meets grieving widower Nicholas (Vincent Price), as well as Nicholas's sister Catherine (Luana Anders) and doctor / family friend Dr. Leon (Antony Carbone). Francis is suspicious, and indeed these people don't seem to want to give him too many details. He's determined to get to the bottom of things, but seemingly supernatural occurrences are starting to drive Nicholas mad. As it turns out, Nicholas and Catherine are the offspring of the most sadistic torturer of the Spanish Inquisition.In the second film of his eight film Edgar Allan Poe series, producer & director Roger Corman creates more lavish "old dark house" atmospherics and visuals with the assistance of his very talented crew, including production designer & art director Daniel Haller and cinematographer Floyd Crosby. He makes this a great Gothic horror in the classic tradition, one that does admittedly start slowly but builds to a hair-raising final quarter. Adapting the Poe story is Richard Matheson, who uses it as the third act in a three act styled script. The dialogue is wonderfully literate, and as always it just flows off of Prices' tongue with the greatest of ease.Most other cast members do fine work, especially Anders, although if one is watching this for Barbara Steele, you must be advised that she doesn't get much to do until that final quarter. Kerr, however, is simply dull and inexpressive most of the time. Fortunately Price does the heavy lifting so passionately that he makes up for that quite easily.Corman begins the film with interesting visuals and it also must be noted that the majority of the credits are saved for the final minutes. The sequence with the pendulum of the title may very well have you on the edge of your seat. The flashback sequences are handled in a very stylish way. And that ending is positively chilling.Highly recommended to all fans of old school horror.Eight out of 10.

The second of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations stars Vincent Price(again superb) as Nicholas Medina, tormented son of an infamous Spanish Inquisitor who is visited by his brother-in-law Francis Barnard(John Kerr) who demands to see his sister Elizabeth(played by Barbara Steele) He is informed that she has died of a blood disease, but refuses to believe this, and investigates matters himself with distressing consequences...Equally good follow-up to "House Of Usher" is once again atmospherically directed by Roger Corman and written by Richard Matheson, who create a moody and ultimately tragic tale of fate and madness, with fine production design and a memorable climax and end.