The Spanish Inquisition was one of the most horrible periods in human history
and for a low budget 90's flick THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM does a pretty good job
of capturing (at least on a small scale) that period's awfulness and perversion
of power.Spain 1492, a innocent baker and his wife get caught up in a crowd of people rushing to see a witch burned. They don't want to be there, but when they try to leave they are forced back. The baker's hot wife shows sympathy for the accused witch and in doing so is arrested for witchcraft herself. Once inside the prison the Grand Inquisitor (played perfectly by Lance Henriksen) falls into his perverse version of love with her and starts acting even crazier than he already was! Outside the prison the baker is desperate to save his wife so he finds a way to sneak into the prison. I won't give away anymore, but it's pretty exciting and a lot of fun to watch.
Like I said, this is a low budget film so the sets aren't the greatest and the special effects are a little weak, but don't let that scare you off cause the story is compelling and the cast is pretty impressive: Lance Henriksen, Jeffery Combs, Oliver Reed, Mark Margolis, Frances Bay and Tom Towles. Also, the director is the guy who made DAGON, FROM BEYOND and RE-ANIMATOR.
Check it out!
