Rish Outfield's reviews
This was the second of Roger Corman's infamous Edgar Alan Poe series, and was apparently shot in only fifteen days on a $200,000 dollar budget (before you start thinking I'm smart, I actually checked out a book on Corman after seeing this). It was a familiar tale (especially involving Poe's ubiquitous dealings with torture and madness and his fear of premature burial), but very interesting: a young man (James Kerr) comes to an English castle seeking the truth about his deceased sister and finds half-truths and terrible secrets. Vincent Price plays the haunted Nicholas Medina, whose sadist father tortured his adulterous wife and interred her alive. I've always liked Price, and he was typically great here. The final scene, with the titular pendulum, did seem to come out of nowhere (it was one of those films where the whole story was written around that one scene), but it didn't bother me. The music during the end credits was lame, but the rest of the time, it was really good. Altogether, the film was intelligent, well-acted, and the shocking poetic-justice ending is one of the best I've seen. I had always heard about how campy these films were, but there was none in this one, no unintentional humour, no obviously-dated dialogue or special effects or costumes (although the accents don't seem very British), and no blatant stupidity. I think Corman should be remembered for this kind of work, when it comes time to remember him, and not the Bad-boy Beatnik Beach Blanket Beastoid From Below Bermuda-type flicks.
Best Scare: The ghostly voice of Price's dead wife whispering "Nicholassssss."
I'd Recommend It To: Non slasher fans, Poe fans, and people looking for a nice change.
Note: The copy I saw was the strangest Pan&Scan version I've ever seen, with scenes moving back and forth, occasional compression, and several annoying 'cuts' in the same shot.

The tyranist's thoughts
Regrettably, I was pretty tired when I watched this and so missed a little dialogue and scenery when I dozed off once or twice. Perhaps that is as much criticism as I should give.
As fond as I am of Poe, I've only rarely seen a true adaptation of his work. The best example I can come up with off the top of my head was probably "The Black Cat" from the Two Evil Eyes anthology. I bring that up because while this uses elements of the original Poe story, it isn't so much an adaptation as a very loosely based film. While it may not be true to the Poe upon which it is based, it is very true to the good horror films of its era, bearing up with a dignity that both Corman and Hammer would later abandon.
Vincent Price is a miracle and deserves the memories we all have of him. He is wonderful in this as the tortured Don Nicholas Medina and the most Poe-esque of all the filmic elements. I was also taken by Luana Anders performance as Nicholas' sister Catherine. Add those two to the marvellous castle setting and there is a gothic piece worthy of its day.
While I found the script untrue and very talky, it didn't bother me as much as it might have. The plot is very well thought out and some twists, I honestly didn't see coming. Maybe I'm slipping in my age. These should be seen, moreso than many, and even if Poe's major contribution to the story was the title, there's still a lot worth seeing here.