10 Forgotten 90s Horror Movies You MUST Watch

In Edgar Allen Poe's short story, The Pit and The Pendulum, a prisoner finds himself strapped to a frame by Spanish Inquisitors, with a swinging blade descending on his torso. As soul-stirring as the tale is, transitioning a 40-page novelette into a feature-length film is far from easy.

And yet, Stuart Gordon pulled it off with his 1991 adaptation. In this version, a woman is arrested by a tyrannical Inquisitor called Torquemada (Lance Henriksen). When her husband prepares to rescue her, Torquemada prepares to arrest him and use his latest torture advice, the razor-bladed pendulum.

Due to the source material's brevity, elements from Poe's other stories were incorporated into the narrative. Fortunately, these additions never feel tacked on and organically flow into the bulk of the narrative. 

Even though Gordon nails the haunting dread that permeates throughout the author's work, Poe purists might struggle to sit through this adaption, since it depicts monks being whipped, elders being burned alive, and civilians being eaten alive by rats.

Although the cast are satisfactory in their roles, Henriksen is the stand-out. Torquemada is so rotten to his core, the Aliens actor could've turned him into a caricature. Instead, Henriksen plays the role with conviction and sincerity, making the character twice as scary.

The Pit and the Pendulum failed to receive a theatrical release, but there's no question this Poe adaption should've earned more attention.