The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism

In 1801, Count Regula (Christopher Lee) is quartered for the murder of twelve virgins. Many years later, lawyer Roger Mont-Elise (Lex Barker) and the attractive Baroness Lilian (Karin Dor) receive an invitation to the notorious Sandertal. The journey through eerie forests leads them straight to the ruins of Count Regula’s castle and its torture chamber. No one can yet suspect that preparations are underway here to resurrect the count. But for that, he still needs the blood of a thirteenth virgin... Directed by Karl May filmmaker Harald Reinl (“The Treasure of Silver Lake”), this German gothic horror film is loosely based on motifs from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” and blends classic horror elements with influences from adventure films. Reinl’s whimsically old-fashioned film stands out above all for its atmospheric sets, vivid imagery, and its quintessentially “old-fashioned” Gothic flair. Period-appropriate elements such as the B-movie sets, the over-the-top acting, and the distinctive soundtrack by Peter Thomas give the film a trashy yet charming character today. Although “The Pit and the Pendulum” is rarely truly scary, the film remains a curious piece of film history as a German genre outlier of the 1960s.