Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel

Thirty five years after being pulled limb-from-limb after killing twelve virgins, Count "Regula" (Christopher Lee) is on his way back from the dead to reap his revenge. His targets are the daughter of the woman he had originally intended to be his unlucky 13th (Karin Dor) and the son of the man who convicted him back then - "Roger" (Lex Barker). It's very much in the style of an Hammer film, with colourful scenery and cheap and cheerful visual effects. The stage bound style of the performances and the pace of the story hold it back a lot: it takes way too long to get going and the characterisations are really all about providing foils to Lee, who takes charge of the plot (and the screen) all too sparingly. Still, it has moments of genuine peril that though maybe won't make you jump, do make you squirm a bit in your chair and if you like this genre then will keep you entertained (just about) for 85 minutes.

**_Basically, Germany’s version of “The Pit and the Pendulum”_** In the 1700s, a count in Bavaria (Christopher Lee) is drawn-and-quartered for murdering twelve virgins in his castle. Thirty-five years later, a nobleman seeking insights on his past (Lex Barker) is invited to the infamous citadel and, on the way, meets up with a striking baroness with a curiously similar goal (Karin Dor). “The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism” (1967), aka “Blood Demon,” was called “The Snakepit and the Pendulum” in German (translated). It’s a mixture of Corman’s Poe-inspired flicks from the early 60s, like “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Terror.” While those two flicks are superior (especially the first one), this movie fills the bill if you’re in the mood for haunting Gothic horror with mysterious castles, beautiful maidens, Medieval villages, horse-drawn carriages, secret passageways, cobwebs, snakes, rats, torture chambers, zombies and sorcery in the mold of AIP or Hammer films. The story isn’t very compelling in the middle, but you can’t beat the spooky mood of mid-60’s cinema and Dor is lovely. You might remember her from the contemporaneous 007 film “You Only Live Twice.” It runs 1 hour, 21 minutes, and was shot in Bavaria of southeast Germany at Rothenburg ob der Tauber (the Medieval town) and the studio in Munich. GRADE: B-/C+