The Pit and the Pendulum opens across the U.S. in 1961. The second in Roger Corman’s Poe cycle, the film stars Vincent Price and Barbara Steele and features a screenplay by Richard Matheson. Shot over just 15 days for $300,000, the film is a major hit — the biggest one in the history of American International Pictures — and becomes very influential to Italian horror filmmakers. Stephen King considers it one of the best horror films made after 1960.
This Day in Halloween: Roger Corman's "The Pit and the Pendulum" starring Vincent Price opens across the U.S. in 1961. / Illustration by Gabriela Vega