1967 ‘Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel’ Directed by Harald Reinl
In the Olden Tymes, Count Regula is drawn and quartered for killing twelve virgins in his dungeon torture chamber. Thirty-five years later, he comes back to seek revenge on the daughter of his intended thirteenth victim and the son of his prosecutor in order to attain immortal life.
Blood of the Virgins, The Blood Demon, The Torture Room, Castle of the Walking Dead, Omen of the Devil, Pendulum, The Snake Pit, La tredicesima vergine, El foso de las serpientes, Skräckens blodiga borg, Sangue das Virgens, Le vampire et le sang des vierges, The Snake Pit and the Pendulum, Le Vampire et le Sang des Vierges, El tormento de las trece doncellas, O Sangue das Virgens, Колодец и маятник, El tormento de las 13 doncellas, Кървав демон, 蛇坑与钟摆, Hadí jáma a kyvadlo
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Please avoid this movie! Over the top acting, poor special effect and cookie cutter story line. Based on Poe’s The Pit and The Pendulum and he would be horrified how bad this is! It does get a few stars because it is so bad it is entertaining at times. Even Christopher Lee doesn’t save it and is one of his poorest I have seen!
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Psychotronic theater, the wild side of cinema.
"UNBELIEVABLE! Until you see it with your own eyes!"
Talk about hidden gems! The Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism is not only one of those euro horror films with a very catchy title, but one that delivers on the entertainment value as well.
Christopher Lee is "Count Regula" a mad man obsessed with the secret of immortality, kills 12 virgins only needing one more to make his elixir of life, before the authorities capture him and have him drawn and quartered.
Some thirty some years later he is resurrected so he can claim that final virgin and gain a measure of revenge on his executors.
This was a genuine treat to watch,…
Horst Wendlandt's Rialto Film was the company behind much of what drove the West Germany box office in the 1960s, specifically both the Winnetou series and many of the Edgar Wallace adaptations that shaped the krimi genre. When Winnetou and Old Firehand flopped at the box office, Wendlandt immediately began casting about for his next success — the next genre into which he could inject his magical energy.
Ultimately, he decided horror was his answer. As director and frequent Wendlandt collaborator Harald Reinl said,
The horror film was born in Germany. From here it went around the world; one after another there was an American, an English, a Japanese and finally an Italian horror film wave. The genre was not…
a real boschian spookshow of necessary images. "her blood gives me the elixir i need for eternal life...the blood is the life." aka BLOOD-O-RAMA!
this movie is literally THE best.
okay, maybe not, but. absolutely gorgeous visuals (enhanced by the PHENOMENAL severin restoration), genuinely chilling moments, and old cheesy 60s horror? the best. literally the best. this is totally my favorite kind of thing to throw on at the end of the day.
i could not be happier about the restoration from the new christopher lee box set (mine finally came in!!!!). i really enjoyed this the first time around, but this time i was really struck with how genuinely pretty everything looked.
and when christopher lee comes back in, reciting the lengthy exposition and pulp horror plot points with complete sincerity? mwah. chef's kiss. masterpiece.
i really loved the aesthetic here but it's lacking in every other area. i can't fully judge the acting since it is dubbed pretty badly, but there sure were a lot of weird facial expressions that made me feel awkward. the actual plot was also a little dull and the pacing was very slow so there isn't much for me to praise. i will say i loved that girl's dress though.
Old Shatterhand in der Geisterbahn
Bedenkt man, in welcher Zeit dieser Film entstanden ist, so kann man sich nur wundern, wieviele gelungene Horrorfilme in den USA, England oder Italien entstanden sind, aber leider nicht in Deutschland. Von Horror kann hier keine Rede sein, nicht einmal von altbackenem Grusel.
Eine lächerliche Kulissenschieberei ohne Sinn und Verstand mit einem sich vor einem Kreuz-Anhänger fürchtenden Christopher Lee und einem steif-biederen Lex Barker in einem Möchtegern-Hammerfilm mit Edgar Wallace-Soundtrack.
Christopher Lee reigned over a decrepit castle with a torture chamber where he tortured twelve virgins, but he needed thirteen. Thirty-five years after a judge sentenced Lee to death by drawing and quartering, the curse still lives, needing only some blood concentrate to reassemble Lee's limbs and let him get to the thirteenth virgin played by Karin Dor. The other twelve are still there kind of variously undressed on the torture racks in kind of a Bavaesque dungeon. Rex Barker, the son of the judge who condemned Lee along with Christiane Rucker who plays Dor's maid, and the coach driver enter Lee's castle through trap doors that lead them to Lee and his assistant played by Carl Lange, who was hanged and wears a laced up leather collar. Lee awaits their arrival so he can get Dor but the cross around her neck fucks everything up as if he were Dracula. Gothic German horror at its best.
A satanic cultist on the cusp of immortality is arrested for the crimes of murdering twelve virgins. He's subsequently drawn and quartered before he's able to kill his thirteenth and final victim to achieve his ultimate goal. Thirty years later he somehow does a "Palpatine" and returns, luring his final victim to his castle of horrors. "The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism" takes great inspiration from Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." The setting and cinematography are the main attractions here, with Christopher Lee turning in a typical oppressive performance as the sadistic Count Regula.
“I wish I knew what the devil this means!”
High thoughts: the producers of this Bavarian Black Sunday encourage you to laugh with this gothic fairy tale. Well, at least I did when our broad-shouldered hero ran, fist raised, at the cruel, sadistic doctor seated on his evil throne, only to fall like a stone through a conveniently placed trap door.
Coming in at the tail end of the gothic boom in Europe (triggered by the release of Hammer’s Dracula reboot in ‘58), The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism is a German production that has clearly soaked up the influence of all the various gothic incarnations from the continent and abroad. The ideas cribbed wholesale from the classics (torture masks,…
totally & utterly obsessed with karin dor serving gothic poe heroine in the most stunning mauve ball gown w black plumage shoulder piece & bolero shawl as she’s chased around a decrepit castle by sadistic virgin-murdering ghosts. i love her so much 🖤
Unlike its extreme title, this feels a lot like one of those spooky, slow-moving amusement park rides with all the fake cobwebs and props. It even starts as a gothic road trip-horror. Passengers include a beautiful woman and her maid, a lawyer, and a crazy, pistol-wielding priest.
Thankfully those characters are enough to keep it afloat because the story is horribly thin. It's sorely missing Christopher Lee, but he's dependably fun in what he's given.
While this has one of the goofiest stock soundtracks I've ever heard, it's made up for in spades by its surprisingly large and spooky sets. Not much else going for it that I'd want to revisit.
