Pit And The Pendulum (1961)

Starring Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young man travels to the home of his recently departed sister to learn why she died, and immediately becomes suspicious of her husband, a man tormented by the depravities of his father.

Corman and Price's followup to their successful House Of Usher adaptation, I like this one even better, with another classic Poe story extended to feature length by able screenwriter Richard Matheson, and augmented by the appearance of Steele, fresh off her triumph in Mario Bava's Black Sunday.  Price plays a more kindly character in the film than his disturbed Roderick Usher, although still beaten down by emotional scars, but he's not given the same kind of showcase until the film's climactic moments allow him to let loose in a truly frightening sequence.  One wishes Steele, who has almost no dialogue until the film's final moments, and then as noted by film historian Troy Howarth to be clearly dubbed, had more to do, but her beauty shines through even in the bluish haze surrounding the film's flashback scenes.  Fine art direction and photography make the film as beautiful to look at as its 1960 predecessor, and when we finally get to see the pit and the pendulum, it doesn't disappoint.