Editing The Pit and the Pendulum (section)

==Adaptations==
{{See also|Edgar Allan Poe in television and film}}

* Several film adaptations of the story have been produced, including the early [[French language|French-language]] film ''[[Le Puits et le pendule (1909 film)|Le Puits et le pendule]]'' in 1909 by [[Henri Desfontaines]]. The first [[The Pit and the Pendulum (1913 film)|English-language adaptation]] was in 1913, directed by [[Alice Guy-Blaché]].<ref>Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8160-4161-X}} p. 189</ref>
* The 1935 film ''[[The Raven (1935 film)|The Raven]]'', starring [[Boris Karloff]] and [[Bela Lugosi]], features a pendulum torture device in the dungeon underneath the house of the Poe-obsessed Dr. Vollin, played by Lugosi.
* The 1943 episode of the radio drama ''[[Suspense (radio drama)|Suspense]]'', starring [[Henry Hull]]
* The 1961 film ''[[The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film)|The Pit and the Pendulum]]'', directed by [[Roger Corman]] and starring [[Vincent Price]] and [[Barbara Steele]], like the other installments in the Corman/Price "Poe Cycle", bears minimal resemblance to the Poe story. The torture apparatus of the title makes its appearance only in the final ten minutes of the film. The reason for this is that the story is too short to be made into a feature-length film. The plan was to have a third act, which would be faithful to Poe, while the other two would be written in a manner that the cast and crew hoped would be similar to a Poe plot. A novelization of the film was written by Lee Sheridan, adapted from [[Richard Matheson]]'s screenplay in 1961, and published by Lancer Books in paperback.
* The 1964 French film ''[[The Pit and the Pendulum (1964 film)|The Pit and the Pendulum]]'' was directed by [[Alexandre Astruc]] and stars [[Maurice Ronet]].
* In ''[[The Flintstones]]'' season 5, episode 8, "Dr. Sinister", aired in 1964, Fred and Barney are menaced by a pendulum torture device until Barney discovers that he can use the blade to cut the bindings on his wrists. Later, Fred and Barney narrowly escape being thrown into a pit, which Dr. Sinister says is bottomless, hence anyone thrown in for crossing him would just keep falling for all eternity.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0580166/?ref_=ttep_eps_tp Dr. Sinister. The Flintstones. Season 5. Episode 8. 1964. Storyline. Fred and Barney "have to go into torture in a 'Pit and the Pendulum' way." IMDB. Retrieved 4 May 2025.]</ref>
* A 1967 West German film adaptation of Poe's story called ''[[The Blood Demon]]'' was directed by [[Harald Reinl]] and stars [[Christopher Lee]].
* In 1970, Vincent Price included a solo recitation of the story in the anthology film ''[[An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe]]''.
* In a 1970 episode from the animated cartoon series ''[[The Perils of Penelope Pitstop]]'', titled "London Town Treachery", the Hooded Claw has captured Penelope and attempts to kill her using a pendulum that swings lower and lower, as in Poe's story.
* In 1983, [[Czech people|Czech]] [[Surrealism|Surrealist]] [[Jan Švankmajer]] directed a 15-minute live-action [[short film]] called ''[[The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope]]'', based on this story and the short story "A Torture by Hope" by [[Villiers de l'Isle-Adam]]. It is a fairly faithful adaptation of both stories, featuring a unique first-person camera perspective and segments produced in Švankmajer's trademark [[stop-motion]] and [[cut-out animation]]. Most of the art design was done by his wife, [[Eva Švankmajerová]].
* In 1989, the opening episode of the fifth season of the U.S. TV series ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'' shows the protagonist strapped down as the intended victim of a Poe-like pendulum.
* In 1991, a [[The Pit and the Pendulum (1990 film)|film version of the story]] directed by [[Stuart Gordon]] and starring [[Lance Henriksen]] was released. The plot was altered to a love story set in Spain in 1492.
* The operatic metal band [[Nightwish]] released the 5-part epic song "[[The Poet and the Pendulum]]" on their 2007 album ''[[Dark Passion Play]]'' that draws much inspiration from Poe's work.
* The [[The Pit and the Pendulum (2009 film)|2009 horror film]] directed by [[David DeCoteau]] bears little resemblance to the original story but, like the 1961 version, utilizes the large swinging pendulum in the penultimate scene. The film follows a group of university students who visit a hypnotherapy institute lorded over by a sinister hypnotist who wants to use the students to experiment with the possibility of breaking the [[pain threshold]].
* The 2012 horror/mystery film ''[[The Raven (2012 film)|The Raven]]'', starring [[John Cusack]] in the role of Edgar Allan Poe, contains multiple reenactments of Poe's horror stories. Included is a scene where the "Pit and the Pendulum" scenario is re-created and successfully kills its victim.
* In 2013, the guitarist [[Buckethead]] produced an [[Ekphrasis|ekphrastic]] representation of "The Pit and the Pendulum" on an album called ''The Pit.''
* The 2013 animated anthology ''[[Extraordinary Tales]]'' includes "The Pit and the Pendulum", narrated by [[Guillermo del Toro]].
* The seventh episode of the [[Mike Flanagan (filmmaker)|Mike Flanagan]] directed Netflix miniseries ''[[The Fall of the House of Usher (miniseries)|The Fall of the House of Usher]]'' is titled "The Pit and the Pendulum" and features plot points loosely based on the short story.