History Main / PendulumOfDeath

* ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons:'' A series of these is the first trap in the Antius Guild Maze Ridley must traverse. Rather than try to dart between them, [[BladeRun he hops on top of them and jumps from blade to blade as they swing close to each other.]]

* ''ComicBook/RulahJungleGoddess'': In "The Thirsty Stone" (''Zoot Comics'' #12), evil witch doctor Potmas attempts to fulfill an ancient prophecy by [[HumanSacrifice a yellow haired woman]] to become all-powerful in the jungle. He captures blonde BoldExplorer Mildred Maxim and straps her to the eponymous "thirsty stone": a stone altar beneath a swinging stone knife that drops lower on every swing.

Compare SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom

* These appear in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' in Hang Castle. [[BigBoosHaunt As is fitting for the setting]], they're mere set dressing.

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* The 2012 horror/mystery film ''[[Film/TheRaven2012 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 recreated and successfully kills its victim.
* Czech Surrealist Jan Svankmajer directed a 15-minute live action short film called ''The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope'', based on "Literature/ThePitAndThePendulum" 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 Svankmajer's trademark stop-motion and cut-out animation. It also shows some of the mechanisms behind the pendulum's operation.
* Creator/RogerCorman's 1961 version of ''Film/ThePitAndThePendulum'' has little to do with its namesake outside of utilizing the trope toward its finale. The film centers around a sixteenth century Englishman visiting his brother-in-law's castle to investigate the death of his sister.
** The 2009 version directed by David [=DeCoteau=] also bears little resemblance to the original story but 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 1965 spy-spoof ''Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine'' homages/parodies the Corman movie, with returning star Creator/VincentPrice's eponymous MadScientist having the same setup in his headquarters. Evidently some footage was reused as well.

* ''Film/SawV'': Seth Baxter wakes up in a room, chained to a table, with two vices on either side of it. Above him, is a large, bladed pendulum that begins to swing after his tape is completed. Seth has to push buttons in the back of the vices that will crush his hands in order to stop the Pendulum from reaching his body, as his hands are the "tools" that caused harm to others. In sixty seconds, the pendulum will cut him in half if he doesn't succeed. Seth inserts his hands into the vices, but quickly pulls them out in fear. Trying again, he succeeds in crushing his hands and the Pendulum ceases swinging for a few moments, but after a short pause, the Pendulum reactivates and descends far enough to begin cutting into his abdomen, and eventually slices him in half, confirming that the trap was inescapable.
* ''Film/DeathstalkerIIDuelOfTheTitans'': Sultana captures Deathstalker and straps him to a table where a giant pendulum swings closer and closer to his private parts.

* ''Film/ElvirasHauntedHills'' shows Elvira herself beneath a swinging blade, though oddly positioned to be severed lengthwise, not crosswise. Mustn't harm the boobs, after all.
* In ''Film/TheTortureChamberOfDrSadism'' (a.k.a. ''The Blood Demon'', ''The Snake Pit and the Pendulum'' and ''Castle of the Walking Dead''), Roger is imprisoned in a pit beneath a descending pendulum after being captured by Count Regula (Creator/ChristopherLee) and then attempting to escape.
* ''Film/TheUncanny'': In 1936, in Hollywood, the actor Valentine De'ath [[NotSoFakePropWeapon replaces the blade of a fake pendulum to kill his actress wife]], and give his young mistress and aspiring actress a chance. The cat of his wife avenges her.

* ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles'': In "Usher II", all of the murders are based on Poe stories. One of the victims is killed by the descending pendulum from "Literature/ThePitAndThePendulum".

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': The CliffHanger at the end of the first part of the two-part "Legend of the Holy Rose" has Mac strapped beneath a descending blade on a pendulum in a torture chamber exhibit.
* ''Series/NightGallery'': In "A Question of Fear", Colonel Mallory lies down on a bed in a supposedly haunted house. Steel restraints suddenly emerge and cover his chest, locking him in. Then a swinging razor-sharp swinging pendulum descends, moving closer and closer to his neck. Just short of slicing his throat, the pendulum stops. The next morning the restraints and pendulum are gone.

* ''Series/DarkShadows'': In episodes 795 and 796 ("The Pits" and "Death and Taxes") Aristede straps Quentin to a table beneath a slowly descending swinging axe blade as he attempts to extort the Legendary Hand of Count Petofi from Angelique.

* A whole album called Shadow of the Raven by Music/{{Nox Arcana}} is devoted to Edgar Allen Poe. One of the tracks is "The Pit and the Pendulum", and in addition to the music, there is a steady whooshing noise to portray the pendulum's presence.

* This is how Lord Blackthorne executes one of your companions if you get caught in ''VideoGame/UltimaV''.
* One deathtrap in ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' requires Dirk the Daring to traverse a passageway where three of these swinging blades await to OneHitKill Dirk, who must PressXToNotDie to dodge these blades.
* ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria}}'': In the past, Marie conspired with her lover, Gaston, to kill her [[TheBluebeard bluebeard]] husband Carno by sabotaging the equipment for his most infamous and dangerous escapology trick, in which Carno dons a burning hood and escapes from bonds on a throne equipped with an overhead pendulous axe. The sabotage leaves Carno horribly burned and disfigured, but he survives and viciously attacks Marie and Gaston. After killing Marie by beheading her with the same pendulous throne, Carno is killed by Gaston just before he succumbs to his own wounds. In the present, Don (who is possessed by a demon) captures Adrienne and straps her into the pendulous throne, but she distracts him long enough to free herself from the throne and trigger the pendulum, which impales and kills Don.

* In the torture chambers of the Nali Castle in ''VideoGame/{{Unreal|I}}'', you find one of these, though with no victims strapped to the slab.
* A common breed of trap in later ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' games

* ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' has a variant in the torture chamber level: a prisoner is lashed to the wall and has a giant cross-thing [[CruelAndUnusualDeath slowly lowered to crush him.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has an enemy fought in the Shinra Mansion that has the top half of a man, the bottom half of a bladed pendulum and attacks by swinging at your party from a chain. If you're lucky enough, you can knock it off the chain making it helpless for a few turns.

* A swinging blade is one of the many traps Agatha's group contends with in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' when leaving the Incorruptible Library to track down Professor Zardeliv and Prende's Lantern.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'': In "London Town Treachery", the Hooded Claw captures Penelope and attempts to kill her using a pendulum that swings lower and lower.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' riffing on numerous Creator/EdgarAllanPoe stories, BJ finds himself in four-point restraints under a descending razor pendulum, which cuts through his tie and lapels just before a commercial break.

* In ''Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine'', a descending pendulum is one of the torture devices in Dr. Goldfoot's headquarters (and the film reuses footage from another Creator/VincentPrice vehicle ''Film/ThePitAndThePendulum'').

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' riffing on numerous Creator/EdgarAllenPoe stories, BJ finds himself in four-point restraints under a descending razor pendulum, which cuts through his tie and lapels just before a commercial break.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' riffing on numerous Creator/EdgarAllenPoe stories, BJ finds himself in four-point restraints under a descending razor pendulum, which cuts through his tie and labels just before a commercial break.

* A whole album called Shadow of the Raven by Music/{{NoxArcana}} is devoted to Edgar Allen Poe. One of the tracks is "The Pit and the Pendulum", and in addition to the music, there is a steady whooshing noise to portray the pendulum's presence.

A classic DeathTrap, tracing its origins to Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "The Pit and the Pendulum". The hero is strapped to a table beneath a blade mounted on a pendulum. When activated, the pendulum descends slightly with each swing, gradually getting closer to the hero.

* Czech Surrealist Jan Svankmajer directed a 15-minute live action short film called ''The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope'', based on "The Pit and the Pendulum" 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 Svankmajer's trademark stop-motion and cut-out animation. It also shows some of the mechanisms behind the pendulum's operation.

* In ''Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine'', a descending pendulum is one of the torture devices in Dr. Goldfoot's headquarters (and the film reuses footage from another Creator/VincentPrice vehicle ''The Pit and the Pendulum'').

* The TropeMaker is Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "The Pit and the Pendulum", where such a device is used by the Spanish Inquisition to torture the narrator.
* ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles'': In "Usher II", all of the murders are based on Poe stories. One of the victims is killed by the descending pendulum from "The Pit and the Pendulum".

* The Music/SymphonyX song "King of Terrors" is essentially a musical retelling and summary of The Pit and the Pendulum. Its second verse tackles this trope:

* In ''Film/TheTortureChamberOfDrSadism'' (a.k.a. ''The Blood Demon'', ''The Snake Pit and the Pendulum'' and ''castle of the Walking Dead''), Roger is imprisoned in a pit beneath a descending pendulum after being captured by Count Regula (Creator/ChristopherLee) and then attempting to escape.

* The 2012 horror/mystery film ''Film/TheRaven2012'', 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 recreated and successfully kills its victim.