Moment of Awesome: Despite being exhausted, starved, and scared to death, the narrator manages to pull off some impressive feats of ingenuity.
When exploring his dungeon, he finds a way to measure his cell using a piece of torn clothes, the only thing he has left. It doesn't work, but it was a good try.
And of course, his greatest moment: the narrator is bound under a giant pendulum, while rats - which he suspects could eat his flesh - swarm the room. On top of that, he's given food seasoned enough to stimulate his thirst. His solution? Oiling the bonds with food so the rats would gnaw through his bonds, allowing him to escape at the last moment. The Pendulum of Death is one of the most horrific death traps in fiction, and he manages to escape on his own.
Just the fact that the narrator is rescued from his ordeal. You don't see a happy end in an Edgar Allan Poe story very often.
Despite everything, the narrator keeps having thoughts of hope throughout it all, no matter how dire his situation is. Until the very end, he fights for his sanity and his survival. He's proved right when The Cavalry arrives.
The Narrator: “It was hope — the hope that triumphs on the rack — that whispers to the death-condemned even in the dungeons of the Inquisition.”
1961 film
Alternate Character Interpretation: The story about Isabella being locked in her tomb while still alive. Is it just made up by Dr. Leon to make Nicholas seem even crazier?
Catherine takes The Reveal that her mother was locked in the tomb alive incredibly well. Although she is horrified, she never mentions it again and never seems affected by it. The TV version - which shot an additional scene years later to pad the running time - shows Catherine in an asylum, showing that all the horrors did eventually catch up with her.
John Kerr himself felt he underplayed the fact that Francis is literally breaking into his sister's tomb to identify her body.
Broken Base: Critics at the time were divided on Vincent Price's performance - either finding him too hammy and Narmy or else the highlight of the film.
Catharsis Factor: Once it's revealed that Elizabeth faked her death and conspired to drive her husband mad - in addition to cheating on him with his best friend - it feels incredibly satisfying when it turns out she's been Bullying a Dragon and her ultimate fate is to be locked in an Iron Maiden until she dies.
Cult Classic: The film was a financial success and got a decent reception from critics, but it enjoyed lots of success when it was aired on TV. John Kerr was surprised that of all his films, this was the one he was most often asked about.
Fridge Horror: The corpse found in the tomb was not Elizabeth. So whose body was it? And did Dr. Leon and Elizabeth bury some poor innocent girl alive just to pull off their scheme?
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The film was an inspiration to many Italian filmmakers. What's more is that Barbara Steele - who plays Elizabeth - was a 'scream queen' in Italian horror movies.
Heartwarming Moments: After Elizabeth's body is discovered - and it appears she did die slowly down there - Francis actually completely forgives Nicholas and apologises for everything. He had every reason to be furious that his sister could have been saved, but instead shows sympathy for her grieving husband.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Francis showing up to investigate a strange death is quite amusing when you learn that John Kerr quit acting to become a lawyer.
Narm Charm: Some of Vincent Price's hammier bits are unintentionally funny, but don't affect the film too badly.
The flashback to Sebastian torturing his wife and brother. His attack on his brother comes out of nowhere, and Isabella is left screaming in horror. To say nothing of the implied torture he dished out to her.
Breaking down Elizabeth's tomb and finding a corpse that is clearly in pain. As it's not actually Elizabeth it begs the question of how she and Dr. Leon got it in the coffin.
Signature Scene: The film's most influential moment is when the protagonists break into Elizabeth's tomb to discover a decayed corpse that looks like it was in pain.
Tear Jerker: Nicholas's speech early on to Dr. Leon about the idea that Elizabeth could have been trying to escape while they were "up here mourning her", oblivious.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The sets were actually quite small, due to the low budget. But camera tricks and clever editing made the castle look larger than it actually was. And all the props and set pieces were collected from old productions, carefully put together with a detailed planning system in advance.
The Woobie: Vincent Price actually plays quite the Woobie. Nicholas has spent months grieving the death of his one true love - and this after he was scarred for life witnessing his father torturing his mother to death and growing up with the guilt that he's descended from a cruel Inquisitor. On top of that, he has to deal with his wife's brother turning up out of the blue and bombarding him with questions about the death. He becomes a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds in the last part of the film.
