John Seal
If you've never seen this British Film Institute-produced short subject, hasten thee worthwith to BFI's Schalken the Painter disc, where it resides as a very special extra. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum, this is a brilliantly realised film rich in atmosphere and dread; one of the best pure horror films I've ever seen and (almost) completely dialogue free. Brian Peck (whose remarkable resume includes everything from Twisted Nerve to 'Z' Cars) stars as a prisoner condemned by black clad monks to 'the pit', where he's subjected to a series of exquisitely cruel tortures designed, it seems, to drive him to madness. Brilliantly shot in black and white by Gus Coma - whose other work seems to consist primarily of industrial films and softcore pornos - The Pit is as atmospheric as the best Riccardo Freda Gothic horror. Consigned to obscurity because of its 28-minute running time, this is a classic waiting to be discovered.
