Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)

A public domain favourite for streaming channels, Bloody Pit of Horror (1965) was one of a wave of horror movies, usually of continental origin, that traded on the idea that they were somehow inspired by the works of the Marquis de Sade.  In practice, this meant presenting scenarios where by a bevy of young actresses, clad only in their underwear, find themselves strapped to various medieval torture devices and, well, tortured.  Being the sixties the was, of course, no nudity and certainly none of the gore effects that would become par for the course in the seventies.  Bloody Pit of Horror, an Italian production, falls into that sub-set of such 'Sadean' films whose scenario involve groups of models finding themselves trapped in old castles for photo shoots and subsequently find themselves menaced by some torture-obsessed loony who lurks around the place.  Said loonies are frequently the descendants of notorious torturers who now believe that they are possessed by their infamous ancestor.

In the case of Bloody Pit of Horror, a group of models, photographers and a writer have the misfortune to pitch up at a castle owned by Mickey Hargitay who, offended by all the 'lewdness' involved in the photo shoot, dons the mantle of the castle's former owner, the 'Crimson Executioner' in order to dispatch them all in unpleasant and painful ways.  His dungeon includes all the usual racks, iron maidens and the like and people are variously impaled, covered in hot oil and burned to death down there.  Some of the tortures though - the business with the spider's web and very crap spider, for instance - are less novel and terrifying than simply ludicrous and unintentionally hilarious.  The plot quickly degenerates into lots of running around castle corridors and secret passages, before building to an energetic climax in the dungeon, which sees a frenzied Hargitay running from torture device to torture device, gleefully ensuring that each victim is experiencing the maximum pain.  Indeed, Hargitay's bravura performance as the utterly bonkers 'Crimson Executioner' is a highlight of the film.  Director Domenico Massimo Pupillo moves it all along at a reasonable pace so that the film never quite outstays its welcome.  Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, Bloody Pit of Horror is, nonetheless, very entertaining if you catch it in the right mood, although devoted Sadists arelikely to be left feeling disappointed.  (In common with many continental horror movies, Bloody Pit of Horror exists in several English language versions, with varying running times).