LAST NIGHT'S PENDULUM

Well, as usual something came up last night - and not an alien - a neighbour came round - and I missed all of the weekly episode of the Outer Limits and 90% of the Pit and the Pendulum! Drat!

I caught the final iconic scene in the deep chamber with the huge curved blade swinging ever closer to the victim's chest, his white ruffled shirt gradually getting sliced open. As a kid the metallic ker-thunk sound of the pendulum's arcs always got to me more than the action and even now sends a shiver down my spine. 

The final zoom onto Barbara Steele's encased eyes was terrifying the first time I saw it as she stares out of the Iron Maiden knowing that no-one will ever set foot in the dungeon again. It's still horrific now.

Even the final credits were wonderful, a garish slew of coloured oil paints slowly thrown onto a surface or maybe even water. Just brilliant.

Corman's Poe cycle of flicks were masterpieces of gothic film-making and I adored all of them when they made it to the tellybox late at night as a midnight movie or Appointment with Fear. I still make a B-line for them if they're on, subject to interruptions from neighbours and friends!

I did stay up to catch the first bit of I Bury The Living, a monochrome film I've never seen or knew about. Very interesting and sinister plot too set within a large American cemetery and its office and concerning the mysterious deaths of locals and their apparent connection to a large and unusual map of the cemetery in the office. You certainly don't want a pin stuck on your name!

Caroline Munro did another sterling job introducing the films and for a short while it feels like the glorious Seventies again! I wonder of they are going to ask Valerie Leon to do some as well!