So It's Not Just a Clever Title?: Bloody Pit of Horror

Ahhh, the Marquis de Sade. Will horror writers ever stop being inspired by you? I'm not certain how I became aware of Bloody Pit of Horror. I suspect I was on one of my binges where I put anything on my Netflix queue that sounds like fun and what could be more fun than, "Five sexy cover girls and their photographers break into a gothic castle for a macabre book jacket photo shoot?" Only later did I learn that Mickey Hargitay was the husband of Jayne Mansfield (and father of Mariska Hargitay), though I don't recall how.

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Bloody Pit of Horror is one of the rare films to have been shot in Psychovision which means that it looks like every other low-budget Italian horror movie from the '60s (and, as far as my research shows, is the only film to make this claim). Hundreds of years ago, The Crimson Executioner was killed in his own torture chamber by the authorities for killing those who didn't meet his standards of living and fitness. His castle was left standing as a warning to those for the rest of time. A warning of what? I have no idea. That if you kill people you'll be punished? Roll credits and we're in modern times and the aforementioned crew of models and photographers arrive at the castle in hopes of taking some pictures inside. No one appears to be in so they break in only to be discovered by the minions of a mysterious man. 

From there, the mystery unfolds. The Crimson Executioners final resting place is opened. People start dying in some very silly ways. Woman where skimpy clothing. A wrestler is on the loose (OK, it's the executioner, but you look at him and tell me what his real profession is).

Tag team!

To the film's credit, several of my early suspicions didn't pan out so at least the filmmakers were able to inject some suspense into the film. That's not to say what actually happens isn't as obvious, it just wasn't the most obvious option. Unfortunately, the film was made a little early ('65) to really capitalize on gore and nudity. This Bloody Pit of Horror really isn't that bloody (and the title might just be the best part).

I don't want to dissuade anyone from watching the movie, though. There's a good amount of bad movie fun to be had. Early on, when the will-be victims break into the house, one of them has to climb the wall to a window. Instead of showing his perilous climb, the film cuts from him volunteering to climb the wall to everyone walking inside the castle. And the movie has the courage to make reference to the character's struggles climbing the wall later! 

The writer of the horror books that they are there to shoot the covers of, Rick, was a journalist which obviously helps to explain why he's concerned that people are dying, but he also has a vicious kung fu chop that knocked one henchman out cold and killed another (a chop to the back KILLED A MAN!). In fact, even though the characters are surrounded by torture equipment, very few die by it. Things as simple as getting hit with a chain are more than enough to do the trick. No wonder Hitchcock felt the need to show how hard it really is to kill a person:

And keeping with Rick, one of the funniest images of the movie and possibly ever is watching him crawl under wires that are triggers to set off arrows. Not only is it hilarious to look at, it also appears totally unnecessary.

The end of Bloody Pit of Horror belongs to The Crimson Executioner who is not only an exposition machine, he's totally mad and fires off some hilarious lines:

-- "Mankind is made up of inferior creatures, spiritually and physically deformed, who would have corrupted the harmony of my perfect body!"

-- "Go on! Embrace this poisonous man!"

-- "The Crimson Executioner invented the torture of icy water for creatures like you!"

Yes, exclamation points are necessary for all of those quotes. Hargitay seems like he had tons of fun running around the torture chamber set, hamming it up. And even though I don't care for the movie, I can't help but smile thinking about his manic glee.