Best movies like Pit and the Pendulum
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Francis Barnard goes to Spain, when he hears his sister Elizabeth has died. Her husband Nicholas Medina, the son of the most brutal torturer of the Spanish Inquisition, tells him she has died of a blood disease, but Francis finds this hard to believe. After some investigating he finds out that it was extreme fear that was fatal to his sister and that she may have been buried alive!.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, twist ending, scary, atmospheric, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, dark, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Pit and the Pendulum (1961):
Similar in 88%
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Plot Summary:
Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there who may or may not be a vampire. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her, making her wonder: Are the visions real or is she slipping back into madness?.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, scary, slasher, creepy, cult classic, psychological, psychological thriller, suspense, surreal, gothic horror
Similar in 75%
Castle of Blood (1964)
Plot Summary:
A writer accepts a wager that he cannot spend the night alone in a haunted castle on All Soul's Eve. Once night falls at the castle, several who had been murdered therein return to life, reliving their deaths and seeking to kill the writer for his blood in a vain attempt to stay alive beyond that one night.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Horror
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, suspense, grindhouse, atmospheric, psychotronic, neo noir, black and white, creepy, classic horror
Similar in 76%
The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967)
Plot Summary:
In the Olden Tymes, Count Regula is drawn and quartered for killing twelve virgins in his dungeon torture chamber. Thirty-five years later, he comes back to seek revenge on the daughter of his intended thirteenth victim and the son of his prosecutor in order to attain immortal life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: West Germany
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: gothic, gothic horror, psychotronic, suspense, grindhouse, cult classic, cult horror, classic horror, scary, atmospheric
Similar in 82%
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Plot Summary:
A search for a winning lottery ticket in his dead father's grave causes Sardonicus' face to freeze in a horrible grimace, until he forces a doctor to treat his affliction--with even more grotesque results! The audience gets an opportunity to vote--via the "Punishment Poll"--for the penalty Sardonicus must pay for his deeds.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: gothic, slasher, gothic horror, suspense, grindhouse, classic horror, scary, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending
Similar in 76%
Castle Freak (2020)
Plot Summary:
After she’s permanently blinded in a tragic car accident, Rebecca receives some bizarre news: her long-lost mother has recently passed away, leaving her their family’s ancestral castle in rural Albania. Traveling to the estate with a group of friends, Rebecca hopes it will be an opportunity for her to reconnect with a past she never knew and a mother who seemingly left her behind. When mysterious events begin to occur and her friends begin to die, Rebecca must unravel the secrets of her family’s history before she too falls prey to the Castle Freak.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, scary, brutal, psychotronic, lovecraft
Similar in 82%
The Terror (1963)
Plot Summary:
Lieutenant Andre Duvalier has been accidentally separated from his regiment. He is wandering near the coast when he sees a young woman. He asks the road to Coldon, where he hopes to rejoin his regiment. But the woman doesn't answer, doesn't even greet him and walks away. Eventually she takes him to the sea, where she disappears in rough water. How can he save the mysterious girl?.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: gothic, suspense, suspenseful, psychological, atmospheric, serious, cult classic, classic horror, scary, stylized
Similar in 78%
Tales of Terror (1962)
Plot Summary:
Three stories adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe: 1) A man and his daughter are reunited, but the blame for the death of his wife hangs over them, unresolved. 2) A derelict challenges the local wine-tasting champion to a competition, but finds the man's attention to his wife worthy of more dramatic action. 3) A man dying and in great pain agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death, with unexpected consequences.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: gothic, scary, anthology, suspenseful, gothic horror, suspense, horror comedy, atmospheric, disturbing, classic horror
Similar in 82%
Premature Burial (1962)
Plot Summary:
An artist grows distant from his new wife as an irrational horror of premature burial consumes him.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, psychological, mind bending, bleak, gothic, atmospheric, suspense, slasher, grindhouse, classic horror
Similar in 82%
The Oblong Box (1969)
Plot Summary:
Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Occasionaly Sir Edward escapes and causes havoc around the town.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, serious, classic horror, scary, gothic, bleak, gothic horror, cult classic, slasher
Similar in 79%
The Haunted Palace (1963)
Plot Summary:
A warlock burned at the stake comes back and takes over the body of his great grandson to take his revenge on the descendents of the villages that burned him.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, lovecraft, tense, serious, classic horror, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized, scary
Similar in 76%
The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
Plot Summary:
Set during the height of Spanish Inquisition. The beautiful and kind-hearted Maria is arrested as a witch when she inadvertently cries out in horror at the public whipping of a child. As Maria’s husband Antonio tries to save her, Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, determines to punish Maria with torture for the desire she inflames in him. Loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Horror, Romance
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: gothic, bleak, serious, suspenseful, psychotronic, philosophical, sexy, suspense, splatter, grindhouse
Similar in 86%
Baron Blood (1972)
Plot Summary:
A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an ancestor, a sadistic Baron who was cursed to a violent death by a witch whom the Baron had burned at the stake. Peter reads aloud the incantation that causes Baron Blood to return and continue his murderous tortures.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Horror
Country: Italy, West Germany
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: gothic horror, gothic, suspense, scary, rough, suspenseful, serious, grindhouse, psychotronic, bloody
Similar in 79%
The Conqueror Worm (1968)
Plot Summary:
England is torn in civil strife as the Royalists battle the Parliamentary Party for control. This conflict distracts people from rational thought and allows unscrupulous men to gain local power by exploiting village superstitions. One of these men is Matthew Hopkins, who tours the land offering his services as a persecutor of witches.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: UK
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bleak, disturbing, gothic, rough, atmospheric, suspense, satanic, controversial, stylized
Similar in 78%
Tower of London (1962)
Plot Summary:
The twisted Richard III is haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered in his attempt to become the King of England.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: gothic, suspense, grindhouse, classic horror, gothic horror, black and white, tense, serious, realistic, psychotronic
Similar in 89%
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
Plot Summary:
Story about a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife and her effect on his second marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: gothic, gothic horror, suspense, surreal, grindhouse, classic horror, scary, atmospheric, mind bending, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Plot Summary:
Mary Henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to Utah and takes a job as a church organist. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man. As the visions begin to occur more frequently, Mary finds herself drawn to the deserted carnival on the outskirts of town. The strangely alluring carnival may hold the secret to her tragic past.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: scary, atmospheric, cult classic, gothic, surreal, independent film, black and white, dark, twist ending, psychological
Similar in 77%
Dark Water (2005)
Plot Summary:
Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York's Roosevelt Island. She is currently in midst of divorce proceedings and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occurrences and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in her daughter's bedroom.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, dark, creepy, psychological thriller, stylized, tense
Similar in 83%
The Awakening (2011)
Plot Summary:
1921 England is overwhelmed by the loss and grief of World War I. Hoax exposer Florence Cathcart (Hall) visits a boarding school to explain sightings of a child ghost.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: scary, gothic, suspenseful, twist ending, psychological, atmospheric, gothic horror, enigmatic, suspense, dark
Similar in 87%
The Innkeepers (2011)
Plot Summary:
During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: scary, disturbing, suspenseful, atmospheric, dark, suspense, psychological, tense, spooky, stylized
Similar in 82%
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Plot Summary:
In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 72000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, psychological, dark, spooky, disturbing, atmospheric, suspenseful, stylized, creepy
Similar in 79%
The Woman in Black (1989)
Plot Summary:
When a friendless old widow dies in the seaside town of Crythin, a young solicitor is sent by his firm to settle the estate. The lawyer finds the townspeople reluctant to talk about or go near the woman's dreary home and no one will explain or even acknowledge the menacing woman in black he keeps seeing.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Horror, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: gothic, gothic horror, atmospheric, scary, psychological, suspenseful, creepy, terrifying, dark, slasher
Similar in 81%
The Raven (1963)
Plot Summary:
A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help in this film loosely based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: gothic, parody, humorous, grindhouse, cult classic, tense, suspenseful, gothic horror, scary, suspense
Similar in 88%
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Plot Summary:
Satan-worshiper Prince Prospero invites the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague, the Red Death. He orders his guests to attend a masked ball and, amidst an atmosphere of debauchery and depravity, notices the entry of a hooded stranger dressed all in red. Believing the figure to be his master, Satan, Prospero is horrified at the revelation of his true identity.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: gothic, atmospheric, suspense, surreal, suspenseful, scary, grindhouse, cult classic, gothic horror, serious
Similar in 77%
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Plot Summary:
A young couple moves into an infamous New York apartment building to start a family. Things become frightening as Rosemary begins to suspect her unborn baby isn't safe around their strange neighbors.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 231000
Genere: Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, surreal, suspenseful, gothic, cult classic, psychological horror, disturbing, scary, suspense
Similar in 89%
Session 9 (2001)
Plot Summary:
Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, atmospheric, twist ending, bleak, suspenseful, dark, suspense, psychological thriller, tense
Similar in 79%
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Plot Summary:
When Claire Spencer starts hearing ghostly voices and seeing spooky images, she wonders if an otherworldly spirit is trying to contact her. All the while, her husband tries to reassure her by telling her it's all in her head. But as Claire investigates, she discovers that the man she loves might know more than he's letting on.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 134000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, surprise ending, psychological, scary, psychological thriller, twist ending, atmospheric, creepy, sexy
Similar in 90%
The Orphanage (2007)
Plot Summary:
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 162000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, France, Belgium
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: scary, twist ending, psychological, surprise ending, gothic horror, atmospheric, disturbing, serious, suspense, dark
Similar in 76%
Dead Silence (2007)
Plot Summary:
Jamie returns to his hometown in search of answers to his wife's murder, which occurred after receiving a weird package containing a ventriloquist dummy named Billy, which may be linked to the legend of ventriloquist Mary Shaw. Destined to find out the truth, Jamie goes to the town of Raven's Fair, where Shaw used to perform and is buried. But Jamie is in for more than he expected.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: scary, twist ending, gothic, atmospheric, suspenseful, surprise ending, dark, slasher, suspense, frightening
Similar in 85%
The Skeleton Key (2005)
Plot Summary:
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: twist ending, surprise ending, suspense, suspenseful, gothic, psychological, southern gothic, mind bending, mysterious, tricky
Similar in 89%
Stonehearst Asylum (2014)
Plot Summary:
A Harvard Medical School graduate takes a position at a mental institution and soon becomes obsessed with a female mental patient, but he has no idea of a recent and horrifying staffing change.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: twist ending, gothic, atmospheric, psychological thriller, gothic horror, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, period piece, mind bending