Movies Like The Pit and the Pendulum

If you liked The Pit and the Pendulum (1964), a drama and horror movie directed by Alexandre Astruc, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
★ 6.8/10Also horror and drama
In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.
2
Martyrs (2008)
★ 7.3/10Also horror and drama
A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a child leads her and her best friend, also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
3
The Exorcism of God (2022)
★ 7.1/10Also horror and drama
An American priest working in Mexico is considered a saint by many local parishioners. However, due to a botched exorcism, he carries a secret that’s eating him alive until he gets an opportunity to face his demon one…
4
The Woman (2011)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and horror
A lawyer puts his family in jeopardy when he captures the last member of a violent clan and tries to forcibly tame her.
5
Murder in the First (1995)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend an inmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.
6
Brute Force (1947)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's…
7
Ghostland (2018)
★ 7.4/10Also horror
A mother of two inherits a home from her aunt. On the first night in the new home she is confronted with murderous intruders and fights for her daughters’ lives. Sixteen years later the daughters reunite at the house…
8
Antichrist (2009)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and horror
A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
9
24 Days (2014)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
When Ilan Halimi is kidnapped for ransom because Jewish and supposedly rich, his family and the police start a race against time to save him from the tortures of the "gang of barbarians".
10
Becky (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also horror
A teenager's weekend at a lake house with her father takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts wreaks havoc on their lives.
11
The Experiment (2010)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
12
Le Trou (1960)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of…
13
The Last Castle (2001)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
A court-martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.
14
Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
15
The Green Mile (1999)
★ 8.5/10Also drama
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's…
16
Poison (1991)
★ 6/10Also drama and horror
A trio of interweaved transgressive tales, telling a bizarre stories of suburban patricide and a miraculous flight from justice, a mad sex experiment which unleashes a disfiguring plague, and the obsessive sexual…
17
An American Crime (2007)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and horror
The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
18
The Pope's Exorcist (2023)
★ 6.9/10Also horror
Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
19
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In 1971, Stanford's Professor Philip Zimbardo conducts a controversial psychology experiment in which college students pretend to be either prisoners or guards, but the proceedings soon get out of hand. Based on a true…
20
The Surrender (2025)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and horror
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.