14 October 2024
The Pit (1981)
97 min.
Directed by Lew Lehman.
With Sammy Snyders, Jeannie Elias, Sonja Smits, Laura Hollingsworth, John Auten, Laura Press, Paul Grisham, Wendy Schmidt.
Daft, minor horror.

Twelve year old Jamie (Snyders) is a problem child: he can't seem to make friends, has trouble respecting authority and confides only in his stuffed teddy bear.

So when he discovers a pit in the woods where a group of hairy (& flesh-eating) creatures live trapped, Jamie decides to let off a little steam by feeding his worst enemies to said monsters.

Weird vehicle can't make up its mind what it wants to be: creature feature? psychological terror? drive-in oddity?

Ultimately, The Pit suffers for its bipolar focus; executed more seriously (and given pacing), the murder sequences could have mustered some tension but fall flat as they are.

Still, Snyders and Elias deliver decent enough performances considering the material, and the turnabout ending is a nice capper.

Best scene: babysitter Sandy and her slip into fangy hell.

Also known as Teddy.

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