<Li> In a 1970 episode from the animated cartoon series The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, entitled "London Town Treachery", the Hooded Claw has captured Penelope and attempts to kill her using a pendulum that swings lower and lower, as in Poe's story . </Li> <Li> In 1983, Czech Surrealist Jan Švankmajer directed a 15 - minute live action short film called The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope, based on this story and the short story "A Torture by Hope" by Villiers de l'Isle - Adam . It is a fairly faithful adaptation of both stories, featuring a unique first - person camera perspective and segments produced in Švankmajer's trademark stop - motion and cut - out animation . Most of the art design was done by his wife, Eva Švankmajerová . </Li> <Li> In 1989, the opening episode of the fifth season of the US tv series MacGyver shows the protagonist strapped down as the intended victim of a Poe - like pendulum . </Li> <Li> In 1991 a film version of the story, directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Lance Henriksen, was released . The plot was altered to a love story set in Spain in 1492 . </Li>

The pit and the pendulum the spanish inquisition