The Pit (1981)

Too much of everything

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Crappy film

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Getting set to take part in an ICM poll for the best flicks of 1981,I started looking online for titles from the year to stream. Mostly finding mainstream movies,I was very happy to spot a title that looked incredibly strange,which led to me jumping in the pit.The plot:Only having his teddy bear Teddy as a friend, young Jamie Benjamin starts believing that Teddy can talk to him. Bullied by the locals,Benjamin keeps in mind his grand secret,that he has found a group of Trogs based in a pit in the woods. Waving goodbye,Benjamin's parents hire Sandy O'Reilly to babysit. Finding O'Reilly hot,Benjamin asked Teddy for advice on how to get her to become his girlfriend,as Benjamin causes the Trogs to get a taste for humans. View on the film:Originally written as much darker,the screenplay by Ian A. Stuart (who never wrote another film) goes for a Psychotronic paradise. Sending all the folk who Jamie hates into the pit,Stuart gives the dialogue an unsettling Sci-Fi tone,where the bitter and twisted way that the "kind" old folk and the little brats talk sound like they are in an alt world that has gone awry. While not delivering any outright shivers, Stuart covers the film in utterly bizarre antics,from sweet little Jamie getting advice from his psychotic teddy bear Teddy on how to get Sandy to fancy him,to inexplicably deciding that instead of continuing to feed the Trogs animal meat,he should serve them up a daily special of human flesh.Following Stuart in this being his lone movie,director Lew Lehman (who had to get someone else to film scenes with topless women,after getting banned by his wife!) and cinematographer Manfred Guthe bounce the Trogs on an oddball atmosphere,with the critters looking like zombie Ewoks and their feeding time mostly kept to loud eating sounds from the pit. Correctly keeping it ambiguous over if he is aware of the weirdness,Lehman bins into the pit "unique features",bringing up a curve-ball twist that creates a ghost,and a freeze frame ending,that brings Jamie close to this pit of madness.

This film is surprisingly interesting. I rarely rate a horror film with the idea that I'm laying alongside Citizen Kane. When I do rate them I lay them in relation to how strong they are in the genre. And this film is pretty bizarre. I really found myself enjoying the concept of The pit even if I didn't enjoy the dialogue or acting. Jamie Benjamin,a young boy hitting puberty in an a manner that borders on the creepy that seems unnerving. Whom also hears his teddy bear talking,his only friend since most of the town ridicule him as a weirdo, stumbles upon a Pit. It isn't long before Jamie is convinced that something lives within the pit that's hunger cannot be controlled. That is if this evil exists.I'd say this one was a little bit surprising as I have a hard time being fair to films that are to some extent very interesting premises,but struggle on the execution,but it is still better than a majority of the lesser know 80s horror. This is a film to watch once because of its almost cruel Ironic ending.

Now here's something worth seeking out for those genre fans with tastes tending towards the twisted, offbeat, and humorous. It's got enough laugh out loud moments to make it consistently entertaining, memorable creatures, and an amusing mean spirited tone coupled with a fairly decent body count.Young Sammy Snyders is effectively off putting as Jamie Benjamin, a creepy 12 year old boy who partakes in a variety of interesting extracurricular activities. Stuck with college aged babysitter Sandy O'Reilly (Jeannie Elias) while his parents go on vacation, he begins lusting after her, while consulting with his teddy bear confidante. He's also discovered a hole in the nearby woods in which a few troglodyte monsters - which he calls "tra la logs" - reside. He soon finds out that they eat only meat, and he's quite willing to provide it for them, taking care of his nemeses in the process.Little Sammy is quite the pervert, as we can see when he cons frosty librarian Marg Livingstone (Laura Hollingsworth) into stripping in front of her window. He similarly has no problem with ogling Sandy at every opportunity. Among his exploits, he takes crotchety blind senior Miss Oliphant (Lillian Graham) for an action packed wheelchair ride and cuts suggestive photographs out of books. This is one kid who likes to keep busy.Canadian produced but filmed on location in Wisconsin (!), this never ceases to entertain the viewer with its utter insanity. Lew Lehman directs, from a screenplay by Ian A. Stuart. A chief asset is a hilarious, old fashioned type of music score composed by Victor Davies. Elias is appealing as the babysitter and there's also a part for Canuck actress Sonja Smits ("Videodrome"), making her film debut.If you decide to check it out, you'll find that the priceless resolution is well worth waiting for. Overall, this is one obscurity that creates a pretty big impression.Seven out of 10.

Really, really warped black comedy about a sick kid who feeds those he doesn't like to a giant pit filled with prehistoric monsters who resemble little sasquatch with sharp teeth. Jamie(Sammy Snyders) is singled out by the community as a freak, and appropriately so since it's quite easy to see that he's a perverted creep. His parents are wary of his "dificiencies" getting away on a trip, leaving Jamie with a babysitter with a history of tending to "extraordinary" children. Boy, has she got a challenge on her hands. Jamie carries a torch for Sandy O'Reilly(Jeannie Elias), likes to watch her sleep or shower, and becomes obsessed with her love-life, offended by her "betrayal" to him when she calls up other potential boyfriends. For instance, her jock boyfriend, whose future as a football star is evident, and he even attempts to show kindness to Jamie, plays catch with him, leading to his eventual doom. One girl, with a bicycle Jamie likes, insults and ridicules him, her aunt, a librarian, he's fixated with sexually. They are ripe for the pickings(..Jamie, the little bastard, following the advice of his teddy bear(!), has the librarian strip or else her niece would remain kidnapped!)as are two kids who pick on Jamie when he asks to be a part of their exclusive gang. Anyone that crosses Jamie are in trouble of being fodder for the pit beasties. The crux of the film is teddy bear's involvement in Jamie's shenanigans..in a more sinister voice resembling Jamie's, the teddy offers solutions and answers to problems he might face or currently suffer, motivating the twisted youth to follow them, with only tragic results normally occurring. Sammy Snyders is perfectly cast as Jamie, he has an unsettling quality that gets under your skin. Jeannie Elias, with a bright smile, tries to accommodate him, hoping to equip herself against his strange behavioral issues with that warm personality. Her fatal flaw is trusting Jamie, ending horrifyingly. Laura Hollingsworth is Marg Livingstone, the librarian Jamie torments. The film questions whether or not the creatures exist in reality or as a figment of Jamie's imagination..I'm not sure their release was the correct one, although it provides some stalk sequences and scenes of baffled police quizzically attempting to come to grips with why so many locals are vanishing from their small town. The ending should amuse those who couldn't grasp the idea of Jamie getting away with his crimes. The film isn't as gratuitous as it could've been, but for some reason it's shocking, unforgettable all the same because of the subject matter. This is certainly a one-of-a-kind movie, a real oddity to be experienced. Anytime you see a kid roll an old lady out of her wheel chair into a pit to be eaten alive by carnivorous monsters, you know this isn't your more conventional movie.