You know real ones and not fake ones, other accuse of taking place against them. Also a lot of sexual power repressed and therefor trying to find a catalyst for all that anxiety and pain (and pressure) this causes. Lance Henriksen is as intense as one can be (which make the outtakes on the disc even funnier). And his target (one of them, but the main one) is quite the good looking woman. The way she is treated is quite something. There is some underlying social commentary and you can read some things into the movie - they are subtle to a degree and some may have liked them explored even more ... but not here. The movie concentrates on what it is trying to tell us.

Therefor the story does work, there is blood, horror and nudity to satisfy anyones need. Or offend those easily ... offended and who are squeamish. You can't please everyone - that's just the way it is. And while there are quite a few movies that have the Pit and Pendulum in their story, this is quite a decent effort to say the least. Not to mention a really great cast