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I was forced to watch this again when a friend brought it to a bad movie party (ah, the pasttimes of nerds). It never occurred to me before, but the Tra-la-logs kill people awfully quickly.  Everyone he dumps in the pit dies instantly.  The poor folks the Tra-la-logs kill outside the pit die instantly.  I just have to think being eaten alive would be a rather slow death.

I thought that THE PIT was a hoot. I watched it the other day with a group of friends and we all  laughed the whole way through. I think the clip with the mean ol' lady being pushed in the pit deserved a slime nomination. The kid who played Jaime is actually a pretty good actor. If you like terrible b-movies and want a good laugh, I recommend "The Pit."

 I live in the town where this terrible "film" was made. It is a small community called Beaver Dam (Wisconsin), cute name, huh? Anyway, I have been curious to see this movie because a few of my old friends houses are in it (as well as a few of some old friends). The only problem is that the darn thing is never in at the local video store. I asked the manager about it and he is clueless. But thanks to you, I get some idea as to what I can expect from this picture. Thanks...

THE PIT was a great movie! Sure, it's only fun to watch about every 6 or 7 years, but it seems fresh every time! I mean, it has a psycho kid, flesh-eating trolls and a unholy porn-loving teddy bear--what else could you ask for?

What the crap?  Nobody, but nobody, suspects that this obviously psycho 12 year old -- who talks to his friggin' teddy bear(!) -- had anything to do with the deaths of all those people that he knew and had a grudge against?  And the librarian didn't recognize his voice on the phone or see him taking the flash picture of her when she pulled off her leotard?  He should have been shove in the pit sooner.

    This is another cool B-movie that is a little different from other B-movies.  Why?  Because it combines three movies into one!  The film makers took a script about a lunatic kid, one about monsters in a pit, and one about a living toy, and put it into one movie!  GREAT FUN!

This movies sucks all ass!!. Slow and painful to watch. Keep a bottle of pepto bismal with you handy if your going to watch this crap.

This movie is 'The Pits', it is terrible.
Awful acting, writing, and direction, what a waste of time.
The ending is kind of amusing when the kid is pushed into the pit, but it's not worth sticking around for.
Avoid this one at all costs.

Man this movie is fun.I watch it at least twice a year.Though whats the deal with "Do you know why my mother washes me so much"?This is never explained.Watch for the scene where Jamie "rides"Abigails bike.I laughed so hard I nearly broke a rib.

This one's a classic!  I bought it at a yard sale and boy was I surprised.  Although with frontal nudity, I can't believe it wasn't on Mystery Science Theater 3000.  All MST fans will enjoy the pure evil that lies within this one, and all bad movie lovers will too.

This movie was just painful to watch.  It burned itself into my memory and, no matter how hard I try, I cannot forget it.  Perhaps that is good thing, then I would be tempted to rent it and torture myself all over again.  Ouch.

I've gotta agree with whamontree -- you should think that getting eaten alive (even by multiple eaters, as opposed to a single one, like Jaws) would be a fairly slow process.  I mean, he dumps people in the pit, and that's it??  You hear growling from the Tra-la-la, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, deck the halls...urhm, sorry...as I was saying, the Tra-la-logs start growling, but no one screams.  I should think (although I hope to God I never have to find out personally -- urk!) that getting dumped into a pit would be enough to get me wailing a bit, the sight of the little bastards would most probably prompt a weensy bit o' screamin' from me, and having them start to filet the skin off my breastbone would DEFINITELY set my vocal cords on high frequency!!But most of the folks in this flick don't seem to mind the getting-ripped-to-shreds-and-becoming-a-monster-buffet part, just the fact they're getting tossed in.  Maybe they're scared of heights...

Someone mentioned the fact that this movie took a scene from the middle of the movie and presented it at the beginning. This can hardly be counted against the movie, since several award-winning movies (American Beauty and Casino come immediately to mind) have done the exact same thing.

I saw this movie about 4 years ago and it changed my life forever. It is the funniest movie out there. That is ironic because it was meant to be a horror flick. I have seen it about 30 times and know every piece of humor in it. My favorite parts include anytime when Jamie just begins running or takes off suddenly for no reason. Here are the top 10 scenes:

10. When he says goodbye to his pets in the tararium. He say bye real quick like a samll kid and taps the glass, it is funny.

9. When he is pushing the Old lady across the field and her arms are flapping.

8. The guy with the green Carmen Gia that the babysitter dates. A little wierd that her boyfriend disapeard a couple days earlier and wasnt even found and she is already dating another guy.

7. When Jaime climbs down the fire escape at the library in the beginning. He looks so freaking funny.

6. When Jamie tells the butcher, "Well, it is for 5...people.

5. When his dad (who resembles Jerry Stiller)picks him up from under the table. "None of that young man!"

4. When the trolologs run into the hole like navy seals, swinging down the rope.

3. When the babysitter's boyfriend calls him "Little bastard" when he chases him into the forest part.

2. When Jamie is showing teddy the pictures of Ms. Livingston and he says "Check out the look on her face!" and makes the expression.

1. When Jamie hops on Abrigail's bike and it falls apart!!!

I live in the town where the horride, slow movie was made. The cop was right nothing ever happens here, ever. But a good movie for the strong of heart.

My friends and I discovered this movie in about 1986.  It was pretty bad but i loved when Jamie gets sucker punched by the leader of the club he wants to join.  I laughed my ass off the first time i ever saw that.  Another favorite is when the neighbor girl rigs her bicycle and sets him up for an accident.

Man I thought The Pit was great. I bought it when a video store was going out of buisness for $5.00. Great fun for a night! I've seen it multiple times now, and one question remains unanswered...what is with the comment that Jamie's mom washes him a lot? I don't know what that is trying to get at. My favorite part was when Teddy was looking at the snapshots of Miss Livingston and says "I'm gonna look at these a lot." A porn loving stuffed animal...what more could you want?

This is for Michael--want to know where Sam is? If you're ever in Toronto, check the newspapers for small dance/theatrical productions.  Sam dropped the acting routine and has concentrated on teaching and studying dance.  I haven't been home myself in years but next time I see him I'll be sure and tell him about this website.  He'll get a big kick out of it.

QUESTION FOR MARK:

Since you live in Beaver Dam, I was wondering if you knew what has happened to the cast members who were from the area. I'd appreciate any info. Thanks.

I'm the writer, folks, and I would like to quote a psychiatrist who read the original script. "This is an excellent fictional depiction of a psychotic 9-year-old." Now the producer after it was produced. "I'm sorry, Ian. We took your script and turned it into a Grade-B piece of garbage. We should have looked at some of the films the director made before we turned him loose on your script." The boy was supposed to be nine and the creatures products of his imagination. In fact all the events from the time his babysitter slaps his face do not actually happen except in his psyche. Jamie is based on a real psychotic child who created monsters he believed would elimninate anyone who offended him and the boy would then refuse to recognize that they existed. Instead of a nine year old (five child actors had already been selected for him to choose from) the director decided to cast a 12 year old with the phsyical body of a fourteen year old - hopelessly inappropriate - and it went from bad to worse. Sorry it's so bad folks. I wrote a COMPLETELY different screenplay.

My mother rented this movie for me when I was really young, back in the day when you could find anything in a movie store.  I think that to this day that this movie is still disturbing for someone my age to have seen so young, because I have had nightmares about the tra-la-logs. Im 20 now I don't think I have seen it since I was 5 years old. Im just waiting to find this movie once again so I can show it to my children when they are not expecting it.

I am from Beaver Dam as well and would just like to say that it's not THAT bad.  Ok it is.

Jim... as for your question:  I can answer it.  I know a number of actors in the Beaver Dam area and they are doing fine.  They are mostly retired now.  The gentleman who told Jamie to "Get down" from the fire escape is John Auten, southern Wisconsin acting legend and local star!  He has been in numerous plays and a few films, as well as directing a few plays.  They are great men, I say.  Great!

This movie is a fun romp in the world of Tra-la-logs!

(Sidenote...Fred MacMurray (The original "Absent Minded Professor" and father on "My Three Sons" was also born, raised and went to school in Beaver Dam.)  Neat, huh?

The worst part of this movie is how the makers tried to portray the little retard as a 'sympathic' character (Like Lenny of OF MICE AND MEN fame) when all he is is a little pervert like I was when I was his age (nobody felt sorry for me, god dammit!).
 
One the other hand, seeing him feed all the film's jerkoffs was kinda fun, especially the old bitty.

I saw this movie years ago and it scared the s**t out of me.... I wish i had a pit to throw people in......

I remember the first time I saw this movie. I tricked my dad into letting me rent it, after my mom had forbid it (I was about 7 or 8 the first time I saw it). Needless to say, I got in trouble when my mom found me watching this movie. This movie has a special place in my heart. I now own the movie on VHS and watch maybe once a year or so. I even have an original movie poster hanging in my bedroom. As I got older, I realized more and more how brilliant this movie is in its badness. For one, the plot. What's this movie about anyway? A story about an autistic boy? A story about a young man's obsession with his baby sitter? A talking teddy bear that urges its owner to kill? A pervert who is constantly pulling some sort of perverted prank? Or a movie about a kid who feeds people to his Trogs? All of these themes are in this movie, and few movies can even come close to mixing this many odd plot lines into one movie. This movie pulls it off and while the result may be unwatchable, you have to admire the effort. Sammy Snyders (Jamie) pulls off a great performance. It's not oscar worthy by any means, but he certainly stands out in a movie that will never itself stand out among others. Jeannie Elias (Sandy) is probably the only person in the movie you might somewhat recognize. She went on to do some voices for cartoons, and even had a small part in a couple Seinfeld episodes (The Bris is the only one I can remember her being in). I'm a fan of B-Horror movies, and this movie is in my top five favorite bad movies of all time. Right up there with "The Gate" and "Re-Animator." I wish I had the money to personaly get this movie onto DVD, because a DVD release is long overdo. Especially considering the kind of bad horror movies that already have a DVD release ("The Gate" again comes to mind). Watch this movie, if you can find it. You've never seen anything quite like it.

This movie is awesome. I loved how they played this up beat circus music when Jamie is killing all of those people. It is also funny when teddy says about the naked pictures,"I'll be looking at these for a long time."

 I thought it was a great movie. I still don't understand why the bear was talking but I'll figure it out.

It is coming out on DVD, bub :o). R1, late 2004, in a doublepack with some probably even lamer horror whose title I can't recall.

I was actually born in the house that this film was shot at looking for any type of still frames memoriblia so to speek
thanks

Ok, I saw this movie when I was around four years old, and it deeply disturbed me. It brought on my first panic attack and several years of nightmares. Once I got older I tried to find out the name of this movie and finally after five years I have found it!!! I am going to try to locate a copy so that I can once and for all conquer my fears:)

I have never seen "The Pit", but for most of my life it has been a "must see film".  Only for the fact that the VHS box cover art was rather disturbing to a 9 year old back in 1988 when I perused the aisles of the local video store. The cover art on the tape must of been over 5 years old since it was yellowed and worn and it depicted a silhouette of a small child pushing an elderly woman into a pit. Chilling back in the day. I wonder if they kept the cover art and where the hell can I get a copy of this movie.  I know I probably will be disapointed but I am rather curious now after reading through these comments.

A very interesting revelation from Mr Stuart above... I suppose it's impossible to hope that we could one day see the actual draft screenplay of the film, before the director's changes? (I was hoping to see it on Anchor Bay's DVD, along with perhaps a commentary or some interviews, but there is absolutely nothing on it, apart from a few snaps of the old posters...)

I'm watching it right now. I think it's an absolute classic!

I used to own The Pit on VHS but it's disappeared.  (probably into a pit somewhere)
Any movie where the main character has the same first name as I do is a must own for me.

It was a decent film overall.  Kinda weird and creepy with some slightly uncomfortable scenes between Jamie and his babysitter.

Andrew has reviewed it here:
http://www.badmovies.org/movies/thepit/

The story of the director's changes sounds very interesting... I'd love to read the original script draft.

Randomly came across this on youtube last night and watched about 2/3's of it. While I've seen worse movies I can't remember seeing a bunch of kids I've disliked so much in a film. Will finish watching the rest tonight.

Andrew's interview with the screenwriter explains a lot: http://www.badmovies.org/interviews/ianstuart/. (http://www.badmovies.org/interviews/ianstuart/.)

The director took an interesting script about a psychotic boy and changed it into a so-so creature feature. That explains the mish-mash of the cool and the incompetent on display here. The end result is watchable, but only sporadically engaging. For every genuinely eerie scene, there is a ridiculous scene to counteract it. The kid is creepy, though.

I would love to read the novel, which was based on the original screenplay, but it sells for more than a down payment on New York City (depending on whom you strike up a deal).

Yeah, it is very uneven, but I think that is what has made this movie the minor cult classic it is. Just when you think they are going in one direction, they pull their punch and switch tactics, and somehow manage to give you something weirder and creepier than you expected.

Aside from all of that, it is one of the best comedies ever made.

If you look at the announced releases it looks like Nintendo's just drawing names of games from a hat. No real rhyme or reason at all. How can you take anything from it?