Cry of the Banshee

Trailer—Cry of the Banshee

This is one of those films where the bad guys torture and maim and get away with it. It is about witchcraft but it bounces all over the place. Women are stripped to the waist several times and abused. The problem is that it never seems to go any place and even the ending requires on to wonder exactly what happened. I loved Vincent Price, but he comes off as a silly caricature of twenty other roles he has played.

The puritanical magistrate Edward Whitman puts the followers of the witch Oona to the death,although he deliberately spares her.She swears vengeance for this and calls up a manifestation of the Banshee in the guise of the young,handsome Roderick.He charms his way into Whitman's family and starts killing them off,as though to all appearances by a horrific demon."Cry of the Banshee" is an underrated AIP effort that features plenty of nasty violence and gratuitous nudity.Director Gordon Hessler manages to create several genuinely spooky moments,so fans of atmospheric British horror won't be disappointed.Once again Vincent Price is amazing as a truly evil Lord Edward Whitman.The film is pretty obscure,but if you get the chance watch it.8 out of 10.

Certainly a watchable film, but generally just another run of the mill horror film set in the witch burning age. The usual stuff, like the dodgy lord (Price), decadent family (Price's), "ooh-arr" style peasants, and the usual sets and locations. There is more nudity here than usual, which is possibly why I stuck with it. Ahem. The main saving grace however, is the strong performance by the ever watchable Vincent Price. Notice that both he and Peter Cushing were able to pull off these sort of roles with ease.

Granted that the story line is fuzzy, the ending nasty, and Vincent Price as cheesy and over the top as ever. But the fact remains that the female leads in this confused mess are radiant. Hillary Dwyer in particular is the perfect English rose -- demure, yet oozing understated sex appeal as the headstrong, cheerfully promiscuous aristocrat who knows her own mind and doesn't mind getting her petticoats dirty in romping with the servants. The dismally depressing ending and the garbled, incoherent script make this movie difficult to watch all the way through, but Hillary Dwyer and Essy Pearson are both luminous and compelling enough to make it worth an occasional viewing.

Vincent Price plays Lord Edward Whitman, a cruel, witch hunting English Lord in the Sixteenth Century. A curse is placed upon his family by the local sorceress. This is a role that suited him well, having already portrayed real life Matthew Hopkins. Again he hams it up, though not overly so. Michael Elphick,a well known face to viewers of British TV in the 1980's and 90's, plays his equally sadistic right hand man, and does a good job too. Though not as good Banshee does fit in well with similar movies such as Witchfinder General and Mark of the Devil. Some scenes are a little poorly staged, such as an almost laughable fight in the dungeon, and I believe that the VHS copy that I watched to be cut. Overall a good combination of horror, witches and their persecutors in old England. I shall seek out an uncut release