Cry of the Banshee (1970)

Best movie of this year hands down!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The setting is 16th century England, where obsessions with superstition and sorcery rule the day. Lord Edward Whitman (Vincent Price) is a harsh magistrate punishing any and all people who come under scrutiny for being witches. After a mass killing, he earns the wrath of a witch named Oona (Elisabeth Bergner). You guessed it: she places a curse on him and his whole family, summoning a sadistic demon.Cult director Gordon Hessler takes a so-so script by Christopher Wicking and Tim Kelly and gives it plenty of flavorful period atmosphere. The story may not be that strong, but all the bells and whistles of this A.I.P. production help to make up for that. One can hardly fail to notice that it's not entirely unsympathetic to the witches, and portrays "the establishment" as a crass and foul bunch of people. Whitman and his entourage will amuse themselves by manipulating and embarrassing their victims in their opulent castle. The pacing is mostly effective, and the "banshee" of the title is appreciably kept as mysterious as possible; it's never very well lit. It also builds up a decent body count, and dishes out some pretty gory violence.Price delivers a solid performance, refraining from becoming overly theatrical for the most part. Essy Persson is very good playing the unfortunate, ill-fated wife. Hilary Heath, Carl Rigg, Stephan Chase, Marshall Jones, Andrew McCulloch, Michael Elphick, and Patrick Mower comprise an excellent supporting cast. Bergner is good, if also unmemorable, as the antagonist, and Hugh Griffith makes the most of his regrettably minor role, as a grave digger and corpse robber."Cry of the Banshee" is not a great horror film, but it is good fun. Trivia item: the opening title sequence was animated by Terry Gilliam.Available in both an A.I.P. theatrical version and a director's cut.Seven out of 10.

We're back in familiar WITCHFINDER GENERAL territory as Vincent Price sends all manner of innocent young girls to be burned and tortured in this enjoyable period potboiler. However, CRY OF THE BANSHEE lacks the power of its obvious influence and is content to go through the motions instead. There is nothing wrong with this, and it remains a thoroughly entertaining movie which seems exactly like a Hammer film in all but name.The atmospheric forest scenery certainly adds to the lavish look of the film as do the costumes. Despite the low budget these all look authentic. What is surprising is the amount of gratuitous nudity in this film - a lot more than was offered in other films of the time. Almost every female in this film has her top torn off at one time or another, perhaps making this more enjoyable for the male viewers. The violence level is pretty graphic, too, although the disappointing gore only consists of some cheap-looking blood smeared over a few necks and faces. Also, the chief villain in this film is a werewolf, and when we finally get to see it, it looks really disappointing, just a bloke with brown makeup on his face.The cast is pretty good for a film of this sort, with Price relishing a role which he could play in his sleep by now - although he keeps the hamming to a bare minimum here. His male supporting cast are mainly macho, handsome actors of the period - such as Patrick Mower - and fail to make much impact, leaving Price to hog much of the limelight for himself. It's only Hugh Griffiths in a fun role as a gravedigger who stands out from the mostly similar-looking crowd. Loads of pretty actresses also populate the cat, including WITCHFINDER GENERAL's Hilary Dwyer and THE OBLONG BOX's Sally Geeson.So, for Hammer fans, this is fine entertainment with plenty of intrigue and action to keep things moving quickly over the rather familiar plot. Any film which has suspicious priests and people descending into broken tombs to break up evil gatherings where the high priestess is sticking pins into a voodoo doll is good by my book, and no mistake. Not the most powerful of the witch-burning genre, but a solid enough piece of entertainment, no mistake.

This is a nasty bit of business made by AIP during that dreary period where the colorful, fun horror movies of the '60s were giving way to the darker, grittier movies of the '70s. It stars Vincent Price, easily the biggest name in horror in the '60s. Despite the title, there's no banshees in this movie. It's about an evil magistrate (Price) who abuses and kills people in his village in the name of witch hunting. Similar at this point to another (better) Price vehicle from around this time called The Conqueror Worm. But the similarities end there as the main plot is about some witches summoning a demon or something to seek revenge on Price and his wicked children. No banshees to be found. Lots of sexual stuff, though, and not all of it consensual. There's even a song about rape in the movie. So...yeah...more banshees and less rape, please. This is an ugly, cheap, and unpleasant exploitation movie. It's not fun enough to be entertaining and, as for horror, it couldn't scare a five year-old. One interesting little bit of trivia is that Terry Gilliam did the opening credits. They're done in that same style Monty Python was famous for.

One of three films Vincent Price made in England with the same director-writer team (along with "The Oblong Box" and "Scream and Scream Again"). AIP was coming to the end of a long string of horror films loosely adapted from Edgar Allen Poe -- as well as several co-productions with Hammer and Tigon. In one of those, "Witchfinder General" aka "The Conqueror Worm" (Tigon-AIP, 1968), Price gave one of his best performances as a cruel, corrupt witch hunter. In "Cry of the Banshee" he plays a nearly identical role and is also quite good. The story has similar elements as well, but manages to establish its own identity. It seems obvious AIP was trying to repeat the basic formula of "Witchfinder General." However, this production lacks its thoughtful direction, atmosphere, and feeling for historical accuracy. This is just a standard horror yarn, but Price's restrained, non-hammy performance comes close to making up for deficiencies in script and direction. An interesting side note: Monty Python fans should recognize Terry Gilliam's distinctive animation style used during the opening credits. Set in Elizabethan England, Lord Charles Whitman (Price) is a wicked, slightly decadent magistrate bent on wiping out every trace of witchcraft and paganism in his district. The story opens with him charging a woman with being a heretic. She is branded on the chest, flogged through the streets (an excuse for some topless exposure), and locked in the stocks. His zeal is driven not by religious fanaticism (as in "Witchfinder General") but a need to protect his power and authority. Trouble begins during a raid on a coven of witches holding a ritual ceremony. After several cult members are killed, the leader, an old crone named Oona, puts a curse on Whitman. Later, she calls upon a demonic spirit, a banshee, to destroy him and his family. (In mythology, a banshee is a fairy woman who wails when someone is about to die, but accuracy is usually ignored in horror movies of this ilk.)Here is where things go a bit off. The titular banshee starts killing members of Whitman's family. But the creature is really more of a wolf man (barely seen in a series of dark, shadowy encounters). They might as well have called this "Cry of the Wolf Man" for all that. Adding to the strangeness is the inclusion of voodoo type magic ceremonies where dolls representing the victims are stuck with pins. Was that really necessary?To its credit, the film does not have that cheap assembly-line look often associated with AIP product. Costumes, sets, location filming, and overall production is fairly plush looking. This seems like a deliberate move to compete with the high-quality British horror films from Hammer, Tigon, and Amicus. Had Roger Corman been given the same budget he would have cranked out three quickie films back-to-back with money left over. AIP also exploited its R-rating by including frequent scenes of semi-clad tavern wenches and witches being manhandled and mistreated.The film has a fairly satisfying ending. But one wishes Price's character had been given more depth, and more of an edge. Too much attention is given to a large cast of pedestrian supporting characters -- a curious practice that has bogged down countless Hammer films.