Der Todesschrei der Hexen

Like many a horror movie knock-off, Cry Of The Banshee is a hopeless mish-mash of inconsistancies; and while Vincent Price has saved many such films by his mere presence alone, he does so here almost grudgingly, as if his heart really isn't in it. At the beginning of the film, he's presented as a heartless Witchfinder General soft of fellow, but at the first sign on any real witchery he at first scoffs at it, feeling that any real proof of witchcraft might "undermine his authorty". How such a vindication of his efforts could harm his character in the eyes of the people is never explained, since he's more than willing to torture innocent villagers. Eventually he does manage to get on the real witch, Oona's bad side, however, and she curses him and all his family to die. We try to like her at this point, and sympathize with her vengeance; but she is the very Evil that Vincent has vowed to destroy. So, since both sides are evil, only the victims are innocent; and when Vince makes a last minute bid to save his daughter and escape the fate of their accursed house & name, we're left to wonder why he ever placed himself in such a position in the first place since suddenly he comes off as a caring father and nothing more... It's worth seeing, but see The Conqueror Worm first...

Lord Edward Whitman(Vincent Price) is a wicked magistrate who why while not believing in Witchcraft, delights in accusing peasants of the crime. The punishments he dishes out are not always within the law though. Working On a tip off, his men kill many within a coven of witches, the witches leader Oona swears revenge and pleads with Satan to send her an Avenger who will smite him and his family. Such an avenger is the mild mannered stable hand Roderick(Patrick Mower), who was found as a child in the woods and brought up by the Whitmans, around his neck he wears a strange and ancient medallion of unknown origin.

Gordon Hessler has a mixed filmography in Horror, this on the face of it, is a production designed to take advantage of Michael Reeves's Witchfinder General, as wonderfully hammy Vincent Price and the beautiful Hilary Heath, both return, as does DP John Coquillon, who adds oodles of atmosphere and energy with his ever moving camera which captures the location work beautifully. Hessler learnt his trade with Hitchcock and to some extent it shows in this film, he knows when and where to provide the scares. The film itself was much rewritten and Hessler found himself getting further away from the theme of the title which had already been sold as a Banshee film before filming began, but he was reigned back in by the producers, the meddling doesn't quite ruin the film but it does have a lot going on plot-wise, as a result. The witches coven send a "Sidhe" an ancient derivative of the banshee in the form of Patrick Mower, (his make up none to convincing) to kill one by one, members of the Whitman family, not all of which are bad, some are very decent people, this effective ploy is also used with the witches, making it hard to take sides or see who the really bad guys are. Fans of period Brit Horror shouldn't be disappointed, there's copious nudity and plenty of buxom wenches that make for pleasant viewing, there's also an excellent sting in the tale.

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

Gordon Hessler's "Cry Of The Banshee" of 1970 is certainly one of the weaker films with the great Vincent Price, but it is still a pretty good horror flick, and certainly way underrated. I must add, however, that Vincent Price is my favorite actor of all-time and my personal opinion is that you can never go wrong with a film with Price in the lead.

Price stars as Lord William Whitman, a sadistic despot in Elizabethean England, who wants to terminate superstitious beliefs by brutally massacring followers of the 'old religion', a bizarre hippie-style witch cult lead by an old woman called Oona (Elisabeth Bergner). Lord Whitman, who lives in his castle with his kind-hearted daughter Maureen (Hillary Heath) his sadistic son Harry (Carl Rigg), his wife, Lady Patricia (Essy Persson), and Roderick, a young man whom the despotic lord let live with his family since childhood, shows no mercy when it comes to the persecution of the pagans living in the woods, and brutal oppression is the everyday situation in his town, where people are tortured and killed for the simple suspicion of being followers of Oona's cult.

Some parts of the movie remind a lot of Michael Reeves' masterpiece "Witchfinder General" of 1968, which also had Price in the lead and which is, of course, incomparably better than "Cry Of The Banshee". Besides Price, the movie also stars Hillary Heath, who also played the female lead in "Witchfinder General". Price is excellent as always, and Heath also delivers a good performance as his daughter. The rest of the acting differs, some performances are better, some worse, but they're certainly not terrible. The movie certainly has a few pretty cheesy moments, but it has at least as many creepy ones. Although the violence in this movie is not comparable to the violence in "Witchfinder General", the movie has some pretty brutal moments and some nudity, which gives the film a nice Exploitation feeling.

"Cry Of The Banshee" is certainly not one of the masterpieces with Vincent Price, but it is certainly not as bad as many seem to regard it. I personally found it very enjoyable, it definitely has some creepy moments, and I warmly recommend it to fans of Horror flicks and Vincent Price. 7/10

The film is set in Elizabethan England and revolves around a wicked magistrate who tries to kill all the members of a coven of witches. This makes the leader of the coven, Oona, sworn enemies of the lord and his family. To get revenge Oona calls up a magical servant, a "sidhe", to destroy the lord's family. The titular "cry of the banshee" is the signal that someone will die.

The script went through a few revisions. Tim Kelly's script had witches who were all old women and set the story in the 1700s. Christopher Wicking moved the time to the 1500s (more accurate) and made the witches varying ages and genders. Wicking also changed the wife to a stepmother rather than a mother of the Whitmans, which gives her a bit of distance to see the actions of her cruel new family.

Steve Haberman suggests that Wicking's re-write of Kelly was in part inspired by the Manson murders. The witches initially were more peaceful, but under Wicking actually invoke Satan by name. This takes the nature-worshiping cult to a whole new level... from nature to the devil himself. Director Gordon Hessler said he (and Wicking) wanted to get one more draft of the script in, but AIP was rushing the production. One wonders what might have happened with just a bit more spit and polish.

The first thing you will notice when watching this film is that it looks like the opening is from a Monty Python movie. And there is a good reason you think that: it was, in fact, animated by Terry Gilliam, the American member of Monty Python and their animator. Unfortunately, this may be the highlight of the movie.

Vincent Price carries this film, as there are no other big name actors to speak of. Unless you count AIP regular (and Academy Award winner) Hugh Griffith, who plays the drunken grave robber Mickey. Mike Mayo says Price is "not at his best" but "still fine", and that is a fair assessment. But even at just "fine", Price is more enjoyable to watch than most others of his generation.

The remainder of the cast, as I said, is hardly notable. There is Stephen Rea, who was later nominated for an Oscar, appearing in his first film role (he did a couple of television appearances before that). And there is a man named Guy Pierce in a very small role, but it is not the guy you think it is. A shame, really. Hilary Dwyer had previously been in both "Witchfinder General" (1968) and "The Oblong Box" (1969) alongside Vincent Price, but is not known outside of the AIP fan niche.

For some reason, there is a happy song sung by a man with a lute about a maiden who is raped by a huntsman, and then gets her revenge on him by castrating him. I do not know how to feel about this being sung as an uplifting ballad. Haberman says that this was a song that truly dated to the correct period, so I have to give them credit for that. And it does coincide with a maiden getting attacked by thuggish men... but no castration.

Overall, the film is okay or good, but not the best. Vincent Price has better films where he plays a witch hunter (including "Conqueror Worm") and better films in general. Still worth seeing, but do not put it at the top of your list. And do not try to find the banshee in this film, because one does not exist. Sorry.

Scream Factory, as always, has released the definitive version of this film on their Vincent Price box set. They give us both the AIP and unrated versions. So if you want to see a little extra violence, see a few more topless women, and hear the original score before AIP regular Les Baxter was hired to replace it, you now have that ability. Unfortunately, the director's cut does not substantially improve the movie's slow, poorly-conceived plot, and even director Gordon Hessler admits this is not some of his best work. (Amazingly, this was the biggest box office hit of the Hessler-Wicking team, even more than "Scream and Scream Again". Could it have been the misuse of the Poe name?)

Scream also provides a Steve Haberman audio commentary, which is very informative. He not only gives biographical information on the various people involved, but took the time to read both Kelly's and Wicking's scripts, so he knows quite well what went into developing the plot. The disc also has an archive interview with director Hessler, which is well worth checking out.