Banshee

An action thriller that both men and women will enjoy which was written (Kirsten Elms) and directed (Kari Skogland) by women. There are car chases, sadism, murder and a bit of gore. Several car chases for the guys and a couple of guys kicked in the groin for the women. A visually good looking film made for TV (in Canada). It certainly looks better than most Hollywood big budget films. The list of actors is unfortunately incomplete at this time. One character actor who really wowed me was the middle age woman who owned the big house: she was delicious in her delivery. The casting was excellent; I had never seen any of the actors before but will certainly follow their work from now on.

This was a really positively surprising movie. I had low expectation for this, expecting it to be a movie about boosting cars, but I was really positively surprised.

While you can clearly see it's moderate to low budget, you can clearly see that every single cent was well used, and the outcome is really great, especially when taking the budget into consideration.

The movie was very well cast, although you won't see any big names.

A great surprise for electronic music lovers: you get to see the most amazing DJ gear ever, and what is being done with it, although psychotically sadistic, is very creative and very cool! The results are just amazing and make for some amazing music.

The only thing I dislike is the end, which could have been better. It was too predictable, and had a big lack in action. But it was also probably more realistic and true-to-life.

Sage is a car thief who inadvertently steals the car of a serial killer, who then pursues her. She's had a tough life and is quite the tough cookie as a result and knows how to take care of herself. The cat and mouse chase that ensues is predictable, if still entertaining enough to watch. Sage's relationship with the cops (good cop, bad cop)is stereotypical of the movies with the rookie being overly dumb for a detective and not very convincing. The "experienced" bad cop is blind to evidence and annoys as a result.

Filmed with typical Canadian style on location in Montreal, it has some endearing qualities, one of which is that it uses Hitchcockesque inference so there are no seriously gruesome scenes, so it shouldn't give you nightmares.

Sage Rion (Taryn Manning) is a tough professional car thief known as the Banshee to the police. She steals a car but she loses her ID. The car's owner wants it back and he turns out to be a serial killer. She steals the car from her fence and returns it. She even rescues pursuing police detective Fitz in the process. However, her boyfriend's dismembered body is found in her apartment and the cops try to arrest her. She stays with her friend Brenna who is later kidnapped by the killer.

Taryn Manning is plenty capable but the movie isn't willing. She has a tough sassy charisma which drives the movie. There is some early car actions that are almost good. It seems to have potential but the story stumbles. It's fun to have a scantily clad Taryn supergluing her wounds. Mostly, the movie loses its action thrills.

I didn't know much about Taryn Manning before watching "Banshee", but this film turned me into a fan. She is a perfect fit for her character here - and it's not an easy character: she has to play edgy, tough, confident, seductive, wounded, scared. It's a believable (Manning actually has real-life kickboxing background) and layered performance. Her bond with the rookie cop who's a bit in over his head (Mike Lombardi) develops in an unforced way. As for the serial killer, he's a very twisted nutcase with fairly original quirks (he likes to record the terrified screams of his victims). The film was written by a woman, directed by a woman, and starring a woman, and its pro-feminist philosophy is evident. But it also works on the more superficial "action thriller" level - there is some very good stunt driving at the start. If you're a Taryn Manning fan, you must see this; if you're not, you'll probably become one. **1/2 out of 4.