El grito del fantasma

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.

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

I'd seen two films from director Gordon Hessler prior to seeing this one, and they're both wildly different. One was the excellent Gothic horror The Oblong Box, while the other was the uneven and mostly terrible waste of a great of a cast, Scream and Scream Again. This film falls somewhere in the middle in terms of quality. Cry of the Banshee actually reminded me a lot more of the classic film Witchfinder General than either of Hessler's previous efforts, although it is nowhere near as good as that one. The plot features themes of witchcraft and witch hunts, as we focus on the evil Lord Edward Whitman, slaughterer of peasants and a man with an on-going war against a coven of local witches. He opts to murder a number of them in front of leader; a witch named Oona. However, this turns out to be a poor decision as Oona uses her magic powers to call up a magical being known as a 'Banshee', whom she uses - along with some members of Lord Whitman's own family - to bring a curse upon his entire household.

Obviously, my main reason for seeing this film was because of the fact that it features a starring performance from the great Vincent Price. This is not Vincent Price's greatest performance, but he still completely owns the film in every sequence that he's in (and he's in most of them). The character he plays in Cry of the Banshee isn't the most rounded character he's ever played, and therefore it isn't the most interesting - but hey! It's still Vincent Price. The way that the plot plays out is mostly good enough to hold the audience's interest; there isn't a great deal of suspense in the film, but director Gordon Hessler does a good job of creating the right atmosphere and setting up a suitable 'feel' for the film. The banshee isn't what you'd usually think of when that word springs to mind; which gives the film an element of memorability. The ending is decent enough, although it is rather predictable and overall, it has to be said that Cry of the Banshee is a more than passable. Sure, it's not brilliant - but Vincent Price fans are likely to enjoy it, and it gets a recommendation from me.

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.

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.