ÉVALUATION IMDb
5,4/10
12 k
MA NOTE
Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueJournalist Anne Roland explores the disturbing links behind her friend's sudden disappearance, an ominous government research chemical, and a disturbing radio broadcast of unknown origin.Journalist Anne Roland explores the disturbing links behind her friend's sudden disappearance, an ominous government research chemical, and a disturbing radio broadcast of unknown origin.Journalist Anne Roland explores the disturbing links behind her friend's sudden disappearance, an ominous government research chemical, and a disturbing radio broadcast of unknown origin.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Prix
- 1 victoire au total
Cyd Schulte
- Laura Henrik
- (credit only)
Avis en vedette
Just watched this and was pleasantly surprised. Especially after seeing the IMDb page and checking out the HORRIBLE poster and low rating.
Essentially a tale about government chemical mind control experiments, with a mix of a scary shortwave radio transmission and some super cool Lovecraftian elements a la From Beyond, it is done in a scary manner, with a mix of found footage, real and faked news clips, and sometimes just plain old standard filmed storytelling.
The flashlight, a common horror cliché, is also used to great effect here. I can see some people not liking this one and it being a polarizing movie but I enjoyed it very much. It also boasts a great performance by Ted Levine, who freaked us out as Rusty Nail in "Joyride." This is the first scary movie I've seen in a while. The last thing I can say is it's a mix of originality, cliché, and "borrowing", but what movie today isn't?
Essentially a tale about government chemical mind control experiments, with a mix of a scary shortwave radio transmission and some super cool Lovecraftian elements a la From Beyond, it is done in a scary manner, with a mix of found footage, real and faked news clips, and sometimes just plain old standard filmed storytelling.
The flashlight, a common horror cliché, is also used to great effect here. I can see some people not liking this one and it being a polarizing movie but I enjoyed it very much. It also boasts a great performance by Ted Levine, who freaked us out as Rusty Nail in "Joyride." This is the first scary movie I've seen in a while. The last thing I can say is it's a mix of originality, cliché, and "borrowing", but what movie today isn't?
I'm not a fan of jump scares. I think they're cheap, sometimes manipulative, and they rarely imbue dread. Rather, they can ruin a movie's atmosphere if used incorrectly. Having said that, The Banshee Chapter has the best use of jump scares I've seen in a long, long time. You can sense them coming from a mile away, yet they can still make you crap your pants. I credit this to the director who clearly has a grasp on how to utilize atmosphere and build-ups effectively. These scares don't seem cheap; well, some of them do, but the tone is set by the creepy music, the static, and the robotic voices which really holds the movie together. And the imagery itself is creepy. If I saw one of those things near me, I would freak the f*** out too.
Now, you probably noticed by now that I haven't even hinted at a narrative in this movie, and that's because it's so flimsy it's hardly worth mentioning. It's basically about MK Ultra and the government testing drugs on people, then things start to go horribly wrong. The premise is good, but the actual story - the execution - is hollow and lazy. I didn't care what has happening half the time. I was too busy peeking through my eyes (kidding, but not really) waiting for the damn thing to come out from somewhere. Almost every scene is crafted this way - light on substance, heavy on scares.
Thankfully, horror is about the scares so I have to give The Banshee Chapter credit. Even though it stands for everything I hate in horror movies, this one actually gets it right, and for that alone, bravo.
Now, you probably noticed by now that I haven't even hinted at a narrative in this movie, and that's because it's so flimsy it's hardly worth mentioning. It's basically about MK Ultra and the government testing drugs on people, then things start to go horribly wrong. The premise is good, but the actual story - the execution - is hollow and lazy. I didn't care what has happening half the time. I was too busy peeking through my eyes (kidding, but not really) waiting for the damn thing to come out from somewhere. Almost every scene is crafted this way - light on substance, heavy on scares.
Thankfully, horror is about the scares so I have to give The Banshee Chapter credit. Even though it stands for everything I hate in horror movies, this one actually gets it right, and for that alone, bravo.
BANSHEE CHAPTER is a weird little horror flick that offers something different to the usual ghost or stalk-'n'-slash thrills. The plot incorporates government mind-testing, a 'ghost' radio station, government conspiracy, an anarchist writer modelled on Hunter S. Thompson, and aliens, alongside some traditional ghostly spirits designed to pop up in scare scenes and spook the viewer.
It's not really all that successful because the plot ingredients are all over the place. At times this strives to be a found footage flick and at other times it just plays out normally. I did like Katia Winter's protagonist, who's more intelligent and less of a screamer than the usual horror heroine, but the real stand-out performance here comes from an unrecognisable Ted Levine (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) as the boozy, washed-up writer who gets drawn into a sinister conspiracy. BANSHEE CHAPTER is a weird little film all right and fans looking for something different might just find something to tempt them here as the creepy atmosphere is spot on.
It's not really all that successful because the plot ingredients are all over the place. At times this strives to be a found footage flick and at other times it just plays out normally. I did like Katia Winter's protagonist, who's more intelligent and less of a screamer than the usual horror heroine, but the real stand-out performance here comes from an unrecognisable Ted Levine (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) as the boozy, washed-up writer who gets drawn into a sinister conspiracy. BANSHEE CHAPTER is a weird little film all right and fans looking for something different might just find something to tempt them here as the creepy atmosphere is spot on.
I have never really been a fan of either Documentary or especially Found Footage Horror. But, the way this one builds the tension and suspense, it does the job just fine. I'm probably just a BIG P\/$$y, but quite honestly this scared the living $h!t right out of me into my pants (probably more information than you wanted...)
Anyway, despite my usual antipathy for these kinds of films, once in a while one will come along that is very effective, and this is one of them. Coincidentally, I also recently watched a similar film called 'THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE' which also scared me $h!tless, but that one was much more heavily slanted toward the Paranormal than this one was.
So, there really is not a whole lot to say about his particular Genre except whether it is done well or not. And, I can say that for me personally, I was absolutely RIVETED to the screen the entire time. There was NO down time on this one. And YES, there are numerous jump type scares, but with this kind of film, I think that it would be obvious that that comes with the territory. The point is whether the jump scares are done well, and they are indeed...
My imagination is VERY sensitive, so maybe this film would be more intense for me than for others, I don't know. All I know is that by the end, I was frigg'n creeped out. So, what that means to me is that the primary elements that are vital to a film like this, namely the mood and atmosphere, are clearly effective and doing the good job that they are supposed to be doing. Like I said, this type of film is not my first choice. I tend to find the more Fantasy based, 'fun' type of Horror more enjoyable (like 'NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET' or 'RE- ANIMATOR', for example) But, this one seriously had me by the nuts and refused to let go...
I would say that if you don't mind the Genre, and if have an active imagination like I do, and if you can REALLY get sucked into a story easily like I did with this one, then this movie should indeed scare you...
Anyway, despite my usual antipathy for these kinds of films, once in a while one will come along that is very effective, and this is one of them. Coincidentally, I also recently watched a similar film called 'THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE' which also scared me $h!tless, but that one was much more heavily slanted toward the Paranormal than this one was.
So, there really is not a whole lot to say about his particular Genre except whether it is done well or not. And, I can say that for me personally, I was absolutely RIVETED to the screen the entire time. There was NO down time on this one. And YES, there are numerous jump type scares, but with this kind of film, I think that it would be obvious that that comes with the territory. The point is whether the jump scares are done well, and they are indeed...
My imagination is VERY sensitive, so maybe this film would be more intense for me than for others, I don't know. All I know is that by the end, I was frigg'n creeped out. So, what that means to me is that the primary elements that are vital to a film like this, namely the mood and atmosphere, are clearly effective and doing the good job that they are supposed to be doing. Like I said, this type of film is not my first choice. I tend to find the more Fantasy based, 'fun' type of Horror more enjoyable (like 'NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET' or 'RE- ANIMATOR', for example) But, this one seriously had me by the nuts and refused to let go...
I would say that if you don't mind the Genre, and if have an active imagination like I do, and if you can REALLY get sucked into a story easily like I did with this one, then this movie should indeed scare you...
Low budget and creepy as all hell. The budget and aesthetic of Paranormal Activity (2007) with the otherworldly broadcasting of Videodrome (1983), set in the location of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) with references to Hunter S. Thompson and Timothy Leary crossed with H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. Writer/director Blair Erickson has only helmed this single movie, a studio needs to give him budget to make more, he could be the next David Cronenberg. Part found footage, part fake documentary, this fictional story begins with real historical events explained in the beginning of the movie. What if this bioengineered mind altering drug the United States government really created could still be found and what would it be like for the people who take it? As we see, it's horrifying. As the audience learns the history of what was done, we realize the characters are in even greater peril than they know.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesFootage of President Bill Clinton in the first few minutes of the film is not related to an official apology by the US Government for MK ULTRA experiments, rather for a similar project: The Tuskegee Experiments. The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was an infamous clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service to study the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African-American men in Alabama. The experiment's subjects were told that they were receiving free health care from the U.S. government.
- Citations
Thomas Blackburn: People are afraid of death just because death is so fucking ordinary. It happens all the time.
- ConnexionsFeatured in Top 5 Scary Videos: Top 5 Scariest Cosmic Horror Movies (2019)
- Bandes originalesWagon Red
Written by Mark Grayson Lenover
Performed by Mark Lenover
Published by Tropnevada LLC (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Expressive Artists LLC
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Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Sites officiels
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- Banshee
- Lieux de tournage
- sociétés de production
- Consultez plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
Box-office
- Budget
- 950 000 $ US (estimation)
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By what name was Banshee Chapter (2013) officially released in India in English?
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