Scream of the Banshee

Having a cool title and premise does not excuse a filmmaker from those making decisions that weaken their movie. Overzealous editing, camerawork, and lighting are no substitution for judicious storytelling or direction; cheap jump scares are altogether gauche. Scene writing and plot threads still need logical through lines from A to B, or at least through B to C, to tie a picture together. I'm given to understand that director Steven C. Miller wanted to make a darker feature than the intended television premiere would allow, and also that he took inspiration from mid-century genre flicks. I can see glimpses of both these elements in his thinking - in some of the practical effects including blood, gore, and props; in the narrative advancement that drops kernels of supernatural horror piecemeal as the tale comes together. Unfortunately, the end result doesn't particularly measure up in any capacity: despite all due earnestness in the production, 'Scream of the banshee' mostly just falls flat.

I don't think anyone's efforts were outright bad; I see the hard work that was put into this. I see what Miller wanted to do. But in one way or another every contribution just ended up being misguided. While practical effects look great, digital creations are, shall we say, less than seamless. The first time we see the titular creature it looks fantastic, but the special makeup and costume design somehow seem increasingly inauthentic as the length draws on; why change what didn't need to be? Andrew Strahorn's cinematography and Miller's editing are technically proficient, but exercised to wrong ends, trying to artificially heighten the horror violence but instead only overcooking it. Ryan Dodson's score is enjoyable in and of itself, but is employed in ways here that make it seem over the top. The production values are weirdly inconsistent; from one scene to the next the fundamental image before us might bear a different look and feel - sometimes exactly on point, at other times bearing the appearance in different ways of having been filmed in front of a green screen even for simple exterior shots, if not having been computer-generated outright. Miller's intent as director was true, but he takes cues from other genre flicks of the early 2000s, including TV movies, that severely reduce the best potential. The cast give the best performances they can to realize the material, but the combined effect of every other facet is to force them into a corner that strips away nuance and tact. Poor Todd Haberkorn seems to have suffered the most in this regard.

For all this, however, Anthony C. Ferrante's screenplay is surely the chief weakness. There are some genuinely good ideas in the writing, but by and large Ferrante's work is sadly a scattered mess. Characters should have been more than just empty shells; dialogue is mostly terrible, and sometimes cliched. In both these regards, I feel bad for Lance Henriksen, because his part has the dubious distinction of representing the worst writing of anything in the whole feature. Scene writing (and Miller's realization of it) is too often ham-handed and overdone, sometimes testing the limits of good sense or suspension of disbelief (example, watch for an early scene in which three characters obliviously walk past something on the floor). Like an old house that needs to be remodeled, the plot has good bones - yet the meat between those bones is in desperate need of revitalization. Some individual story beats are questionable; threads between beats and scenes are sometimes thin and falling apart. There is, after all, a complete story told herein, but it struggles to feel cohesive or even coherent as a substantial amount of Movie Magic is involved to weave everything together. It's a lot to try to take in.

I don't altogether hate 'Scream of the banshee.' I see what was put into it; I see what it could have been. As it stands, however, nothing quite fits together; the efforts of all involved are just slightly mismatched from what they should be. I wish Ferrante only the best, and I trust that he has grown in his skills as a writer since this was made, but his screenplay needed significant rewrites. I don't absolutely regret watching this film - I'm just disappointed. Good ideas; no major success in any fashion. My kindest regards to all who had a hand in this, and I hope to see more of what they can do elsewhere. 'Scream of the banshee,' however, is just not the fun horror romp it might have been.

For a SyFy movie, then I think that "Scream of the Banshee" was well over the average movies that they produce. This movie was actually well worth watching.

The story, albeit a bit weirdly and hastily tossed together, worked well enough despite it all. There were some really questionable things in the story, such as the coincidence that the ancient map was a map of their basement, and also the reason for Broderick Duncan's dismissal from the school. Just seemed like they needed a quick way to tie the ends together in the movie, and this seemed like the most plausible and best way to do it (insert buzzer sound here)! Despite the flaws in the storyline and events, the story was driven by a constant flow, and you want to see what happens next. So they did manage to do something right with the story after all.

I liked the concept of the banshee, though I had a somewhat other impression of a banshee than what was portrayed here. Yeah, I am damaged from years and years of playing Dungeons & Dragons. I got my banshee knowledge from here. I am not overly familiar with old Irish legends and lore, so I didn't really have much information (aside from the RPG stuff) about the banshee. But still, the end result in the movie turned out to be quite nice.

The cast in "Scream of the Banshee" was actually quite nice, although they did use Lance Henriksen to draw in the viewers, and he didn't have that big a part in the movie. But hey... The movie was in great parts carried by Todd Haberkorn (playing Otto) and also by Lance Henriksen (playing Broderick Duncan). This is not to say that the others in the movie were bad, just that these two were the ones pulling the heaviest load.

Moving on to the creature in the movie; the banshee. They actually managed to portray a really good image of such a creature - if one does believe in them! I especially liked the head in the box, that one looked awesome. There were times when the banshee had materialized that it looked really good as well, but there were also times where it was bordering on being painful to watch. And I am not sure how I feel about the last stage of the banshee, where it had no eyes. That was a bit too "alien" for this type of movie.

Don't be too hasty to write "Scream of the Banshee" off just because it is a SyFy production. It was well worth my time to sit down and watch it, and I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire movie. Just take heed that even though the movie is labeled as a horror movie, don't expect to get overly scared out of your seat.

Come on now, let me hear you scream...

In 1188 Ireland, some warrior horsemen chase and attack a red-cloaked figure. Obviously "Screaming Banshee" of the title, the pursued rider is brutally murdered. Flashback over… In the present, California college professor Lauren Holly (as Isla Whelan) is archiving some old relics. She happens upon an Irish gauntlet, which assistant Todd Haberkorn (as Otto) decides to wear. Also found is a metallic box, hidden behind a wall. The gauntlet opens the box and out pops the Screaming Banshee. Well, she doesn't exactly pop out, at first, but her spirit is released. To stop Screaming Banshee, Ms. Holly and her archivist team must seek out help from hammy old Lance Henriksen (as Broderick Duncan)...

In some early scenes, the Screaming Banshee looks intriguing and frightful. But, by the end, budget constraints have turned her into a very silly-looking monster. There is almost nothing given about the Banshee to make her interesting. Having a good moment here and there, relatively new director Steven C. Miller is either unable to interpret a good story, or improve upon a bad one. Some of the later sets look nice, but this is a hopeless Syfy TV Movie. With nothing much to comment on, daughter Marcelle Baer is most valuable player in the attractive cast sweepstakes. Her boyfriend Garrett Hines has great muscles. Perhaps most noteworthy is the creative pluck of Mr. Haberkorn's eyebrows.

*** Scream of the Banshee (2011-03-04) Steven C. Miller ~ Lauren Holly, Todd Haberkorn, Lance Henriksen, Marcelle Baer

I almost rated this lower because Afterdark should know better - films like "Crazy Eights" were inexcusable in their second year, and in their fifth, here's another film entirely as cliché and uninspired as any of those big-budget "horror" films regurgitated into cinemas in the last few years.

Actually, whereas many "Ring" clones feature mysterious deaths before the protagonist starts investigating, this time the characters are investigating weird happenings before they know anyone's dead.

And also the film focuses on several characters, not just the protagonist and love interest, the main threat is represented with practical effects rather than CGI, thankfully, and, um... oh, they're investigating exactly where the banshee came from instead of trying to determine why this creature exists, and...

Actually, that's probably every difference between this and your average "Ring" clone. Not that bad, albeit definitely not scary and very disappointing for a film that's supposedly horror festival material.

The premise was rather interesting and after a really short opening we get introduced to our cast. Their acting was fine but not great and their characters were pretty one-dimensional and boring. I genuinely liked the first look at the Banshees head, it looked unsettling and creepy and they did a great job creating the prop that used.

After the head starts screaming in a rather weirdly edited scene our characters begin to get haunted by the Banshee. We get countless scenes where the banshee attacks and her makeup looks pretty cheap in most of them. The plot turns generic and you start to lose interest in our characters.

While the movie had a premise that sounded promising, the execution left much to be desired for and the movie definitely has some wasted potential and also I'm sure the limited budget was a huge factor. Overall the film turns out forgettable and unspectacular. [4,4/10]