Coventry This was the third collaboration (in barely two years time) between director Gordon Hessler, scriptwriter Christopher Wicking and horror veteran Vincent Price, after the wondrously atmospheric Victorian tale "The Oblong Box" and the uniquely bizarre "Scream and Scream Again". "Cry of the Banshee" certainly isn't a bad effort; I for one found it very much amusing at least, but due to its lead actor, periodic setting and subject matter, it will always and automatically get compared with "The Witchfinder General" and come out as the weakest one. This isn't even so much of a disgrace, as that other Vincent Price classic which was released two years prior, is simply a bona fide masterpiece. Perhaps I'm very much biased, because I'm a) a downright fanatic Vincent Price worshiper and b) obsessed with purchasing horror movies that deal with witchery and satanic cults, and therefore I don't think "Cry of the Banshee" deserves all the harsh & negative reviews around here. Honesty does require me to admit that the film contain a couple of severe flaws, however, most notably the underdevelopment of the main characters and the overly exploitative nature. You can somewhat expect a bit of gratuitous nudity and perversion in a movie about burning witches and corrupt magistrates, but the sequences in "Cry of the Banshee" – especially those during the first fifteen minutes – are quite degrading and misogynist. Price usually didn't star in that type of cinema. At certain moments it's actually noticeable that he doesn't agree with the raw undertones of his dialogs and he tries hard to give his character of sadist magistrate Edward Whitman more depth and background. He's the patriarch of a rich and spoiled family, and abuses his magistrate position to randomly accuse innocent women of witchcraft and subsequently submits them to public humiliation and torture. When he orders to slaughter half a coven of actual Satan worshipers, the lead witch Oona puts a curse on him and his family. Her vengeance is extracted through an acquaintance of the family, the eccentric stranger Roderick who communicates with animals, as he mutates into a banshee overnight. There are really a lot of sub plots with terrific potential, but sadly they're not elaborated. There are a lot of intrigues within the Whitman family, like the oldest son who distanced himself from his father and Edward's third wife feels more affection for Roderick than for her barbaric husband. Personally, I also would have preferred a little more info regarding the banshee itself. It's a fascinating creature, with nicely grim make-up effects and aggressive personality, but we don't know too much about its mythical background. The finale is brilliant, though, and there are several moments of sheer suspense and grisly medieval ambiance.

doug1717 Certainly not a horrible film, but it really isn't a good one. It falls short by not having a defined plot or well written story. The film has atmosphere, some nice outdoor settings, pretty good costumes, a fair bit of pre silicone nudity, and some action. But the action/violence is more psychotic/misogynist in the absence of a clear plot and better dialogue. A much better film in a similar vein is "L'Avocat Du Diable" (Devil's Advocate), a French subtitled film from the 80's about a witch trial based on historical records. Vincent Price is good, but he has little to work with, and most of the male cast with the exception of Roderick are merely brutal and cartoonish. The parts of Vincent's wife and his daughter Maureen are a wasted effort by attractive actresses as they have little dialogue or defined character to keep your interest. Roderick seems more of a rip off of "Incubus" than an original bad guy, but instead of being a summoned ravisher, he is a physical male who sleeps with Vincent's female relatives and eventually turns into some sort of werewolf when summoned by Oona. Also the witch Oona is surrounded by decidedly wimpy witches and warlocks who look more appropriate to a Greek or Roman Bacchanalia than a witches' Sabat. The opening credits feature very poor cartooning by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python. Had the makers invested a bit of time in research, close ups of Bosch's paintings would have served the film better. Despite its obvious shortcomings it is still watchable, but it leaves you wishing they had invested more effort into the story.

movieman_kev The Monty Python-esgue opening credit sequence somehow doesn't fit with this tale about the decidedly NOT benevolent Lord Whitman (the late great Vincent Price), his quest to kill all those who practice witchcraft at the shock and horror of his wife, and the cursed fate that one of the surviving witches put upon him and his family.While certainly not Price's best work, it still remains very watchable. The film kinda lulls in the middle, but it starts to pick up again towards the end. I found the film to be very atmospheric and had good acting by all involved.My Grade: C+ Eye Candy: Sally Geeson, Jane Deady, Quinn O'Hara, and Essy Persson get topless

The_Void 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.