A Brilliant Conflict

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Viewers beware, this movie is nothing but gruesome murders, satanic rituals, etc & has no redeeming entertainment value at all. The only good thing about this junk is that it ended...oh well. Vincent Price made many good horror flicks in the 50's & early 60's, but as the 60's wore on into the 70's many filmmakers began showing nudity, extremely graphic violence, and even scenes of satanic worship... Sickening! What a shame that this Edgar Allan Poe story was made into an x rated filth indulgence!! If you like Poe, Hawthorne or Vincent Price I recommend that you stick with pre-70's stuff as the 60's revolution culture bred lots of anything goes type stuff at the expense of quality story-telling. If you just want porn & gruesome blood spattering I bet you can find all you want at your local xxx shop.

Well, it isn't that good of a yarn - I just couldn't avoid the pun. In this Vincent Price vehicle (probably one he would loath to admit making) an English village is terrorized by witchcraft, but even more terrorized by the men who vow to rid the land of witches. Vincent Price plays a mad witch-hunter, quick to brand women (quite literally mind you) as witches. When he and his men brutally murder followers of an old witch named Oona (Bergner) she places a hex on Price's house, vowing to kill his bloodline.STORY: $$ (Quite weak. The banshee of the title doesn't play a role. I suppose the howling of a wolf in the background was a simulation for a banshee's scream, but it was a letdown. Also, the characters in this film are hard to like. I guess we're suppose to root for Price's college educated son and his floozy of a daughter, but they weren't very likable characters).VIOLENCE: $$$ (You'll get plenty of tortured women, if that is your thing. One defenseless lass gets burned at the stake for no reason and another witch gets branded with a red hot poker. There is a monster in the film who goes about slashing folks with its claws, adding to the gore and blood departments).ACTING: $$ (Nothing great here. This is Vincent Price at his hammiest. Essy Persson does a good job portraying an unstable woman but Elsabeth Bergner made for a poor leader of witches. The fact that English isn't her first language shows - she seems to struggle through her lines at times).NUDITY: $$$ (The filmmakers seem to use the exposing of a woman's breasts as a metaphor for the exposing of a witch. None of the non witches have nude scenes, but nearly every witch in the film is "exposed" as being a witch).

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.

Those familiar with the concept of banshees would probably agree that "Cry Of The Banshee" is an interesting title for this film. I think the film-makers probably just decided it was just too good a title to pass up. Nonetheless, those looking for a horror tale containing bona fide Celtic mythology should probably look elsewhere. There is horror to be had here however, and the film still does more or less what it promises."Cry Of The Banshee" is set during the height of Middle Ages England, where rampant ignorance and superstition meant anyone could be condemned and burned for alleged witchcraft, and anyone you didn't like could be targeted. However, this being in the horror genre rather than an Arthur Miller play, the local inhabitants' fears are not entirely unjustified. Nonetheless, the greater threat is the Witchfinder General (played by Price) and his family, who abuse their authority and keep the entire local population in their grip. 'Witches' are regularly found, and dispatched in the name of God. The witchfinder gets more than he bargained for however when he annoys a real witch, who decides to take revenge.Vincent Price is an actor you can rely on to take an average film up a notch, and he does so here. His presence, his voice, his face - he doesn't even have to try very hard. Not that the story is especially bad. It's fairly basic but entertaining enough. Even so, the pantomime acting and thinly-drawn characterisation made it hard to take everything seriously. A melodramatic situation shouldn't mean over-the-top theatricality, but that's what the script and the direction unfortunately settle for.Fortunately, the horror elements of the film are not so misplaced. Suspense is built up, the 'banshee' of the title is wisely heard rather than seen until the climax, and the end itself is very satisfying. The mood is bleak, the lighting is low, and the score helps the action along without ever being out of place. Like many Hammer Horrors, there's a lot of nudity. just in case everything else isn't enough to draw you in.Overall, "Cry Of The Banshee" is an enjoyable example of classic horror that fans of the genre should enjoy. It's not brilliant, but it has its moments, and one of the genre's star performers to breathe life into it.