Cry of the Banshee

Plot synopsis:
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. It opens, like many Vincent Price movies, with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe—in this case, The Bells.
Lord Edward Whitman (Vincent Price), as magistrate presides over the trial of a young woman. Ruling that she is a witch, he has her branded, whipped through the streets, then placed in the village stocks.
That night, Lord Edward hosts a feast as his henchmen search the countryside for the killers of a sheep. Two poor and ragged-looking teenagers are pulled into the hall. A burst of wolf-like howling from outside the walls warns that they may be "devil-marked" and, in conflict, both teens are killed. As his eldest son Sean (Stephan Chase) seduces or rapes (it is unclear) his father's wife (Lady Patricia) (Essy Persson), Lord Whitman begins mumbling that he wants to "clean up" the witches in the area.
Assisted by his two older sons, Whitman goes hunting in the hills for witches. His armed posse breaks up what is apparently meant to be a witches' Black Sabbath. He kills several of them, and tells the rest to scatter to the hills and never return. This makes the leader of the coven, Oona (Elizabeth Bergner), extremely angry. To get revenge on the Whitman clan Oona calls up a magical servant, a "sidhe", to destroy the lord's family. Unfortunately, the demonic beast takes possession of the friendly, decent young servant, Roderick (Patrick Mower), that free-spirited Maureen Whitman (Hilary Dwyer) has been in love with for years. The servant turned demon begins to systematically kill off members of the Whitman family.
Eventually, Harry (Carl Rigg), Whitman's son from Cambridge, and Father Tom (Marshall Jones) find Oona and her coven conjuring the death of Maureen and kill Oona. At that moment, Roderick, who was attacking Maureen, breaks off and leaves her. He soon returns and attacks Lord Edward. During this attack, Maureen shoots the demon in the head with a blunderbuss, apparently killing him.
Exhilarated that the curse is over, Whitman plans to leave the house with his two remaining children by coach. On the way, he stops at the cemetery, so he can reassure himself Roderick is dead. To his horror, he finds the coffin empty, and hurries back to the coach, only to find both Harry and Maureen dead. It is then revealed that Bully Boy (Andrew McCulloch), the coach's driver, was murdered by Roderick, who is now driving the coach.
The film ends with Whitman screeching his driver's name in terror, as the coach heads for parts unknown.

Tags: revenge, gothic, murder, historical fiction

Review:
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.
'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.
Like many a horror movie knock-off, Cry Of The Banshee is a hopeless mish-mash of inconsistancies; and while Vincent Price has saved many such films by his mere presence alone, he does so here almost grudgingly, as if his heart really isn't in it.
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.
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.
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 film is set in Elizabethan England and revolves around a wicked magistrate who tries to kill all the members of a coven of witches.
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.
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.
Vincent Price has better films where he plays a witch hunter (including "Conqueror Worm") and better films in general.
Sorry.Scream Factory, as always, has released the definitive version of this film on their Vincent Price box set.
Lord Edward Whitman(Vincent Price) is a wicked magistrate who why while not believing in Witchcraft, delights in accusing peasants of the crime.
Such an avenger is the mild mannered stable hand Roderick(Patrick Mower), who was found as a child in the woods and brought up by the Whitmans, around his neck he wears a strange and ancient medallion of unknown origin.Gordon Hessler has a mixed filmography in Horror, this on the face of it, is a production designed to take advantage of Michael Reeves's Witchfinder General, as wonderfully hammy Vincent Price and the beautiful Hilary Heath, both return, as does DP John Coquillon, who adds oodles of atmosphere and energy with his ever moving camera which captures the location work beautifully.
The witches coven send a "Sidhe" an ancient derivative of the banshee in the form of Patrick Mower, (his make up none to convincing) to kill one by one, members of the Whitman family, not all of which are bad, some are very decent people, this effective ploy is also used with the witches, making it hard to take sides or see who the really bad guys are.
The puritanical magistrate Edward Whitman puts the followers of the witch Oona to the death,although he deliberately spares her.She swears vengeance for this and calls up a manifestation of the Banshee in the guise of the young,handsome Roderick.He charms his way into Whitman's family and starts killing them off,as though to all appearances by a horrific demon."Cry of the Banshee" is an underrated AIP effort that features plenty of nasty violence and gratuitous nudity.Director Gordon Hessler manages to create several genuinely spooky moments,so fans of atmospheric British horror won't be disappointed.Once again Vincent Price is amazing as a truly evil Lord Edward Whitman.The film is pretty obscure,but if you get the chance watch it.8 out of 10..
Even Vincent Price...typically a wonderful villain who can make you like him despite his evil ways...is nothing more than an atypical English aristocrat who kills for no reason at all.
I was filled with disappointment after seeing it, because I had liked The Witchfinder General a great deal and love Vincent Price in almost every vehicle he appears.
It isn't on the same level as cult movies like "Witchfinder General" (also starring Vincent Price), but it does have it's moments.
The movie had already been sold to the distributors, which meant that the director, re-writers and so on couldn't change it as much as they would probably have liked to, so they didn't necessary end up making the movie they wanted to make.This accounts for the way that some aspects of the film are so much better than others.
Gordon Hessler's "Cry Of The Banshee" of 1970 is certainly one of the weaker films with the great Vincent Price, but it is still a pretty good horror flick, and certainly way underrated.
I must add, however, that Vincent Price is my favorite actor of all-time and my personal opinion is that you can never go wrong with a film with Price in the lead.Price stars as Lord William Whitman, a sadistic despot in Elizabethean England, who wants to terminate superstitious beliefs by brutally massacring followers of the 'old religion', a bizarre hippie-style witch cult lead by an old woman called Oona (Elisabeth Bergner).
Lord Whitman, who lives in his castle with his kind-hearted daughter Maureen (Hillary Heath) his sadistic son Harry (Carl Rigg), his wife, Lady Patricia (Essy Persson), and Roderick, a young man whom the despotic lord let live with his family since childhood, shows no mercy when it comes to the persecution of the pagans living in the woods, and brutal oppression is the everyday situation in his town, where people are tortured and killed for the simple suspicion of being followers of Oona's cult.Some parts of the movie remind a lot of Michael Reeves' masterpiece "Witchfinder General" of 1968, which also had Price in the lead and which is, of course, incomparably better than "Cry Of The Banshee".
Besides Price, the movie also stars Hillary Heath, who also played the female lead in "Witchfinder General".
Although the violence in this movie is not comparable to the violence in "Witchfinder General", the movie has some pretty brutal moments and some nudity, which gives the film a nice Exploitation feeling."Cry Of The Banshee" is certainly not one of the masterpieces with Vincent Price, but it is certainly not as bad as many seem to regard it.
I personally found it very enjoyable, it definitely has some creepy moments, and I warmly recommend it to fans of Horror flicks and Vincent Price.
Medieval madness over witchcraft is how I would sum up the film.I quite liked Vincent Price in this film, he was evil and nasty as the character is suppose to be.
The viewer really does not see clearly - instead it is left to your imagination as to what The Banshee completely looked like.The story really is a little bit sketchy because it leaves you with a few questions unanswered but that is what keeps you pondering the film.
Title: Cry of the Banshee (1970) Director: Gordon Hessler Cast: Vincent Price Review: I'm trying to work my way through Vincent Prices body of work and I've seen some pretty impressive stuff like for example the really excellent Roger Corman directed The Fall of the House of Usher.
Of course he eventually stumbles upon a real coven of witches and when he decides to kill one of them, well, then their leader, a witch called Oona decides to take matters into her own hands and calls upon the spirit of the Banshee to execute revenge upon the house of Whitman.After watching this film the first thing that came to mind was how similar it was in story to Tim Burtons Sleepy Hollow.
In Burtons film the spirit of the headless horseman is used by an evil witch who has sold hel soul to Satan, to execute revenge and little by little kill off all the members of a rich elite family.
I've seen Price do evil before, and even when he is evil he is often times likable...but this is not the case.The Banshee itself, the titular creature, was left out from most of the film.
By the way, I keep hearing Vincent Prices film The Conqueror Worm (aka Witchunter General) as a far superior "hunt down the witches and burn em" flick.
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.
Lord Edward Whitman (Vincent Price) is a harsh magistrate punishing any and all people who come under scrutiny for being witches.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I generally like period horrors, and Vincent Price is one of my all-time favourite actors.
In a very Matthew Hopkins-like role, Cry of the Banshee doesn't see Vincent Price at his very finest, but even when he is not at his best you-considering his calibre- are guaranteed an at least memorable performance, and with much of what made him so good an actor you get that with Price.
While i'm interested in seeing every horror movie vincent price has ever made,i happened to search for other American movies featuring actress Essy persson(which i liked in the foreign science fiction film MISSION STARDUST)and that's how i discovered this film.It does have a similar subject as Vincent price's other witches hunter film WITCHFINDER GENERAL but as unsatisfying as that one was,CRY OF THE BANSHEE is even worst.The violence(consisting of people getting blooded by a mostly unseen beast)is dull and repulsive and the nudity (Essy doesn't get naked in anyway in this film)isn't that great either.Most of the personnalities are unsympathetic and some of the dialogue is terrible.If this wasn't a presold product,it's doubtful that it would even have had a theater run.They say making movies is hard but when you look at the final result of this film,you can easily think that anybody could have made a film like this..
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.
WARNING TO PARENTS: Unlike almost all of Vincent Price's other horror films, this one has significant amounts of sex and nudity--some of which is rather violent and non-consensual.
Price is lord of a manor and takes great delight in killing, torturing and raping accused witches.
So, it's up to the surviving witches to come to the rescue and purge this town of this ruling family.Despite Price's character being 100% scum, there is a big plot hole in the film.
So it's certainly no surprise to anyone but Price when Oona releases the powers of Satan on him and his wicked family.As you can tell by my description so far, this is not typical of Vincent Price's other horror films.
I certainly can't recommend it and hope never to see this film again--even thought I really do like Price's horror films.By the way, in a funny mistake in the film, watch the scene where an accused witch is being roasted over a fire.
This film has a rather maligned reputation  generated, in part, by unfair comparison with that other famous Vincent Price period horror opus, WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968)  but I found it to be surprisingly enjoyable and impressive in its own right.
Thematically, the film is quite complex (much as I admire WITCHFINDER GENERAL, I must say that the characters' feelings and motivations were a bit too cut-and-dried there; we all knew straight ahead who was on the side of good and who wasn't  though the ultra-bleak ending was certainly a brilliant touch!).
The film also has typically wonderful camera-work (once again by John Coquillon  who shot WITCHFINDER GENERAL, by the way!) and a delightfully bizarre animated title sequence, as only Terry Gilliam (a most surprising choice, I must say) can come up with!For its time, there is a great deal of violence and nudity on display but one never quite gets the feeling that it's done in an entirely exploitative way.
If anything, it's a relatively realistic depiction of the times in which the Church ruled its bewildered (and mostly uneducated) patrons with an iron fist and a distinct lack of Christian charity.If there is a failing in the film, unfortunately, it is presence of the Banshee itself  or Sidhe, as it's called here  which almost feels like an afterthought: its brief, shadowy appearances and underwhelming make-up (though the climactic struggle with Price is quite good), obviously the fruit of a limited budget.Actually, this was the only one of the four Hessler titles on DVD that I had previously watched and, though this was a very long time ago (when I was just a kid), I was quite surprised by how much of it I could still remember after all these years!.
One of three films Vincent Price made in England with the same director-writer team (along with "The Oblong Box" and "Scream and Scream Again").
In one of those, "Witchfinder General" aka "The Conqueror Worm" (Tigon-AIP, 1968), Price gave one of his best performances as a cruel, corrupt witch hunter.
Vincent Price leads a cast of unknown actors with some talent but no motivation and very poor directing (at least the cinematography is pretty good).
The plot concerns a hunt for a known witch named Oona, who has put a death curse on Vincent Price's family, enlisting the help of a "Banshee" to do the killing (it ain't Rick Baker's work, believe me).
The wicked and powerful magistrate Lord Edward Whitman (Vincent Price) is a witch hunter with his cruel sons Sean (Stephan Chase), Burke (Michael Elphick) and Bully Boy (Andrew McCulloch) in a small village in England.
Will Roderick be capable to harm his foster family?"Cry of the Banshees" is a cruel horror movie one of the best performances of Vincent Price in the role of a cruel magistrate.
We're back in familiar WITCHFINDER GENERAL territory as Vincent Price sends all manner of innocent young girls to be burned and tortured in this enjoyable period potboiler.
Price's Lord Edward Whitman is a character without any likable qualities.I don't think the story (very similar to The Conqueror Worm) was very original for its time.
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...
The title is probably the most interesting thing about this competent but totally undistinguished horror flick, in which Vincent Price returns to Witchfinder General (aka Conqueror Worm) territory.
The banshee manifests itself in the guise of a handsome young man named Roderick (Patrick Mower), who manoeuvres his way into the Whitman household and makes them pay with their lives for the terror they have brought upon so many innocent people.The film opens with a surprisingly imaginative titles sequence which is the work of Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam.
Cry Of The Banshee is hardly the stuff of classic horror  there are better horror movies, there are better Vincent Price movies, and there are better movies about witch-hunting  but on the whole it is passable fare.
Vincent Price is as evil as his WITCHFINDER GENERAL character here and does a great job.