Review of Cry of the Banshee (1970) by Tim S — 28 Mar 2012
Although this movie is probably considered the retarded cousin of the other Vincent Price witch trial movie The Witchfinder General, it's not too horrible. Well, it kind of is and it isn't. I don't know how accurate Cry of the Banshee is to any of Edgar Allen Poe's work, if at all, but it's not completely terrible.
It does have Vincent Price being a completely evil bastard, which he was very good at portraying, a young & pretty Hilary Dwyer, and even a young Stephen Rea. It tries to be both a slasher movie and a revenge movie all in one go, which doesn't really meld that well.
It's sort of boring for the most part because Lord Whitman, his sons and his colleagues are such a terrible people that you just don't care. The revenge part could work, but by the time the murders start taking place, the characters do a 180 and I felt poised to sympathize with them.
In other words, it's a train wreck, but it's an interesting train wreck (I'll give it that). So all in all, it's not a very good film but it's a good example of what not to do with these particular kinds of story mechanics.
This review of Cry of the Banshee (1970) was written by Tim S on 28 Mar 2012.
Cry of the Banshee has generally received mixed reviews.
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