Tired of fighting against a coven, an aristocratic lord humiliates the leader of a revered witch and sends them out on a mission of vengeance against him and his kingdom to settle the score once and for all.Frankly, this one was overall quite decent and enjoyable but certainly has a few minor flaws as well. Among the better aspects here, the best is undoubtedly the fact that this one certainly manages to really explore the idiotic nature of misunderstanding witchcraft among those who supposedly hunt them down for a living, here basically making them the living embodiment of taking every single notion of their livelihood as meaning their indulgence in witchcraft and the need for punishment. The harassment of local weapon for wearing supposed jewels and charms of local witch clans, any sort of odd behavior or going against even the most foolhardy of orders makes for a rather intriguing following to the authority here wherein you want to see them fail as befits their stupidity against the innocents among them, and that indeed sets up the film's two big marks in its torture scenes and the final comeuppance. The torture here is kept within realistic realms, mainly public humiliation and spectacle around whipping or branding with scalding irons, and a later scene of gaining a confession by tying one up to wooden posts and setting it on fire makes for a wholly enjoyable piece, while the revenge tactics of the final half are just plain enjoyable. The animal attacks in the forest, turning the wife on him with her behavior at the dinner reception and finally the ending here is all part of the total package of revenge and it really seems to be worthwhile and truly earned which is always a plus. On the negative side, the fact that this one tends to really ham-fist itself here when it comes to the exploitative side of things despite that indeed being part of the film's aim as if wallowing in those areas are beneath it. The violence and gory kills are nearly nonexistent as are the tortures here by keeping it in the mostly realistic realm and there's barely any nudity despite several scenes of the hunters lecherously ripping their shirts and blouses open to torment them as this shifts the camera around to avoid that altogether which really questions why it would've been included anyway. As well, there's not a whole lot of action out witch-hunting since this instead focuses on them talking about the coven and they danger to him they posses rather than explicitly show it, so it suffers from that small factor as well though on the whole this one is quite good.Rated R: Violence, Language, Nudity and themes of incestuality.

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"). AIP was coming to the end of a long string of horror films loosely adapted from Edgar Allen Poe -- as well as several co-productions with Hammer and Tigon. 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. In "Cry of the Banshee" he plays a nearly identical role and is also quite good. The story has similar elements as well, but manages to establish its own identity. It seems obvious AIP was trying to repeat the basic formula of "Witchfinder General." However, this production lacks its thoughtful direction, atmosphere, and feeling for historical accuracy. This is just a standard horror yarn, but Price's restrained, non-hammy performance comes close to making up for deficiencies in script and direction. An interesting side note: Monty Python fans should recognize Terry Gilliam's distinctive animation style used during the opening credits. Set in Elizabethan England, Lord Charles Whitman (Price) is a wicked, slightly decadent magistrate bent on wiping out every trace of witchcraft and paganism in his district. The story opens with him charging a woman with being a heretic. She is branded on the chest, flogged through the streets (an excuse for some topless exposure), and locked in the stocks. His zeal is driven not by religious fanaticism (as in "Witchfinder General") but a need to protect his power and authority. Trouble begins during a raid on a coven of witches holding a ritual ceremony. After several cult members are killed, the leader, an old crone named Oona, puts a curse on Whitman. Later, she calls upon a demonic spirit, a banshee, to destroy him and his family. (In mythology, a banshee is a fairy woman who wails when someone is about to die, but accuracy is usually ignored in horror movies of this ilk.)Here is where things go a bit off. The titular banshee starts killing members of Whitman's family. But the creature is really more of a wolf man (barely seen in a series of dark, shadowy encounters). They might as well have called this "Cry of the Wolf Man" for all that. Adding to the strangeness is the inclusion of voodoo type magic ceremonies where dolls representing the victims are stuck with pins. Was that really necessary?To its credit, the film does not have that cheap assembly-line look often associated with AIP product. Costumes, sets, location filming, and overall production is fairly plush looking. This seems like a deliberate move to compete with the high-quality British horror films from Hammer, Tigon, and Amicus. Had Roger Corman been given the same budget he would have cranked out three quickie films back-to-back with money left over. AIP also exploited its R-rating by including frequent scenes of semi-clad tavern wenches and witches being manhandled and mistreated.The film has a fairly satisfying ending. But one wishes Price's character had been given more depth, and more of an edge. Too much attention is given to a large cast of pedestrian supporting characters -- a curious practice that has bogged down countless Hammer films.

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". Price is excellent as always, and Heath also delivers a good performance as his daughter. The rest of the acting differs, some performances are better, some worse, but they're certainly not terrible. The movie certainly has a few pretty cheesy moments, but it has at least as many creepy ones. 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. 7/10

By no stretch of the imagination is this even close to Price's best film. In most of his films, Price can play the most evil, vile, hideous person alive, yet you can still find qualities to like because of his charismatic, sympathetic nature. This is not the case in Cry of the Banshee. 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. There are far better "burn the witch" movies that preceded Cry of the Banshee. Price again plays a witch finder. But, he messes with the wrong witch and she places a curse on his family. One by one, family members die at the hands of the witch's Banshee.Two things I liked were the ending and the Banshee make-up. The end of the film had some mild surprises that I enjoyed. And the Banshee makeup was good, IMO, because it wasn't over-done. The minimalistic approach to the make-up worked for me.