Apr 3, 2021
Cry of the Banshee (1970)
"My children... All my children... Why? Why? You'd better kill me too, Edward Whitman, than let me live with this memory!"
"If your sorcery was so strong, Oona, why didn't you use it to save your children, as you call them, eh?"
#Cry of the Banshee#1970#british cinema#horror film#vincent price#gordon hessler#Tim Kelly#Essy Persson#Hilary dwyer#Carl Rigg#Stephan Chase#Marshall Jones#Andrew McCulloch#Michael Elphick#Pamela Moiseiwitsch#Elisabeth Bergner#Patrick Mower#Victoria Fairbrother#Hugh Griffith#Sally Geeson#Date night movie#An interesting but flawed film. Feels like it's experimenting in several ways; it's caught between being a throw back to the Corman Poe#Cycle (thus the quote at the beginning and the title and Vincent) but its harder edge and grimmer tone are more in line with the work VP#Had done since coming to England and specifically Witchfinder General. Price himself seems to be going through the motions in some scenes#But elsewhere he's full of beans and giving it his all; he's also back with the late great Hilary Dwyer. Another veteran of Witchfinder and#A recurring costar for VP; but in other ways this is making strange choices and going in unexpected directions. There's a darkness of tone#And a pervading sense of immorality as pretty much every character is corrupted in some way and there really isn't anyone much to root for#The ending feels very modern in execution and tone but this is a bleak and gloomy ride that is spiritually miles away from the colourful#Gothic horror of the Corman Poe cycle. The cast is a lot of fun (I've never seen Michael Elphick look so... Attractive) and the titles (by#An obscure animator called Terry Gilliam....) are beautiful. Plus that poster slaps. Inconsistent and frustrating but always interesting