CRY OF THE BANSHEE (1970)
Starring Vincent Price and Maureen Whitman
As a kind of follow up to the successful "Conqueror Worm," Price plays yet another witch-hunter in this film set in old England. This time, he's also the town's Lord and is even more sadistic and corrupt than the character he played in "Worm."
His character is kind of an amalgamation of the one he played in that film and the evil prince he played in "Masque of the Red Death." But, unlike "Worm," he's back to hamming it up, going overboard on the sadism and, later, despair, as a witch's curse starts killing off members of his family.
Hessler also directed the superior "Scream and Scream Again." For this critically panned movie, Hessler really ups the nudity quotient, so much so that it's a surprise to see Price in such a sex-laden picture. It seems like just about every female character in the film has a nude scene. Like "Scream and Scream Again," "Banshee" doesn't have a very strong plot. Unfortunately, it doesn't have that films swingin' '70s sensibilities and rock/jazz score to propel it to a high level. Price also isn't in the movie much, leaving most of the action to his sons in the movie.
But it is an entertaining film. Particularly fun were the witches, who dress and behave like real witches (i.e., practioners of wicca) do. Their ceremonies seem fairly authentic, pretty unusual for a horror flick. The story: After pissing off the town's lead witch, one of the orderlies of Price's household is turned into a beast that attacks and kills members of his family. At first, they think the beast is a mad dog, only to learn later it's a guy living under their own roof. To make matters worse, he's also shagging Price's wife in the film.
Despite all the naysayers who compare it to "Conqueror Worm," "Banshee" is a fun little '70s British horror film and a must for horror fans who love that period. Monty Python addicts should also check it out. Terry Gilliam designed the very Python-esque, animated opening credits.