Movie: Cry of the Banshee (1970)
Directed by Gordon Hessler
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL
Plot:
A sadistic magistrate in Elizabethan England wages war with a pagan. But the pagan has a few tricks up her coffin. Hilarity ensues
Reaction:
I was kind of expecting this to be little else than a rehash of Witchfinder General (AKA The Conqueror Worm), which we saw in this class a few years ago, and which also starred Vincent Price. And as it began, with Lord Whitman (portrayed by Price) sentencing an accused witch to some torturous punishment, I was kind of settling in with low expectations. So from that perspective I was pleasantly surprised. A lot of the subject matter is the same as in that 1968 film, and the two are definitely of a kind. But the stories are actually quite different.
But the fact is Cry of the Banshee doesn;t seem to be quite sure what it is, and it therefore covers a lot of ground -- too much for its own good. There's the witchcraft angle which is kind of blended together with a story about pagans (who, inexplicably, practice what seems to be voodoo). And it muddles its way into a bit of werewolf plot. Or was that vampire? It's all so hazy. And we finally end up with (appropriately enough for Holy Week) a resurrection of the dead.
Actually, that resurrection was the best part of the movie, and brought it up a point in my estimation. But it couldn't save what was basically a messy assemblage of varied themes.
Ratings:
Me: 7
Dave: 9.7
Ethan: 9
Joe: 9.9
Joe: 9.9
Sean: 2 out of 4
Former Boss' Reaction:
To let y'all know, someone who used to be my boss says he will not watch movies made before 1980 -- except for Star Wars. I try to touch base with him about the movies we saw in class, and ask if he'd be interested in seeing them.
My former boss asked me what the imdb rating for this movie was. When I told him that it got a 5.6, he said he'd pass. His officemate said "If I were a clever movie critic giving a bad review I would say the only ones crying were the patrons in the theater."
Former Boss' Reaction:
To let y'all know, someone who used to be my boss says he will not watch movies made before 1980 -- except for Star Wars. I try to touch base with him about the movies we saw in class, and ask if he'd be interested in seeing them.
My former boss asked me what the imdb rating for this movie was. When I told him that it got a 5.6, he said he'd pass. His officemate said "If I were a clever movie critic giving a bad review I would say the only ones crying were the patrons in the theater."
Let's assume "Your Former Boss" will simply pass on 99 out of 100 films made before 1980. Maybe even more than that! That's just not news!
ReplyDeleteWhen the particular film comes up that he DOES show interest in, just report on that... and the presumably unique reason why! That WOULD be news!
And, if all "The Officemate" can do is offer a snarky comment about a film he's never seen - and, therefore, could not possibly judge in any way - you can dispense with his comments as well... until he has something more meaningful to offer.
This film got a 9.9, a 9.7, and a 9.0 from THREE of our group of five!
That's why I don't even listen to critics who HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN THE FILM, much less those would-be critics who haven't!
That "TEST" you used to run in your "Cinema History Class" posts (You KNOW the one, though I won't mention it by name!) was far more interesting to read about than these predictable reactions!