The Price is Right: Cry of the Banshee (1970)

 Sorry to all of you fans of Screaming Irish Ladies- it is just another Witch Hunter Movie.

This is Cry of the Banshee, a 1970 Film by Gordon Hessler.  It's part of a Vincent Price Anthology Set, which is a must have for me.

Like Witchfinder General, this deals with a Witch Hunter, although this one is in England.  Crikey!

The Plot involves Price brutalizing a small Town to his own gain.  However, he runs afoul of an actual Witch who can turn the tables on him.

This was Price's final Gothic Horror, so let's see if he went out with a bang...

Price is the evil Lord Whitman (of Clan Sampler) who makes his money by finding Witches.  This is different than him in Witchfinder General, as he just does so to consolidate and hold power.

He's not a true believer, but he is a bit of a bastard.

The Film is full of him (and most others in the Film) torturing, abusing and often killing women.

Naturally, Tarantino picked this for his first Film Festival.

His Family is all back in town, which spells doom for them.
I mean, you've seen a Horror Film before, right?

Great.

Him and his men break up a Coven and kill many, but leave the Leader- Oona- alive.

This is a mistake.

This leads to the title event happening, which is an Irish lore about said creature signaling imminent death.

The actual creature here is, basically, a Werewolf.  
Does this have anything to do with the mysterious guy with a connection to animals and his mysterious amulet?

All sorts of chaos is going to down in Act 3.

Torture.
Creature attacks.
A man yelling 'bullyman' repeatedly.

It's a doozy, but no SPOILERS this time.

It is unfortunately not his best Films, but it does have some positives.

Price, as always, delivers.  He's an eviler guy than in Witchfinder, as, again, that guy was a true believer.  This guy is just awful to everyone and thankfully gets what he deserves!

The Film, for better or worse, is full of excess.  Lots of pointless nudity, implied torture and violence.  It's not a 'fun' Film by any stretch of the imagination.

I will mention that I saw the Director's Cut, as that is the preset version on the Disc.  For some odd reason, you have to go to Special Features to see the AIP Cut.

People were probably expecting more of a Creature Feature here and something Poe-related.  Alas, you don't get much of either.  They work in a random Poe line (like with General) to connect it and, again, there's no real Banshee.

This is a different kind of Price Film and I certainly don't hate it.  I also don't hate that this Cut has the Intro Credits restored- the ones that were animated by Terry Gilliam!

Next up, I go to one of the oldest DVDs in my pile that I haven't gotten to yet.  It is hard-boiled, full of Stars and probably a 2-parter.  Stay tuned...