Cry of the Banshee (1970)

"Winter's coming in and the wolves coming with it.", 4 February 2005

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.

5/10