Vincent Price stars in this British horror film as Lord Edward Whitman, a witchfinder. A local witch places a curse on Whitman for his brutal witch-finding ways. This involves taking possession of Roderick, a loyal servant of Whitman. Roderick starts to bump off all of the Whitman clan one by one.

The first notable aspect of this movie is the amazing credit sequence. ‘This is VERY Monty Python!’ I thought as I watched it to then discover that the titles were designed by none other than Terry Gilliam hence the Python look and feel.

The version of the film I watched was the uncut version which is the version to try and seek out. The film was stripped of its amazing credit sequence and many of the more brutal scenes and nudity for its original UK cinema release and when the film was shown in America. In its uncut form, it’s almost like a companion piece for the equally brutal Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm in the US). The film was later released uncut on subsequent DVD releases.

Cry of the Banshee is a great film. Price is in fine form, all sadism and camp eyebrow lifts. In other words, vintage Price. The film also looks fantastic with sumptuous set pieces and gorgeous cinematography. I love the fact that Price wanted each of the horror films that he starred in to be more extreme and scary than the last. Cry of the Banshee succeeds with his wish.

4 out of 5 stars