Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

People are voting emotionally.

Let's be realistic.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is a nasty bit of business made by AIP during that dreary period where the colorful, fun horror movies of the '60s were giving way to the darker, grittier movies of the '70s. It stars Vincent Price, easily the biggest name in horror in the '60s. Despite the title, there's no banshees in this movie. It's about an evil magistrate (Price) who abuses and kills people in his village in the name of witch hunting. Similar at this point to another (better) Price vehicle from around this time called The Conqueror Worm. But the similarities end there as the main plot is about some witches summoning a demon or something to seek revenge on Price and his wicked children. No banshees to be found. Lots of sexual stuff, though, and not all of it consensual. There's even a song about rape in the movie. So...yeah...more banshees and less rape, please. This is an ugly, cheap, and unpleasant exploitation movie. It's not fun enough to be entertaining and, as for horror, it couldn't scare a five year-old. One interesting little bit of trivia is that Terry Gilliam did the opening credits. They're done in that same style Monty Python was famous for.

This was the third collaboration (in barely two years time) between director Gordon Hessler, scriptwriter Christopher Wicking and horror veteran Vincent Price, after the wondrously atmospheric Victorian tale "The Oblong Box" and the uniquely bizarre "Scream and Scream Again". "Cry of the Banshee" certainly isn't a bad effort; I for one found it very much amusing at least, but due to its lead actor, periodic setting and subject matter, it will always and automatically get compared with "The Witchfinder General" and come out as the weakest one. This isn't even so much of a disgrace, as that other Vincent Price classic which was released two years prior, is simply a bona fide masterpiece. Perhaps I'm very much biased, because I'm a) a downright fanatic Vincent Price worshiper and b) obsessed with purchasing horror movies that deal with witchery and satanic cults, and therefore I don't think "Cry of the Banshee" deserves all the harsh & negative reviews around here. Honesty does require me to admit that the film contain a couple of severe flaws, however, most notably the underdevelopment of the main characters and the overly exploitative nature. You can somewhat expect a bit of gratuitous nudity and perversion in a movie about burning witches and corrupt magistrates, but the sequences in "Cry of the Banshee" – especially those during the first fifteen minutes – are quite degrading and misogynist. Price usually didn't star in that type of cinema. At certain moments it's actually noticeable that he doesn't agree with the raw undertones of his dialogs and he tries hard to give his character of sadist magistrate Edward Whitman more depth and background. He's the patriarch of a rich and spoiled family, and abuses his magistrate position to randomly accuse innocent women of witchcraft and subsequently submits them to public humiliation and torture. When he orders to slaughter half a coven of actual Satan worshipers, the lead witch Oona puts a curse on him and his family. Her vengeance is extracted through an acquaintance of the family, the eccentric stranger Roderick who communicates with animals, as he mutates into a banshee overnight. There are really a lot of sub plots with terrific potential, but sadly they're not elaborated. There are a lot of intrigues within the Whitman family, like the oldest son who distanced himself from his father and Edward's third wife feels more affection for Roderick than for her barbaric husband. Personally, I also would have preferred a little more info regarding the banshee itself. It's a fascinating creature, with nicely grim make-up effects and aggressive personality, but we don't know too much about its mythical background. The finale is brilliant, though, and there are several moments of sheer suspense and grisly medieval ambiance.

The Monty Python-esgue opening credit sequence somehow doesn't fit with this tale about the decidedly NOT benevolent Lord Whitman (the late great Vincent Price), his quest to kill all those who practice witchcraft at the shock and horror of his wife, and the cursed fate that one of the surviving witches put upon him and his family.While certainly not Price's best work, it still remains very watchable. The film kinda lulls in the middle, but it starts to pick up again towards the end. I found the film to be very atmospheric and had good acting by all involved.My Grade: C+ Eye Candy: Sally Geeson, Jane Deady, Quinn O'Hara, and Essy Persson get topless

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.