Scream of the Banshee

For a SyFy movie, then I think that "Scream of the Banshee" was well over the average movies that they produce. This movie was actually well worth watching.

The story, albeit a bit weirdly and hastily tossed together, worked well enough despite it all. There were some really questionable things in the story, such as the coincidence that the ancient map was a map of their basement, and also the reason for Broderick Duncan's dismissal from the school. Just seemed like they needed a quick way to tie the ends together in the movie, and this seemed like the most plausible and best way to do it (insert buzzer sound here)! Despite the flaws in the storyline and events, the story was driven by a constant flow, and you want to see what happens next. So they did manage to do something right with the story after all.

I liked the concept of the banshee, though I had a somewhat other impression of a banshee than what was portrayed here. Yeah, I am damaged from years and years of playing Dungeons & Dragons. I got my banshee knowledge from here. I am not overly familiar with old Irish legends and lore, so I didn't really have much information (aside from the RPG stuff) about the banshee. But still, the end result in the movie turned out to be quite nice.

The cast in "Scream of the Banshee" was actually quite nice, although they did use Lance Henriksen to draw in the viewers, and he didn't have that big a part in the movie. But hey... The movie was in great parts carried by Todd Haberkorn (playing Otto) and also by Lance Henriksen (playing Broderick Duncan). This is not to say that the others in the movie were bad, just that these two were the ones pulling the heaviest load.

Moving on to the creature in the movie; the banshee. They actually managed to portray a really good image of such a creature - if one does believe in them! I especially liked the head in the box, that one looked awesome. There were times when the banshee had materialized that it looked really good as well, but there were also times where it was bordering on being painful to watch. And I am not sure how I feel about the last stage of the banshee, where it had no eyes. That was a bit too "alien" for this type of movie.

Don't be too hasty to write "Scream of the Banshee" off just because it is a SyFy production. It was well worth my time to sit down and watch it, and I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire movie. Just take heed that even though the movie is labeled as a horror movie, don't expect to get overly scared out of your seat.

Come on now, let me hear you scream...

I almost rated this lower because Afterdark should know better - films like "Crazy Eights" were inexcusable in their second year, and in their fifth, here's another film entirely as cliché and uninspired as any of those big-budget "horror" films regurgitated into cinemas in the last few years.

Actually, whereas many "Ring" clones feature mysterious deaths before the protagonist starts investigating, this time the characters are investigating weird happenings before they know anyone's dead.

And also the film focuses on several characters, not just the protagonist and love interest, the main threat is represented with practical effects rather than CGI, thankfully, and, um... oh, they're investigating exactly where the banshee came from instead of trying to determine why this creature exists, and...

Actually, that's probably every difference between this and your average "Ring" clone. Not that bad, albeit definitely not scary and very disappointing for a film that's supposedly horror festival material.

The cast and concept seemed interesting, but I was dubious seeing that it was low budget and that it was SyFy. As far as SyFy movies go, it is far from their worst, but it is not one of their better ones either. The cast aren't terrible, but the only ones really to come above their material are Lucy Hale and Todd Haberkorn. Marcelle Baer is not bad either, but her character is written poorly, while the casting of Lance Henriksson promised much but mainly because he is only on screen for ten or so minutes his efforts seemed wasted. The banshee was rather fake sadly, though the scream was terrifying, and the choppy editing and artificial-looking effects don't help. Neither do the hackneyed scripting, the dull, predictable and ridiculous story, the lack of any real terror or suspense or the annoying stereotypes for characters. Overall, not a complete waste of time but still pretty lame. 3/10 Bethany Cox

In 1188 A.D., in Limerick City, Ireland, Templar Knights chase a creature through the woods and trap her head in a box.

In the present days Professor Isla Whelan (Lauren Holly) and her two assistants are researching and labeling historical artifacts in the basement of the university where she works and they find an Irish glove and map with the name Duncan. Isla's estranged daughter Shayla Whelan (Marcelle Baer) finds a hidden space behind a wall with a box with the severed head, but they believe that it belongs to deformed person or an animal. Out of the blue, the head screams and they all bleed through the ears. They learn soon that the head is from a Banshee and in accordance with the mythology they are doomed to die. Their only hope is to find the lunatic and discredited Professor Broderick Duncan (Lance Henriksen), whose expertise is in the feminine spirit in Irish mythology.

"Scream of the Banshee" is an awful and boring, but never scary, SyFy horror movie. The messy screenplay is lame, with poor characters development and explanation of the Banshee mythology. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Gritos do Além" ("Screams from Beyond")

Judging from the lack of information available about "Scream of the Banshee" (like budget and such) I expected a B-C class film (regardless to the IMDb rating and complaints by the spoiled snobs who like to whine online). I got exactly what I expected, but nothing less.

First of all, being a Horror fan, I always like seeing such combinations of sub-genres, in this case the supernatural Ghost Story and Monsters sub genres. Second, as a fan of D&D and fantasy RPGs, I was very happy to find a film about a Banshee!

The screenplay is pretty good, with a worthy enough story - but the script is sometimes amateur to the point of being painful to listen to. The acting is mostly good, except for Lauren Holly who simply lacks the charisma necessary for her character. The effects were mostly good considering the estimated budget (though the Banshee's face was very clearly a mask, and the giant hand coming out of the screen was almost a cartoon).

All in all, if you start watching this and expect a masterpiece, you'll be disappointed, and it will be your own fault. However, if you choose not to be too uppity and try this film expecting a low budget Monster flick - you'll have a pretty good time and enjoy a few well made scares, just as I did.