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Reviewed by Kevin Scott

MoreHorror.com

Banshee Chapter (2013)

Written by: Blair Erickson, Daniel J. Healy

Directed by: Bair Erickson

Cast: Katia Winter (Ann Roland), Ted Levine (Thomas Blackburn), Michael McMillian (James Hirsch), Jenny Gabrielle (Callie), Vivian Nesbitt (Olivia Kmiec)

“Banshee Chapter” exemplifies the phrase “Still Waters Run Deep”. The poster art lends to either some “Hellraiser” action with some skinned twisted Epicureans or it’s some sort of anatomical horror indie flick. I dunno. After writing a good many reviews by now, I always notice patterns about the things that I mention repeatedly. I realized that I’m a sucker for good poster art. That all too critical first impression that hooks you. “Banshee Chapter” ended up being nothing of what I thought it would be.

The opener shows a montage of legit footage about government mind control experiments. One in particular has been dubbed “Project MKUltra”. What singles this...

Just as non-existent video store shelves are overflowing with found-footage horror films, the internet is bursting at the seams with people bitching about them. It’s well deserved as the vast majority of movies utilizing that format are criminally terrible, but they’re cheap to produce, capable of turning our the occasional winner, and aren’t going away anytime soon. Faux-documentary horror movies aren’t nearly as ubiquitous, but the best ones manage to cherry pick elements from the format above while avoiding many of the pitfalls. Banshee Chapter is both found-footage and faux-documentary, and yet it’s also neither. The U.S. government has admitted to various highly unethical tests and experiments performed on unwitting civilians in the early ’60s, and while official apologies have come and gone the details of the incidents have never been fully known. Until now, apparently. Anne Roland (Katia Winter) is a working journalist who begins an investigation when an old...

I'm instantly wary of any movie that proclaims its truthfulness right at the top. Why can't I watch it and then decide for myself? Yet Banshee Chapter cleverly steps around the traps it sets for itself with an opening montage of news footage, both subverting and endorsing its premise. In 1963, the film explains, the U.S. government began using experimental drugs on unwitting citizens with the goal of inducing mind control. The archival footage integrates easily into newly-shot footage with a similar aesthetic, as James Hirsch (Michael McMillian) documents his experiment with, supposedly, the same chemicals. Very shortly, strange, static-filled sounds are heard in another room, and then more strange things happen. And James is never seen again. Anne Roland (Katia Winter) then steps into...

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From the press release:

Are you ready for a spine-chilling global avalanche of Indian zombies, Israeli oldboys, vengeance-crazed Vikings, Swedish mesmerists, Irish telekinesis, Argentine undead, Aussie bone-crushers, murderous Mormons and Chilean assassins?

Film4 FrightFest 2013, returning for its 4teenth year, has unveiled its biggest line-up in history. From Thurs 22 August to Monday 26 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will be at the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square to present 51 films on three screens. Empire 1 will house the main event while the Discovery strands will play in Empires 2 & 4. The new FrightFest Xtra strand, also in Screen 2, will allow fans to catch up with sold-out performances of the most popular attractions.

This year there are eleven countries representing five continents with a record-breaking thirty-three UK or European premieres and ten world premieres.

The world premieres include our opening night attraction The Dead 2: India from the Ford Brothers,...