Cry of the Banshee

Cry of the Banshee
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Gordon Hessler
Produced by	Louis M. Heyward Executive Samuel Z. Arkoff James H. Nicholson Gordon Hessler
Written by	Tim Kelly Christopher Wicking (screenplay)
Based on	story by Tim Kelly
Starring	Vincent Price Elizabeth Bergner Essy Persson Hugh Griffith Patrick Mower Hilary Dwyer Sally Geeson
Music by	Les Baxter (U.S theatrical version) Wilfred Josephs (uncut version)
Cinematography	John Coquillon
Edited by	Oswald Hafenrichter
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date	Jul 29, 1970 (U.S. release)
Running time	91 min.
Language	English
Budget	$450,000-$500,000 (est.)
Box office	$1,306,000 (US/ Canada rentals)

Cry of the Banshee is a 1970 horror film directed by Gordon Hessler, starring Vincent Price as an evil witchhunter. The film was released by American International Pictures. The film costars Elizabeth Bergner, Hilary Dwyer, and Hugh Griffith.

The title credit sequence was animated by Terry Gilliam.

The film is set in Elizabethan England and revolves around a wicked magistrate who tries to kill all the members of a coven of witches. It opens, like many Vincent Price movies, with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe—in this case, The Bells.

Lord Edward Whitman (Vincent Price), as magistrate presides over the trial of a young woman. Ruling that she is a witch, he has her branded, whipped through the streets, then placed in the village stocks.

That night, Lord Edward hosts a feast as his henchmen search the countryside for the killers of a sheep. Two poor and ragged-looking teenagers are pulled into the hall. A burst of wolf-like howling from outside the walls warns that they may be "devil-marked" and, in conflict, both teens are killed. As his eldest son Sean (Stephan Chase) seduces or rapes (it is unclear) his father's wife (Lady Patricia) (Essy Persson), Lord Whitman begins mumbling that he wants to "clean up" the witches in the area.

Assisted by his two older sons, Whitman goes hunting in the hills for witches. His armed posse breaks up what is apparently meant to be a witches' Black Sabbath. He kills several of them, and tells the rest to scatter to the hills and never return. This makes the leader of the coven, Oona (Elizabeth Bergner), extremely angry. To get revenge on the Whitman clan Oona calls up a magical servant, a "sidhe", to destroy the lord's family. Unfortunately, the demonic beast takes possession of the friendly, decent young servant, Roderick (Patrick Mower), that free-spirited Maureen Whitman (Hilary Dwyer) has been in love with for years. The servant turned demon begins to systematically kill off members of the Whitman family.