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." The lord decides to kill them in spite of the risk. As his shifty eldest son Sean (Stephan Chase) sleeps with his father's pretty young 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.
Eventually, Harry (Carl Rigg), Whitman's son from Cambridge, and Father Tom (Marshall Jones) find Oona and her coven conjuring the death of Maureen and kill Oona. At that moment, Roderick, who was attacking Maureen, breaks off and leaves her. He soon returns and attacks Lord Edward. During this attack, Maureen shoots the demon in the head with a blunderbuss, apparently killing him.
Exhilarated that the curse is over, Whitman plans to leave the house with his two remaining children by coach. On the way, he stops at the cemetery, so he can reassure himself Roderick is dead. To his horror, he finds the coffin empty, and hurries back to the coach, only to find both Harry and Maureen dead. It is then revealed that Bully Boy (Andrew McCulloch), the coach's driver, was murdered by Roderick, who is now driving the coach.
The film ends with Whitman screeching his driver's name in terror, as the coach heads for parts unknown.
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