Scream of the Banshee is Unexpectedly NOT a CGI-Fest
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Scream of the Banshee, a ‘Syfy Channel Original’, does not have mutated computer animals or natural disasters, but sets itself apart with practical effects.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
August 3, 2011
Movie Trailer
Image Gallery
Release: 2011
Directed by: Steven C. Miller
Written by: Anthony C. Ferrante (writer and story) and Jacob Hair (story)
Starring:
Lauren Holly as Prof. Whelan
Lance Henriksen as Broderick Duncan
Todd Haberkorn as Otto
Leanne Cochran as Janie
Marcelle Baer as Shayla Whelan
Prof. Whelan (Lauren Holly), is cataloguing artifacts for an exhibition alongside her assistants Otto (Todd Haberkorn) and Janie (Leanne Cochran). One day, Whelan receives a mysterious package that contains a twelfth-century Irish gauntlet used by the Knights Templar. Alongside the gauntlet is a map, which leads the group to a hidden room in their storage warehouse. Inside is a crate containing a strange metal box bearing Templar symbols. Upon closer examination, the group determines that the box can be unlocked by using the gauntlet as a key, revealing the severed, decayed head of a monstrous creature. While Whelan leaves to take a phone call, the head suddenly opens its mouth in an ear-splitting scream and vanishes completely. Now everyone who heard the scream is having visions and hallucinations of the creature, some fatal. The only clues regarding the monster, a banshee, come from videos made by a disgraced professor, Broderick Duncan (Lance Henriksen). Can Prof. Whelan defeat the banshee before it claims them all as its victims?
Scream of the Banshee is
not only
another in the new line
of independent horror films produced by After Dark films, “After Dark
Originals”. It is also the 200th Syfy Channel Original Movie. However,
surprisingly, this film departs from some of what’s become expected of
the films that preceded it.
First, Scream of the Banshee has a surprisingly high blood and gore quotient for a TV movie. That’s not to say it’s a bloodbath, but there’s definitely some of the red stuff flung around whether it be people losing their eyes, getting stabbed through the chest, or having buckets of blood dumped onto their faces. Second is that the “banshee” itself is actually a practical effect, whether it be a person in a suit or something animatronic. There are a few moments of CG in the movie, but the vast majority of it is done with actors interacting with something that is actually there. While the actual design of the creature appears to change drastically throughout the film, the effort overall was noticed and appreciated. These two factors, along with a brilliant opening involving the Knights Templar chasing and stopping the banshee, actually create tension, excitement and a sense of professionalism, helping the film feel like the film cost far more than it did to make and with a more mainstream destination in mind than Syfy or After Dark.
Differences aside, Scream of the Banshee does fall into
some of the traps of those that came before. For instance, on the
acting side, the performances vary widely. The top-billed leads (Holly
and Henriksen) are more than acceptable in their roles with Henriksen
being criminally underused. The supporting cast, though, is anything
from annoying to unbelievable to wooden as a 2x4. The annoying comes
courtesy of Haberkorn’s “Otto”, obviously intended to be a comic relief
character 
yet so annoying and stupid that
his death is
eagerly
anticipated. The unbelievable category is occupied by Cochran’s
performance as “Janie”, a performance that is okay until midway through
the film when a love story is ridiculously thrown into the mix. This
plot point, one that is resolved almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quick,
serves no purpose other than to cause Otto to tone shift so hard it may
cause whiplash. As for the termite food, look no further than the
stunningly bad line deliveries of Eric F. Adams as Duncan’s former
assistant. This is not to even mention the unnecessary subplot
involving Whelan being a “bad mother” that gets far more screentime
than it should.
Many of the character issues are the result of a weak script. The scares are so predictable that they can be called out just before they happen. More than that, though, is that, just like The Horror Czar said in his review of The Task, Scream of the Banshee is another After Dark film that runs for the finish far too quickly. After most of the film is just the banshee attacking and the group slowly gaining information, suddenly everyone piles in a car and pays Duncan a visit. His screentime is, again, far too little, and the film speeds to a close in 10-15 minutes flat including a final banshee battle that lasts barely 2 or 3 minutes. It just feels too much like the director just said “well, that’ll get us to about 90 minutes!” and rolled the credits.
While Scream of the Banshee is better than some Syfy channel movies, it’s still hurt by a poor supporting cast, predictable script with pointless subplots and a rushed ending. The use of mostly practical effects is admirable and well-done, but it does not save the film from coming across as mediocre and unsatisfying once the credits roll.
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or comments about Scream of the Banshee? Discuss it on The Ossuary
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