Banshee!!! (2008)

Director:

Colin Theys

Writers:

John Doolan (writer)
Gregory C. Parker (writer)

Release Date:

2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror

Tagline:

By The Time You Hear It...You're Already Dead!

Plot:

A group of college friends on a spring break camping trip are stalked and slashed by an unknown creature with the ability to make them hallucinate through sound waves.

Plot Keywords:

Creature | Spring Break | Monster | Irish | Slasher

Cast

Ashley Bates	...	Veronica
David McCarthy	...	Rocker
Kevin Shea	...	Jack Gorman
Kerry McGann	...	Julianna Bansley
Iris McQuillan-Grace	...	Kerry
Troy Walcott	...	Lake
A. Mike Forgette	...	Corey
Leo Petry	...	Officer Connelly
Greg Nutcher	...	Officer Young
Ken LaMothe	...	Crazy Old Man
Cristina Santiago	...	Jennifer
John Doolan	...	Thomas
Nathan Pupillo	...	Mike
Jess Wakefield	...	Beautiful Hitchhiker
Jesse Murphy	...	Chad

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Filming Locations:

Ansonia, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Synthetic Cinema International

Trivia:

While principal photography took place during the month of August, the shot of the car going off the cliff in the opening scene wasn't filmed until November. The near 25 degree weather resulted in a blow torch being brought in to defrost the car windows.

Movie Connections:

References Evil Dead II (1987)

Not very good.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Banshee!!! is set in Connecticut where local man Jack Gorman (Kevin Shea) pulls a rusted thirty year old car out of a ravine thinking he might get some money for it for scrap metal, while checking the car the trunk opens & an odd large cocoon like things falls out. Unknown to Jack an ancient creature known as a Banshee breaks out of the cocoon & starts to terrorise the area, first up is Jack, his wife Rosemary & nephew Rocker (David McCarthy) but when they barricade themselves inside Jack's place the Banshee then goes after a group of camping teenagers. The Banshee kills some of them while the other's make it to Jack's house & hold up inside with him & Rocker. As the Banshee prowls outside looking for a way in the terrified survivors inside look for a way out...

Co-edited, co-produced & directed by Colin Theys who also gets a visual effects credit too Banshee!!! (why three exclamation marks? I mean why not two or four?) is a fairly poor low budget 'Creature Feature' horror film that tries to be a bit different, a bit modern & have a sense of humour but at the end of the day it's a pretty lame film that isn't nearly as much fun as it likes to think itself is. I sort of got the impression that Banshee!!! wasn't even finished & maybe there were a few parts that were unfilmed or unfinished like the baby Banshee maggot thing that literally comes from nowhere, the way a lot of the story is forgotten or never developed like a big deal was made of the fact that a Banshee is a local Irish legend but this is never followed up on & there's no reasons given as to why this thing exists, why there aren't more of them or what an Irish monster is doing in Connecticut killing teenagers. Banshee does have a nice pace about it & it moves along at a fair rate, there are one or two nice moments & certain parts of the film feel quite energetic but the poor story that quickly turns into a standard The Night of the Living Dead (1968) scenario with a group of people trapped inside a farmhouse trying to keep something nasty out & ultimately goes nowhere, poor effects, annoying teenage character's only there to be killed off & a real predictability sink it. A good effort but not good enough really, I honestly can't say I enjoyed Banshee!!! & ultimately that's what watching a film is all about.

There's an unbelievable bit at the end that has to be seen to be believed where Rocker gets his guitar & sound equipment out & uses his (awful) rock music skills to fend off the Banshee which doesn't seem to like certain sounds & the way it is shot is hilariously funny with his Uncle Jack & Veronica in the background dancing & it's just one of those priceless 'what were they thinking' moments that is one of the most absurd things I have seen in a while both from a conceptual & technical viewpoint. There's some gore here, a sharp stick is thrown through some guy's mouth & it exits out the back of his head, there are guts, blood splatter, a ripped out throat, a splattered ripped apart Dog, a pair of legs are seen walking along after someone is ripped in two, someones head is torn off, a car crushes someone & in the best gore scene someones head explodes after a blast of a lethal sound-wave from the Banshee. The special effects are a mixed bag, some of the CGI is alright while at times it's simply awful with some shots looking unfinished & very choppy.

With a supposed budget of about $1,000,000 Banshee was filmed in Connecticut & as yet has no other IMDb reviews (both on site or external) which makes me wonder whether this has even been released in the US yet, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it hasn't been picked up for distribution to be honest. The acting from no-one I have ever heard of is pretty poor & for some reason Deputy Sheriff Julianna sounded (badly) dubbed for the first half of the film.

Banshee!!! does have one or two moments that save it from being a complete 'One Star' disaster but not enough & it's not a film I would ever want to see again. Ever.