Horror Movie Review: Scream of the Banshee (2011)

A banshee is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member. Usually by wailing, shrieking, or keening. Scream of the Banshee, a SyFy original takes this lore and gives it a different spin.

It’s a SyFy movie so you should already have some idea of what to expect. Basic story-telling that has a hero/heroine overcome a monster or monsters. Normally with a group of friends or family and often with one cameo from an established horror star.

In the case of Scream of the Banshee, the heroine is one archelogy professor Isla Whelan (Lauren Holly). Who, along with her students uncover an ancient box from Irish history. Using a gauntlet that was mysteriously sent to the university, the group are able to unlock the box. Inside is the mummified head of a monstrous looking creature.

It’s all very strange and the secretive name of ‘Duncan’ sprayed on the box doesn’t help. Things take a turn for the worse though when the head opens its eyes and starts screaming. Everyone in ear-shot is incapacitated and then the head disintegrates. Roll credits, right?

No, of course. As released from her prison, a banshee is on the loose and everyone who heard her scream is now being hunted. Will Isla be able to stop the banshee? Will she be able to find out the secret that Duncan (Lance Henriksen) is hiding? Most importantly though, will she be able to repair her relationship with her daughter, Shayla Whelan (Marcelle Baer)?

That’s a joke. It’s so far from the most important thing, yet the film will pretend like it’s an integral part of the story. Heck, it doesn’t even try to make their conflict interesting. Something about a boyfriend and a dead husband/father, it’s filler.

Elsewhere it would be nice to say that the film is a frantic and exciting blast of horror but it’s not. The rules surrounding this banshee are very confused and she seems to be able to appear and disappear at will, attack at random and provide detailed hallucinations. A large portion of the film is taken up by the latter and are used for one purpose alone, which is to throw in jump scares. Ineffective and eye-rolling jump scares.

The cast do ok though. Considering just how light the characters are, effort is put in. The same goes for some of the effects. When practical, such as when we first see the decapitated head, they look great. The CGI is passable and the gore nominal but noticeable. All positives helping lift a pretty forgettable movie out of the doldrums. Not enough to make it a much watch but enough to make it a light recommendation if you’ve got some free time.