Banshee!!! (2008)

2 Stars (out of 4)

Don't Cry

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

No, the three exclamation points are not a typo. It's too bad the movie can't muster up the same energy. The writing is about halfway there, the acting isn't too bad and the computer-generated banshee effects are just good enough to register a "meh." They won't blow anyone away, but they're not cheesy enough to provide any real fun. It's another "spam in a cabin" movie (to borrow a phrase from Joe Bob Briggs) as a handful of good-looking teens go on a camping trip in the woods. None of them get along very well, and they seem more like gimmicks than people. There's the buxom blonde, the comic African-American sidekick, the tough lady cop, and the "crazy old man." The banshee attacks and starts killing them off. It can mimic people, and it (for some reason) sometimes flickers like a bad video image. Not enough people get to have sex before they die, and the living characters never seem too sad about the dead ones. The teens eventually hide out in the home of a gun-crazy hillbilly, hoping to use extreme firepower to ward off the beast. The "banshee" has very little to do with the Irish legend, and even the concept of dying when you hear the banshee cry is only used when the plot calls for it. MVD released the DVD, including a commentary track, outtakes, and trailers.