Cry of the Banshee 1970

Set in Elizabethan England, Lord Edward Whitman, Vincent Price, a cruel magistrate, presides over the brutal trial of a young woman. After branding her a witch, he orders her whipped through the streets and placed in the village stocks. That very night, he hosts a grand feast at his home while his henchmen scour the countryside for the killers of a sheep. Two poor teenagers are dragged into the hall, and a wolfish howl from outside warns they may be “devil-marked”; both meet a deadly fate in the ensuing struggle. Whitman’s wife, Lady Patricia Whitman, Essy Persson, cries out that he is a murderer, a charge that only hardens his resolve. When Whitman’s oldest son, Sean Whitman, Stephan Chase, rapes Lady Patricia, the magistrate’s appetite for “cleaning up” the witches in the area grows even more ruthless.

Guided by his son, Whitman heads into the hills to hunt for witches. His armed posse disrupts a gathering that seems to be a witches’ Black Sabbath, and he kills several of the supposed witches, ordering the rest to scatter and never return. This violent act provokes Oona, the leader of the coven, who vows revenge on the Whitman family. To exact it, she summons a demonic spirit that ends up possessing the loyal servant Roderick, a man Maureen Whitman has loved for years. Roderick then begins a systematic campaign to wipe out members of the Whitman clan, including Sean and Lady Patricia.

Harry Whitman, Whitman’s son from Cambridge, and Father Tom, a local priest, track down Oona and the coven as they conjure Maureen’s death. They kill Oona and her coven, and Roderick—who has been attacking Maureen—briefly withdraws, leaving Maureen in safety for the moment. Yet soon he returns to strike again, turning his assault on Whitman himself. Maureen shoots the demon in the head, seemingly ending the curse.

Overjoyed at what seems to be the curse’s end, Whitman plans to leave the house by coach with his remaining children. On the way to safety, they stop at the cemetery to confirm that Roderick is truly dead. The coffin is empty, and panic sets in. Roderick, now driving the coach after killing the driver Bully Boy, is back in control and leading the team toward an unknown fate. The film closes on Whitman screaming the driver’s name in terror as the coach wheels away into an abyss of uncertainty. The eerie pull of the curse lingers as the countryside recedes, leaving unanswered questions about what truly awaits beyond the hills.