DVD Review: The Banshee Chapter

By Brad Henderson

There are countless horror films released in a year and most of the good ones go unnoticed by the general public. Unless a horror film is in theaters these days, people just don’t see them. Thankfully VOD is getting more popular and the general public now has access to all the films that we film geeks love and try to promote. The VOD industry is very much like the home video boom in many ways. Independent and low budget films didn’t stand a chance at the theater in the days of the home video boom (and they still don’t), but once these movies hit the video store it became an equal playing field. The same goes for VOD these days: Indie flicks are in the same row as your big budget blockbusters.

Just about everyone I know loves to watch scary movies. Even the people that say that they don’t like scary movies watch scary movies. It’s fun to be scared. You can hop onto any VOD service and be hit in the face with plenty of horror films. It’s hard to make a choice and you don’t have time to watch trailers, read synopses, or reviews, for that matter. It can be a little overwhelming at times. Luckily there are people like me who want to see these awesome indie horror films get noticed by everyone. Hell, I even want to see the not so great ones get noticed.

Now available is a small and creepy film called The Banshee Chapter. This film is based on true events, but of course certain things in the film have been made up to make it more interesting and terrifying. By the way, it’s really freaking good.

Years ago the CIA conducted experiments on people by injecting them with a drug. The results were not good. Our story unfolds on a documentarian who wants to unveil more to this story other than what the press has given us. I’m sure you will be able to differentiate between fact and fiction and won’t need to question what really happened with this whole ordeal, but I highly suggest looking it up because it is disgustingly interesting.

Judging most horror films is easy because we look for certain things: believable actors, good effects, and a decent story (or at least an entertaining one). With The Banshee Chapter we get a unique story that has never been told before and one that will interest and terrify you at the same time.

This film is highly recommended. Don’t miss it.

The Banshee Chapter will be released on DVD in the US by XLrator Media on February 4. It will be released in Canada by levelFILM on February 18.