By Geno McGahee
“The banshee won’t go away kid.” – John (Peter O’Toole)
Douglas (Charles Martin Smith) is a writer with a new script that he wants to show famed director and friend, John (Peter O’Toole). He shows up in Ireland at his large mansion and gets some warning from the cab driver. Douglas laughs it off and approaches the house and is allowed in by the eccentric director. John takes the screenplay and begins thumbing through it, dropping papers on the floor as he walks and screaming how brilliant it is, which is stroking the ego of John and is intentional. There’s a dance here that John is playing and it’s rather interesting.
Peter O’Toole has such presence and plays this role incredibly well. He is passive—aggressive and begins to toy with the young writer. At one point, he reads aloud a review that Douglas got from the London Times, and it becomes derogatory. As Douglas lunges for the paper to read it, John throws it in the fireplace, and said he was just pulling his leg. John really gets under the skin of the younger writer and exploits his insecurities.
A howling is heard from outside and John begins talking of the banshee and how the presence of one is an indication of death, which could just be the end for the two. Douglas scoffs, but John challenges him and he goes outside in the dark to see if the banshee is real and that is when he comes face to face with a woman in white, the Banshee (Jennifer Dale). This is where the tale takes a quick nosedive.
The Banshee begins talking about the cruelty of the man in the house but speaking of it in such an unrealistic and detached way. Initially, there was some hope of a creepy tale, but the introduction of the banshee and lackluster delivery slowed it down dramatically and removed all hope for some scares.
The only saving grace for this tale is the incredible performance of Peter O’Toole. He played the role in a fun and likable way, even though he was being a dick most of the time. You really didn’t know where he stood with the young writer. There was the feeling that he was threatened by him, but I also felt that he liked him as well and was just picking on him a bit for kicks. The times when O’Toole is on the screen are fun and the tale does have an imposing setting, which is apparently the norm for the Ray Bradbury Theater tales. It just doesn’t come together in the end. Had they just focused on scaring the audience rather than this sad banshee angle, it would have played out much better. I still recommend it but I would say that it is disappointing when all is considered.
Rating: 5.5/10
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