Banshee Chapter

I saw this on Netflix years ago (it's since been removed) and while it has an obviously lower production budget it still does a great job of storytelling something that's familiar with H.P. Lovecraft fans but ventures enough into government black ops and conspiracies that it is fresh and relevant especially with renewing interest in psychedelics these days.I love it and it's one of my favorite horror movies to show friends that has scared every one of them and no matter how many times I've seen it, knowing what happens I still get tense and white knuckle at parts.

Movie was great. These phone chargers, not so much.

This movie had me afraid of music box sounds for a little haha. I love this movie!

When watching a video or a movie for the first time I believe the person or the viewer has a preconception of what to expect.I could not guess in advance what the movie was doing because the characters kept flipping back and forth. It was very difficult to forecast character interactions.By the end of the video I was embarrassed about myself trying to guess the direction the movie was going to go.I’m pretty good at analysis, but the script the actors in the continuity remained married well to perfection!I love not knowing the end of a movie before I finished it! Wonderfully unpredictable!

I rented this because it was said, somewhere, that it was "Lovecraftian".I suppose that depends on the definition of "Lovecraftian" -- one of his stories is told to us as part of the film. And someone more familiar with his writings might see some influences on the makeup effects that I missed -- although, since these were mostly glimpsed for only an instant (due to the protagonist's reaction), I have my doubts.This is the story of a reporter investigating the disappearance of a friend. It is mostly about the MK-Ultra program, and it makes /American Ultra/ look a whole lot better. It has a lot of documentary stuff in it, but how far can it be trusted? Who can say?This reporter screams and runs away whenever anything startles her. This gets old after a while.Contrast this with /In Search of Lovecraft/, also with a female reporter protagonist, which is definitely Lovecraftian.Note that a fan of MK-Ultra films might like this one better than I did. So, for some of you, this may be a positive review.

H.P. Lovecraft, Hunter S. Thompson, number stations, conspiracy theories... this movie picks from a variety of influences and reshapes them into a fresh and wicked creepy indie horror movie. Despite what you may think given the trailer, this is not a found footage film. The camera is never justified, and the person holding it is never acknowledged. The view is shaky and claustrophobic, but that is an aesthetic choice rather than dictated by the format of the film. This really worked well, and Banshee Chapter is one of very few horror films that has a dense enough atmosphere to freak me out. Also, in a rare feat of success for the horror genre, I even found the movie's ending satisfying. The actors were great and the characters were stand-out.I took off one star for a few small reasons. First, the camera work, while really adding to the intensity, still made me a bit motion sick, though far less than, say, Paranormal Activity. If shaky-cam does this to you, be ready for it in this one as well. Also, the ending didn't entirely make sense. I won't say that it detracted from the film, but it left me scratching my head a bit.In short, I'm an avid horror movie watcher and I heartily recommend this to anyone looking for a suspenseful hour and a half.

Low production values; yup, it was made on a budget. Once you're past that, it was awesome.Possible the best reinterpretation of Lovecraft's " From Beyond" ever released. (Of course, 'reinterpretation' means hordes of deeply offended Lovecraft purists demanding that we burn the heretic and expunge his works.)Cute girl investigates disappearance of ex-boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend had been messing about with mind-altering drugs, a CIA program, conspiracy nutjob & hallucinogen abusing whack-a-doo, and vanishes under mysterious (and blood spattery) circumstances. Cute girl get drawn into weirdness, has some sexual harassment/borderline sexual assault 'cause conspiracy dude is creepy as heck, starts seeing what led to ex-boyfriend's disappearance for herself.Not the most innovative story line, but well executed within a modest budget. I enjoyed it immensely.E.M. Van Court

I love the idea of this story: it reminds me of various works by Caitlin R. Kiernan and Laird Barron, or even a Tool song or two, but my main issue with the film itself is there are too many jump scares. I'm not against the use of jump scares in such a narrative - especially one which primarily takes place at night - but when you start to anticipate said scares then they're detracting from the action. And it feels a little too compressed to me, more time should have elapsed between the initial setup and Anne meeting Thomas Blackburn, though I understand this could have been due to the truncated shooting schedule. But the end twists are definitely satisfying, and as I noted it is an excellent high concept - I find myself wishing someone could write a tie-in novel that elaborates on those plot points which are only briefly glimpsed in the film because it is a wonderfully creepy story with enormous potential. I thought the found footage aspect was particularly well-done. The best scene (IMO) is the very essence of the horror story a priori: as Anne investigates Callie's seemingly empty house, alone in the dark, Thomas relates the plot of Lovecraft's "From Beyond" on the two-way radio.

The Banshee Chapter is a horror gem. It exploits that all-too-little-tackled 'horror' subject area that is the Cold War in that it concerns how people could be potentially turned into assassins through the combination of psychadelic drugs and transmissions from Number Stations. Think MK Ultra or The Montauk Project or the project depicted in The Manchurian Candidate - initiated decades ago, but still having strange and horrific affects today. The whole idea of Number Stations as a horror subject (the John Cusack thriller aside) is a rich vein yet to be mined - except here, in the Banshee Chapter. It is very difficult to capture in words what this film manages to tap into. Partly, it is the collapse of high modernity's optimism into the rude nuclear awakening that humanity nearly destroyed itself, and still could. Partly, it is "the suddenly abandoned" feel to the cold war miltary installations, including housing for personel, now left to decay as a failed-futurism. Jennie Kermode expresses it well when she speaks of the film "harking back to Quatermass era science fiction horror in its alienness".

One of the few horror films that is genuinely frightening. Do not watch it alone in the dark. Makes no sense whatsoever but it's not about logic, just pure fear. Not at all gory but just don't take any MKULTRA drugs. Or did she take it or not? No midgets required. Not funny at all.

Great movie if you like slightly weird and quite scary. Basic premise is around journalist trying to find answers to the death of her friend through a dangerous psychedelic drug which causes horrifying hallucinations. She is led on a frightening and mysterious journey where reality is never what it seems. Tension ratchets up right from the opening scene and doesn't let you go until the end of the closing credits, effectively delivering some real shocks on the way. I watched it with some friends who really weren't into "horror" or "scary" movies - they all found it very unsettling with a couple physically jumping out of their seats more than once with the consensus that it was pretty good and certainly not a movie where you could fall asleep.

like it but did turn away a few times as it was quite frightning

saw this late one night on the horror channel. never heard of it before and it blew me away. wont spoil it for you but buy it, you'll love it.