Dir. Blair Erickson | Now Streaming On: Tubi | Rating: 3/5

Guess who’s back? Back, back, back again. Hey ghouls – Lonely here! I’m returning from my one week hiatus to review a bit of an obscure found footage film I heard about on TikTok. Banshee Chapter was included in a creator’s scariest films of all time list and I knew I had to give it a whirl. Though not one of the scariest, or best put together, films I’ve ever seen – Banshee Chapter delivers an unsettling acid trip of a storyline, that left me viscerally uncomfortable for days. ⁠
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Banshee has mash up of found footage and mockumentary elements. It follows a series of government experiments, toying with the “tin foil hat mentality.” As viewers we’re are unsure of who we should believe – the government, the journalists, or the conspiracy theorists. What adds to this element is that every single character in this story is unreliable, all with ulterior motives to uncover the truth about Project MKUltra. ⁠
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The found footage and unreliable narrator styles make this project quite hard to follow. The tangential connections made between people and timelines require intense suspension of disbelief. This storyline’s weakness is that it is trying to do too much. ⁠
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While researching for this review, I discovered that MKUltra was a real set of illegal human experiments conducted by the CIA. It involved testing drugs to be used as a tool in brainwashing and psychological torture. What’s scarier than government corruption? Someone make me my tin foil hat. ⁠
The idea and imagery of this seeming unstoppable, insidious entity being unleashed by the government is unnerving and unsettling. Despite having to stumble through this storyline, I found myself sleeping with the lights on after finishing Banshee. This film is weird, unique even, and for that alone – I’m recommending at least one watch. ⁠
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Know Before You Watch: Features drug use, flashing lights, blood, death, suicide. ⁠