Since 2002, Syfy viewers have experienced mutated sharks, mosquito men, alligators as big as blimps, vengeful demon moths, pterodactyls, werewolves, dragons and really, really big snakes. Plus earthquakes that split the U.S. in half, man-made volcanoes, space storms, tornados made of ice, magnetic meteors and plagues of killer locusts — every unnatural disaster imaginable. Now Syfy celebrates its bi-weekly assault on humanity with the premiere of its 200th Saturday Original Movie, Scream of the Banshee, on Saturday, March 26, at 9PM (ET/PT).
In Scream of the Banshee, when a college professor opens a mysterious and ornate box discovered hidden in the tunnels under her university, she and her students hear the horrifying scream of a bloodthirsty Banshee. Everyone who hears the scream is fated to die a strange and terrible death. Now the professor, her daughter and a few of her students must try to stop the Banshee.
A production of After Dark Films, Scream of the Banshee stars Lauren Holly (NCIS) and Lance Henriksen (Alien). Said Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies: “Over the years, the growing popularity of Syfy’s original movie franchise has transformed the Syfy Saturday Original Movies into a pop culture staple. As the largest producer of original movies on television, we’re delighted to be the Saturday night viewing destination for millions of fans of independent sci-fi, creature feature and horror films.”
To mark the occasion, Syfy.com will launch March Monster Madness, the ultimate tournament to determine the king of all Syfy monsters. Thirty-two of our fun and frantic abominations, ranging from Mansquito to Sharktopus, Mega Shark to Gatoroid, and Rock Monster to Basilisk will square off, with users voting to determine the winner of each round and, ultimately, the champion of the Syfy creature pantheon. Fans will be able to see custom trading cards featuring their favorite monsters, share their votes with friends across social media platforms and enter a sweepstakes to win monster-themed prizes.
Enjoying a robust ratings surge, a Syfy Saturday Original Movie has broken the two million total viewers mark for six straight months (August-January). Overall, the movies have averaged nearly two million viewers in 2011.
The most watched Saturday Original Movie ever is Lake Placid 2 (2007) with 3.2 million viewers.”
