SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE WILL BECOME THE 200TH SYFY SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIE, PREMIERING MARCH 26 AT 9PM (ET/PT)

NEW YORK - March 1, 2011 - 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.

SYFY SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIES

2002

Interceptor Force 2

2003

Dragon Fighter; Control Factor; Antibody; Do or Die; Cube 2: Hypercube; Threshold; Silent Warnings; Deathlands; Encrypt; Webs; Alien Hunter; Momentum; Deep Shock; Absolon; Bugs; Deadly Swarm; Beyond Re-Animator; The Bone Snatcher; Epoch: Evolution

2004

Dark Waters; Dragon Storm; Alien Lockdown; Curse of The Komodo; Snakehead Terror; Phantom Force; Dinocroc; Boa vs. Python; Post Impact; Decoys; They Are Among Us; Out For Blood; Raptor Island; Darklight; Frankenfish; Gargoyles: Wings Darkness; Species III; Puppetmaster vs. Demon Toys

2005

Larva; Chupacabra: Dark Seas; Slipstream; Alien Siege; Mansquito; Alien Apocalypse; Snake King; Man-Thing; The Fallen Ones; Descent; Crimson Force; Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy; Attack of the Sabretooth; Bloodsuckers; Alien Express; Pterodactyl; Man with the Screaming Brain; Path of Destruction; Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God; Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis; Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave; Cerberus; Locusts: The 8th Plague; Manticore

2006

Caved In: Prehistoric Terror; Magma: Volcanic Disaster; House of the Dead 2; Disaster Zone: Volcano in NY; Minotaur; SS Doomtrooper; Mammoth; A.I. Assault; Abominable; Black Hole; Android Apocalypse; Slayer; Dragon Dynasty; Stan Lee's Lightspeed; Savage Planet; Dragon Sword; Sasquatch Mountain; Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep; Haunted Prison; Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes; Basilisk: Serpent King; Dead and Deader

2007

Grendel; Gryphon; Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud; Fire Serpent; Earthstorm; Reign of the Gargoyles; Kaw; Lake Placid 2; Ice Spiders; Harpies; Supergator; Sands of Oblivion; Stir of Echoes 2; Mega Snake; Highlander: The Source; Species: The Awakening; Wraiths of Roanoke; Headless Horseman; Bats: Human Harvest; Showdown at Area 51

2008

Beyond Loch Ness; Ghost Voyage; Blood Monkey; The Bone Eater; The Hive; Living Hell; Ogre Hybrid; Rock Monster; Odysseus: Voyage to the Underworld; Warbirds; Infected; Aztec Rex; Never Cry Werewolf; Heatstroke; 100 Million BC; Copperhead; Ghouls; Termination Point; Anaconda 3; Monster Ark; Black Swarm; Flu Bird Horror; Baal: The Storm God; Vipers; Riddles of the Sphinx; NYC Tornado Terror; Swamp Devil; Fire and Ice; Battle Planet; Yeti; Lost City Raiders; Cyclops; Sharks in Venice; Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon

2009

The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake; Planet Raptor; Wyvern; Splinter; Hydra; Anacondas: Trail of Blood; War Wolves; Sea Beast; Polar Storm; Thor: Hammer of the Gods; Carny; 100 Feet; Fireball; The Book of Beasts; Star Runners; Rise of the Gargoyles; Mutant Chronicles; Sand Serpents; Hellhounds; Malibu Shark Attack; Infestation; Phantom Racer; High Plains Invaders; Lightning Strikes; Clive Barker's Book of Blood; Children of the Corn (Remake); Megafault; Wolvesbayne; Ghost Town; Ice Twisters; Fire From Below; Beyond Sherwood Forest; Annihilation Earth

2010

House of Bones; Meteor Storm; Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale; Dinoshark; Dark Relic; Mega Piranha; Mothman; Mongolian Death Worm; Witchville; Stonehenge Apocalypse; Dinocroc vs. Supergator; Goblin; Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit; Frost Giant; Lake Placid 3; Mandrake; Sharktopus; Monsterwolf; Red: Werewolf Hunter; The Lost Future; Triassic Attack; Ice Quake

2011

Behemoth; Mega Python vs. Gatoroid; Iron Invader; Area 51; Battle of Los Angeles; Scream of the Banshee

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)