Customer Reviews

Sound of Horror

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So you're making a cheapie monster movie and you don't actually have the dough for a real monster...what to do? Easy, just make the monster invisible...and that's exactly what the makers of Sound of Horror (1964) aka El Sonido prehistórico, did...and somewhat effectively, I might add. This Spanish production was co-written and directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde (Captain Blackjack), and features James Philbrook (I Do Not Forgive... I Kill!), Arturo Fernández (The Incredible Invasion), Soledad Miranda (Eugénie, Vampyros lesbos), José Bódalo (Captain Apache), Antonio Casas (Kiss Kiss... Bang Bang), Lola Gaos (Pancho Villa), and horror flick junkie favorite Ingrid Pitt (The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula).

The story is set on a Greek isle, and opens with three people, two men and a woman, inside a cave, getting ready to make use of some DYN-O-MITE (that one's for you, J.J., wherever you are). There's Professor Andre (Fernández), his niece Maria (Miranda), and the Professor's assistant Stravos (Casas). Maria, new the archeology biz, makes some comment about the hardships of mucking about in caves with TNT to which Stravos replies, "You'd better get accustomed to the smoke, as well...it's the most uncomfortable part of these explosions." Really? I would have thought the explosions to be the most uncomfortable part of the explosions, but then I'm no archeologist, so what the hell do I know? Anyway, the blast seems to have turned up squat, except for some petrified eggs, one of which they take back to the house, another which hatches in the cave after everyone leaves, spewing out a muddy globule that soon disappears. About this time we meet the housekeeper Calliope (Gaos), a local woman who speaks about all the bad mojo surrounding the mountain (get used to this, as she harps on this aspect through most of the film). Soon afterwards four more people show up in Dr. Asilov (Philbrook), his girlfriend Sofia (Pitt), Dorman (Bódalo), and their driver/guide Andre (Casas), presenting quite a group of potential victims...er, I mean quite a group of characters. Turns out Professor Andre, Asilov, and Dorman have been working together for some time trying to locate a legendary treasure, and their finally completed map (which looks like it was drawn with a crayon) has lead them to this mountain...only thing is, treasure isn't the only thing to be found, as the Professor's earlier blast has awakened a prehistoric beastie invisible to the eye, thirsty for blood and a penchant for slashing...

I enjoyed this film somewhat, but it got mired down as a number of characters spent a lot of time getting all philosophical after the creature claimed a couple of victims, going on and on about how they may have ultimately wasted their lives in search of a treasure only to have found death. Also they compare their unintentional find and their subsequent fear to the threat of nuclear annihilation a few times, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but whatever...it was these overly talkative aspects that slowed the film down, dragging it out to an hour and a half, illustrated by the fact that by the end of the first hour of the film, there had only been two victims...well, two and a half as one person got injured when something clawed his leg, and had to gimp around for the rest of the film. The performances were okay, but the writing was such as there really wasn't one character I would have considered to be the lead. At the outset a lot of time is spent focusing on the men and their lust for treasure, hiding under the pretense of being archeologists, so that later we can see all these scenes were they feel remorseful about their behavior, possibly hoping to elicit sympathy from the audience, but it didn't really work out that way (for me, at least). The women were nice to look at, Miranda being sort of the mousy, sheltered type contrast against Pitt's worldly, experienced character, highlighted during their short dance sequences (watch the men eyeball Pitt as she shakes her moneymaker...it's kinda creepy). As far as the monster goes, its not completely invisible as it appears briefly a couple of times, looking much like a toy dinosaur super imposed on the screen, giving the feel of it being about six feet tall. From what I did see, it was for the best that they went the invisible route for most of the film, as the beast could be heard through its shuffle walk and its constant shrieking. One aspect that was really decent was the make up effects in terms of the bloody tears victims received after the creature attacked. They looked realistic and fairly horrific. In the last third of the film the survivors are trapped in the house, trying to come up with a means to fight the creature...my thoughts were to throw some paint or powdery substance at the beast, taking away its chameleon-like camouflage, but they went a different route, one that was temporary and dependant on specific circumstances...not the way I would have gone, but whatever...there were a few scary scenes (half being of the fake scare type) and tense moments, like the extended scene with Calliope going to the well in the middle of the night, but it didn't feel like enough to carry the film all the way through given its length. I will say the ending was quite good, and made up for a lot of minor misgivings I had about the rest of the film, but not all. In closing, this is decent little low budget film that just ran a little too long (if they cut about twenty minutes off, preferably in the talky sections, it would have been better).

The picture quality on this Alpha DVD release, presented in fullscreen, is pretty standard for Alpha, meaning its lousy through and through...the picture is murky, fuzzy, and shows signs of wear throughout. It is obvious the film isn't presented in its original aspect ratio as in the beginning, while the credits are rolling, many of the names are cut off. The audio fares slightly better than the picture as it's fairly clear, but a far cry from being sharp. Perhaps I complain too much, especially given the low cost of the DVD, but I don't necessarily mind paying a little more for better quality...sometimes it seems with these Alpha releases they go out of their way to find the worst possible source material and slap it on a DVD, but then that's just my opinion. As far as extras, there is a rough trailer for the film, and listing of other Alpha releases.

Cookieman108

"Sound Of Horror" is about some treasure hunters, searching the caves of Athens for a legendary stash of gold and jewels. Unfortunately for them, they use dynamite and blast open a prehistoric nest, complete with football-sized eggs! Andre (Antonio Casas) takes one of the eggs home, where we meet the rest of the folks, including Ingrid Pitt! She does quite a little dance number! Meanwhile, back at the cave, another egg hatches, releasing a fast-growing, invisible monster. It soon reaches humongous proportions, and man is it mad! It has a scream like a banshee with a kidney stone! The thing quickly kills one of the treasure hunters by ripping him open and draining his blood. Pretty graphic for 1965! From here on the movie is about our heroes' last stand. They defend themselves by hiding in the house. The creature attacks several times, killing a few more hapless victims (Don't worry, Ingrid Pitt lives on!). Andre ends up sacrificing himself by blasting it with more high explosives. Alas, it's all for naught, as the monster survives. What is it? Can it be killed? Watch it and find out. Lots of neat little twists and false endings. Check it out...

I cannot complain about this Alpha DVD, nor this film itself. Allow me to explain.

1) There is no other copy available at this time.
2) The average quality of the print is worth more than I paid for it.
3) Ingrid Pitt.
4) A good, suspensefull, unique plot.
5) The actors do a good job.
6) Still good after all these years.
7) Soledad Miranda
8) The dub is just fine.
9) If the original foreign film surfaced, it would be even better.

Watch it for yourself, you'll see.

I had long awaited to find this horror film as I saw it as a kid. Although the movie is in black & white it still has some punch even after all these years. Its not your standard Hollywood blockbuster as it is a Mexican production set in Mexico. The cover does not give any indication of what the movie is about only a small scene which I think does not give the movie justice. In my opinion a good classic horror movie that is slightly better than a 'B' grade.

So what have we learned here? Well, if you're going to go spelunking for treasure, you might want to bring along several huge bags of flour, destroy anything that even looks like a calcified dinosaur egg, and - for heaven's sake - come packing some guns and ammo. And, while bringing along a gorgeous young woman is of course optional, I would highly recommend it.

It's true that Sound of Horror is a really cheesy horror film, riddled with many little things it is easy to ridicule (I guarantee you'll laugh at one point during the climactic moments), yet it's well worth watching. This is a Spanish film from 1965, but the English dubbing is really quite good. It seems there's a treasure of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts buried in a cave in Greece, and only our little group of treasure hunters have the map detailing its location. The first guys on the scene find an egg-shaped rock and an ancient mummy, and that only goes to fuel the local housekeeper's talk of the curse on that particular cave. Eventually, after the rest of the fellows arrive, they think they've found the spot of the treasure - and that's when the deaths begin. There is a deadly monster lurking within the caves - an invisible monster with a heavy limp and a high-pitched ululating voice that sends shivers down these brave men's spines. It's hard to get too excited about an invisible monster, but it's certainly more effective than trotting out some guy in a rubber suit. (I should note that, for reasons I can't explain, the filmmakers do superimpose - for just a quick second - a monster image onto the screen on a couple of occasions, but this hardly counts and actually does more harm than good.) As characters start getting picked off one by one, things get more intense until the remaining survivors finally figure out a way to go on the offense against something they can't see. Their plan leads to one unforgettably campy scene you won't want to miss.

Perhaps the biggest reason to see this film, though, is the presence of the legendary Soledad Miranda in one of her earlier roles. Her Greek dancing is not exactly a must-see, but she's a beautiful actress who died much too young (at the age of 27), right when she was on the verge of becoming an international star. Miranda is best known for her starring roles in a number of Jess Franco classics (including Count Dracula and Vampyros Lesbos) - I think she can justifiably be looked upon as the queen of Spanish horror during the 1960s.

I saw this film not long after it was released. Most horror/science fiction films of the time were in black and white with poor visual effects because of the low budgets. This film is no exception - black and white, poor acting, poor directing, bad sets, corny dialogue and yet when I saw this film in the late 60's I really liked it. It was genuinely creepy. I bought the DVD all these years later and I still enjoyed it - mainly because of the nostalgic effect it had on me. The print has very poor picture quality and sound which is disappointing. The story is quite good and I believe with the right director it could be remade into a really greaty film. The best part of the film is the sound of the approaching invisible creature and then the piercing scream that follows. Another bit of chilling footage is when the old lady goes ouside to the well to fill up her jug at night. How stupid must you be, knowing that the creature is out there.

In conclussion, the DVD is poor in quality as I have mentioned above but it still has some genuine spookiness. Another plus is that it is the only Spanish horror flick I have ever seen.

Well, let me begin telling that I saw that movie when I was barely 8/10 years old. I saw it in spanish in a spanish small village's cinema. I did it with my brothers and it scared the hell out of us. Now 35 years later I've been triyng to find this movie until today. I bought it a few days ago in Amazon. I thought that it would be in spanish with english subtitle but it's not. Tell me it it does exist in spanish, please. I would like to show it to my children and they still don't understand english as well as I do.

Well. It was scary then, and now I don't get surprised and scared as I was in the sixties. Anyway something moved in my stomach and my mind, probably the memories of that kind of movies you see as child and you never forget.

This is the second time I have sat through "Sound of Horror" and it does not improve with age. This was made in Spain and is dubbed into English. It was originally released as "El Sonido Prehistorico" and also as "El Sonido de la Muerte", "The Prehistoric Sound", "Sound from a Million Years Ago", and ultimately as you see it now as "Sound of Horror". A more descriptive title would have actually been "Ninety Minutes of Pure Pain".

The plot concerns a group of "cave explorers" in Greece looking for buried treasure. The cave contains two dinosaur eggs which are activated by dynamite. One of them becomes an omelet on their fireplace, but the other goes on a rampage. I should stop here to explain the title. It is the SOUND of horror because the dinosaur is invisible! (It saved on special effects.) You can only hear his hideous scream, which sounds like an extremely agitated Charo yelling at the top of her lungs. Only once do we get a glimmer of him before he ends up on top of a blazing jeep and reveals himself to be "Grumpy" from "Land of the Lost". I would have given the film one star, but had to give it a bonus for the incredibly cheesy "axe throwing" special effect. This is the most hilarious effect I can recall in a horror film.

The one thing that really works against this film is the attempt to be all things to all people (still a problem in Hollywood today.) It has long, introspective talky scenes and cold as ice romance for the women. It has adventure, explosions, and monsters for the men. It has an improbably named old woman, Calliope (Lola Gaos), making coffee at all hours of the day and night for Juan Valdez. In other words, it tries too hard. The film is seemingly endless at 90 minutes, but would have been much more palatable with a little less coffee drinking and talking. I never grow tired of watching four guys shoveling dirt in a cave, either. Some people thought that Ingrid Pitt's dancing scene helped the picture. I disagree. It was yet another tortuous time waster that had nothing at all to do with being eaten by dinosaurs. On a positive note, the manner in which they expose the dinosaur is most clever and amusing. I will not spoil it for you but it involves bags of flour. Another problem the film suffers from is very loud, inappropriate string music playing in the background at wholly improbable times.

This film would have been a great MST3K if it had been about ten times better. The axe and flour scenes generate a couple of hearty laughs, but beyond that I would avoid this like the plague.

The image and sound quality are terrible. The images are grey and murky. The sound is full of hiss. I was confused when I read the review by phasedin he states "it's still better than my early 90's video copy from one of those companies who specialize in public-domain titles." This is an Alpha/Gotham release and thier forte is public domain. When I zoomed out, I saw video tracking on the image. I did some searches and for some reason you can only get this from Alpha Video. The plot and acting are better than O.K.

The price is right, but this is by no means a feast for the eyes.

This is an underated movie...mostly because the cinematography is poor..
But it is a very scary premise; what's scarier than a man eating dinosaur come back to life? An INVISIBLE man eating dinosaur...(well it doesn't really eat them, but it may as well have!)

The scream this thing makes will make a chill go down your spine....if that doesn't, the deceptively happy sounding bells that chime when the monster is coming....or the shuffling sound of it's footsteps as it approaches....will.

One important note; you will need an imagination for it!