This week MCR goes Mediterranean with "Sound of Horror," a Spanish-Greek co-production. SOH is a clever if rather sexist horror movie with some themes that Romero and Ridley Scott fans might find a little familiar. An undubbed version with subtitles would be a welcome DVD release, since this movie probably deserves a bit better than the cheesy dubbing treatment it gets. Two and a half stars! An extra half-star is awaiting any subtitled disk in the original Spanish. But since Mill Creek movies literally cost about 25 cents apiece I can't complain too much.
** 1/2 / ****
An apparent Spanish production but set and shot in Greece, Sound of Horror is not for the filmgoer who gets impatient for a car chase after the first ten minutes. This movie takes its time, which is a little ironic since it literally starts off with a bang as a group of spelunkers casually dynamites a cave in search of a hidden fortune. Theyre unsuccessful in this but dislodge a petrified egg, which they carry back to a nearby villa to study.
The egg, though, isnt their main concern. Instead theyre after a vault of jewel-encrusted antiquities rumored to have been left in the cave during the turmoil of World War 2. They go back to the cave, but handicapped because of an incomplete treasure map, they miss the mark again; this time they blast open the sarcophagus of an ancient mummy, but still, no treasure.
The group continues in this vein up to about the movies haldway point, alternationg between the cave, where they blast and dig for the treasure, and the house across the clearing, where they lament the years theyve wasted searching for the treasure, trade memories of the war, or exchange weird fatalisms about the atom bomb and the looming prospect of nuclear annihilation that so preoccupied everyone, even the Spaniards and Greeks, during the Cold War.
This remains the case until Stravos, seemingly oblivious to the folly of striking out on ones own in films of this sort, lets himself be left alone in the cave. A creature, either invisible or blindingly fast, sets on him and tears him apart in a scene that almost manages not to be ridiculous.
The group is obviously shocked to discover Stravos cadaver. At first they suspect a wild animal, or possibly foul play perpetrated by local villagers who feel the valley surrounding the cave is haunted. But as they ponder whats happened to Stravos, the creature comes after them, with a shrill, banshee-like howl that sounds an awful like the battle cry of the mutant in Terror From the Year 5000. They flee back to the villa, one of them sustaining a leg injury. They spend the rest of the movie trying to plot a course from the house to their nearby car, and speculating about the nature of whatever invisible ancient carnivore their proddings have dislodged from its resting ground.
One reward of watching hopelessly obscure old movies is that sometimes one catches the leading edge of a style that would later become huge. Sound of Horror is one such title, calling to mind at least two later films: Ridley Scotts Alien (though only a little) and Night of the Living Dead (quite a lot). Why it reminds me of Alien: if its true that creating suspense involves leaving the monster to the viewers imagination by hiding it, how does one deal with the inevitable disappointment when the monster is finally revealed and disappoints the audience? Both Alien and Sound of Horror resolve this problem by scarcely showing the monster at all. (Though Ridley Scotts creature, with its black camouflage and predatory stalking instinct, is much more nuanced than Sound of Horrors, which you simply cant see.)
In the earlier movie, this invisibility trick which, after all, is pretty easy for a writer to come by is made more effective by the improbable but unnerving sound the creature makes as it closes with its prey. The movies occasional, genuinely suspenseful scenes are also helped along by the slow but determined pacing and by the movies claustrophobic setting. Almost all of it takes place in the besieged villa; we alternately share the characters paranoia as they pass by unsecured doors or windows, and curse them as they wander foolishly away from the group or outside, with invariably unfortunate results.
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sounds of horrorby xoxrockstar451xox59,220 views
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it. It is low budget, & was made with primitive FX, but despite that, this movie offers some real chills. The best of the action scenes take place in a cave, or outside the house at night. They made very effective use of spooky sound. You can hear the creature approaching, but can't see it. The attack scene at the well is seriously spooky!
wrght9185 4 months ago
I've read about this and thought it sounded really good, or atleast the idea wa good.
Themaniacnextdoor 5 months ago
Another great review. Nice job.
davidscribe 2 years ago
Excellent review again. I hope you get around to a full review of Night of the living dead sometime. I'd love to hear more of your opinion of it.
lampyman101 2 years ago
Sounds like a cross between "The Mummy" and "Forbidden Planet".
I wonder if jess Franco pinched the idea for the strange cry/wail of the creature when he filmed "Devil Hunter", which also made a strange noise. Just a pity he didnt get the idea to make his monster (a naked black guy with ping-pong balls for eyes) invisible too!
DarkAngel182 2 years ago