''Sound of Horror'' (Spanish: ''El sonido de la muerte'') is a 1966 Spanish

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by

José Antonio Nieves Conde José Antonio Nieves Conde (22 December 1911http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/45978/jose-antonio-nieves-conde José Antonio Nieves Conde. Diccionario biográfico español. Real Academia de la Historia. Access 15 february 2020. in Segovia, Castilla y L ...

Plot

In the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

countryside,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

s Dr. Pete Asilov and Professor Andre detonate

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

in an abandoned mountain cave, uncovering petrified eggs in the blasts. Taking one they fail to notice another had hatched, releasing a reptilian creature that vanishes. Andre lives in a nearby villa with his orphaned niece Maria and their

superstitious A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and p ...

Greek housekeeper Calliope, who warns Andre of the dangers of monsters and angry spirits in the mountain, which he ignores. Later, as Andre investigates his half of an ancient map that tells of gold hidden in the cave, his business partner Dorman arrives with his associates Stravos, his driver and his girlfriend Sofia. They have the other half of the map which tells them where to dig for the treasure. Further ominous clues, such as the decaying body of an ancient neanderthal woman, enforce Calliope's warnings, but the men are determined to find the treasure. They discover the bones of a man who was likely buried to keep the location of the treasure a secret. As Stravos investigates the

mummified A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furthe ...

corpse A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a li ...

, he is killed when the creature stalks up unseen and slashes him to death with its claws. Shaken by its horrific scream, the men resolve to return to the cave for the treasure, blaming Stravos' death on would-be thieves from the nearby village. They are proven wrong and are chased back to the villa and in the process Dorman is injured. Terrified of what might be hunting them, they forget the treasure and work up a plan to escape. While fetching water for coffee, Calliope is killed by the creature and the humans barricade themselves in the villa. Professor Andre, determined to see his niece safe, entrusts her with Pete who shares an affection with her and sneaks back to the cave in order to seal it. He is attacked, but not before he detonates the dynamite and blows the cave entrance shut. The next morning, believing themselves safe, the remainder of the group boards Andre's car and try to leave, but the engine floods. As they try to start it, the creature returns, forcing them back into the house. They are attacked by the creature after it gains entry to the villa, but Andre notices a trail of clawprints leading from the kitchen and using

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

to help track the creature, they injure it with

hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French language, Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a Tool, single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side ...

s and it flees. They return to the car and are able to start it, however, the creature reveals itself to be on top of the car which forces them to pull over. Dorman ignites the

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

reserves in the back of the jeep, destroying himself and the creature in a massive ball of fire. With the creature dead, the four remaining survivors start their journey back to town on foot.

Cast

James Philbrook James Philbrook was an American actor who appeared in several major films, including '' I Want to Live!'' (1958), '' Woman Obsessed'' and as Colonel Tall in the 1964 war picture '' The Thin Red Line''. He had supporting roles on television, inclu ...

as Dr. Pete Asilov * Arturo Fernández as Pete *

Soledad Miranda Soledad Rendón Bueno (9 July 1943 – 18 August 1970), better known by her stage names Soledad Miranda or Susann Korda (or sometimes Susan Korday), was a Spanish actress and singer. She starred in several films directed by cult filmmaker Jes ...

as Maria *

José Bódalo José Bódalo Zúffoli (March 24, 1916 – July 24, 1985) was a Spanish film actor. Biography Bódalo was born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son of Rome-born actress Eugenia Zúffoli and Spanish actor and singer José Bódalo, Sr. His birth in A ...

as Mr. Dorman *

Antonio Casas Antonio Casas Barros (11 November 1911 – 14 February 1982) was a Spanish footballer turned film actor who appeared in film between 1941 and his death in 1982. Casas originally began as a footballer for Atlético Madrid, but entered film i ...

as Prof. Andre *

Ingrid Pitt Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov; 21 November 193723 November 2010) was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in British horror cinema of the 1970s. Early life Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland, one of two ...

as Sofia Minelli *

Lola Gaos Dolores Gaos González-Pola (2 December 1921, in Valencia – 4 July 1993, in Madrid), better known as Lola Gaos, was a Spanish film, television and theatre actress. Famous with her works with Luis Buñuel but specially the film '' Furtivos'' ...

as Calliope, the housekeeper *

Francisco Piquer Francisco Piquer Chanza (2 June 1922 – 11 December 2009) was a Spanish actor. Piquer's career as a stage, film, television and voice actor spanned six decades beginning in 1940. He won the Prix du Cinema Writers Circle for his role as the prota ...

as Stravos

Release

''Sound of Horror'' was released in Spain on August 26, 1966.

Critical response

Dave Sindelar on his website ''Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings'' gave the film a positive review, stating that in spite of its flaws, the film still managed to be scary.

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

reacted more negatively to the film, awarded it one out of five stars.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sound Of Horror 1966 horror films 1966 films Spanish black-and-white films Films directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde 1960s monster movies Spanish horror films