El sonido de la muerte

With this type of film there always seems to be a sentimental this-scared-me-as-a-kid review. And I supposed this one is no exception. I saw it once on TV as a kid. It scared me. I've never forgotten it. And I never saw it again until recently when I picked it up as a discount DVD.

As others have said this is a very low budget effort from Spain that employs a cheap gimmick to scare it's audience. It's monster is not seen, only heard. And what is heard is a particularly creepy series of sounds.

But the problem for the film's detractors is that this gimmick seems to work.

Like the famous swimming pool scene in the superior Cat People, it tricks the audience into imagining something more horrible than what could be shown.

The movie's greatest asset is that it's director seems to know how to scare his audience. For instance there are long, sustained shots in which very little happens. But this serves to create tension, causing us to wonder, "What is coming next?"

In watching it again, I kept thinking how well this would have worked as a radio play. The way it uses only sound and narrative to frighten the audience, it reminded me of Wyllis Cooper's classic The Thing on the Fourble Board.

For those who need vivid color, big stars and intrusive CGI effects, let them rent Anaconda.

And for those who have trouble suspending disbelief over the film's gimmick: Who's to say there weren't any invisible dinosaurs? How would we know?

This is an adventure/horror movie about a small group of treasure hunters. They are excavating a cave in the mountains of Greece, where a rich treasure of stolen artwork is said to be hidden. Despite warnings from the locals that the cave is cursed, they continue to look for the treasure. One of their explosions accidentally releases an invisible shrieking dinosaur that has been buried for eons. The recently hatched dinosaur terrorizes the people on the expedition, killing many of them as the opportunity arises. This is a pretty cheesy movie, but the suspense is actually good in places. Interestingly enough, this movie starred two actresses who would go on to become cult stars of European horror movies: Soledad Miranda and Ingrid Pitt.

Back in the old days of television, with no cable and only 3 channels available, I was still very lucky to be able to catch some fine horror gems like this one, along with other more-scary films such as 'Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things' and 'Twisted Brain'. For years I never knew what the title of this film was, I just knew it was an invisible monster who screeched loudly and slashed people's faces & bodies apart! I loved the scene with the flour, where they had layed it across the floor, so you could see the creatures' foot-steps coming closer to them, holed-up in the cabin....it's a far-fetched film, but I loved it as a kid but could never place the title & never saw or heard of it again...until a few months ago! There is a video dealer in NYC who helped me discover its' title and I was able to buy it off ebay (oldies .com has it also) and am proud to have been able to find this old gem! It may not be for everybody, but there's something about a horror film, when seen as a kid or teen....it will always stay with you and to find it again is kind of like finding a lost love or family member! I give it 6 out of 10 stars ******

as a collector of vintage sci-fi movies from the 20"s through the 60"s i have found many use a cookie cutter mentality with no new imagination,that does not mean they are not good movies, but the story often is not very original,been done before,etc., that said, i like the story of the sound of horror even at the risk of being ridiculed,*** (my co-workers broke into tears of laughter when i told them i liked a movie about an invisible prehistoric dinosaur)***these same individuals looked me straight in the eye and told me how believable it was to them that a family could feed and pet a brontosaurus in Jurassic park!*** give me a break!*** anyway,that being said, i find sound of horror to be very unique in imagination and concept,the film was obviously a low budget production,yet,it has more intense suspense than some million dollar movies of later vintage. the only available copy at this writing is just a "fair" print quality wise,and the movie was Spanish origin with English dubbing,** still, i recommend this movie to serious "vintage" sci-fi collectors, its very different and thats what makes it stand out among the crowd.*** it really is kind of creepy,*** even today,*** turn the lights out when you watch it!***creepy soundtrack highlights it also! ****

Don't know why I'm bothering to compile this review as obviously no one is ever likely going to read it, seeing as how the film has to date attracted just ONE other review and no votes in all the years it must have been here!!

Let me tell you something...dubbed it may be, but for what was obviously an ultra low-budget entry in the horror film genre (I mean, how cheap can the fx for an invisible dinosaur be???) it delivers both suspense and horror, even in black and white, which strangely adds to, rather than detracts from, the events at hand.

Comparable I suppose (and not necessarily favorably) to the invisible monster from the Id in FORBIDDEN PLANET, this newly hatched dinosaur takes out, quite unpleasantly I may add, several of the would-be treasure hunters that disturb its cave somewhere in Greece. It also emits quite a chilling noise during its approach, giving rise to the title which in most countries outside its native Spain, was THE PREHISTORIC SOUND (not surprisingly).

Some really long lasting images here. The scientist who first has his face slashed to pieces as he enters the cave. The survivors plight as they surround their refuge with flour (or something similar) to give them at least some warning of the beast's proximity. This sequence is especially well-done and highly suspenseful. The concluding scenes I will not divulge but are, let me say, unexpected and a cut above the usual (no pun intended!)

Decent little movie folks - trust me, I'm a reviewer!