This film is fascinating for a number of reasons the most
obvious being the pre-fame appearance of both Soledad Miranda (later to appeal
in notable films from Jess Franco, Vampyros
Lesbos and She Killed in Ecstacy)
as well as Ingrid Pitt – the Queen of Hammer Horror. But, on a micro budget
director José Antonio Nieves Conde also manages to produce a genuinely
atmospheric film with a largely unseen monster and a cast acting their socks
off. Conde plays his monster just right and we only get a few glimpses as he
prefers to focus on the human reaction to what seems to be unstoppable – and unlikely
- alien carnage.
His two leading actresses don’t let him down and, Soledad
Miranda in particular shows what a good dramatist she was before Jess Franco
decided she could act much better with her clothes off…
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| Soledad |
This film owes a lot to the American sci-fi dramas of the fifties with an invisible monster from pre-historical outer space and a feeling of
an unseen invasion. It may save money on special effects, but it also doesn’t
puncture the tension by revealing a lame hand puppet – suspense is maintained
as belief is suspended. Does this relate to Spanish politics in the same way as
to US infiltration paranoia? Probably not, it’s just a good yarn.
The story begins in the Greek countryside, as
archaeologist Dr Pete Asilov (James Philbrook) and Professor Andre (Antonio
Casas) are attempting to uncover some mysterious buried artefacts. Desperation
overcoming subtlety they dynamite a cave in the hope of revealing their goal
but all they find are some petrified eggs… clearly some long-extinct dinosaur
(yeah right). As they make their way back to their base one of the eggs hatches
and a reptilian creature hatches before quickly disappearing…
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| Odd doings in the cave... |
Back at the Professor’s villa we meet his lovely niece
Maria (Soledad) and their superstitious housekeeper Calliope (Lola
Gaos) who is convinced that nothing good can come from this pursuit of gold
from the mountain. As if to prove her point the Prof’s former partner, Mr.
Dorman (José Bódalo) arrives with the other half of the map revealing the
gold’s exact location. Desperate Dorman is accompanied by his man Stravos
(Francisco Piquer), his glamorous girl, Sofia (Ingrid) and happy-go-lucky
driver Pete (Arturo Fernández).
The men go back to the cave uncovering mummified remains,
presumably buried in ritual sacrifice or to preserve the secret of the
treasure. But now things get spookily serious as strange screams fill the
cavern and Stravos is slashed to death by invisible claws. Now this would be
enough to convince most men to leave well enough alone but not this lot and
they go back in only to be chased back by their unseen foe.
The hunters have now become the hunted and as poor
Calliope is killed outside the villa they realise that even the brick walls of
the villa may not be enough and they take the fight to the mountain and to the
monster; there are thrills and twists as the limits of the tight budget are
never exceeded…
Dusty verdict:
It’s not a classic but it’s enjoyable hokum with the tension is sustained well
by director Conte as the monster makes his way into the villa to terrify Maria
and then refuses to be killed easily… inspite of the men’s ingenuity.
None of this would work if the cats didn’t act their
socks of and there’s a whole lot of impressive emoting from Soledad and Ingrid.
The moral of the story? Don’t look gift mountains in the mouth and quit while
you’re still alive.
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| Ingrid |
The Sound of Horror is available in so-so but watchable
quality on DVD from Amazon, it really could do with a clean up given the status
of the two female leads.
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