Sound of Horror
Spain 1964. Director: J.A Nieves Conde
Cast: Arturo Fernandez, Soledad Miranda, Ingrid Pitt, José Bodalo

"If the devil comes out of that cave, we'll invite him to the house!" jokes Professor Andre, not knowing how much he will regret saying that. He and his team of archeologists are looking for treasures somewhere in Greece when they find some strange petrified eggs, one that is cracked open.They take one of the eggs with them to their house nearby and by doing so they releases some evil prehistoric force upon themselves. The next day they go back to the cave and it's not long before one of them is killed by something that can't be seen. Something that isn't there at all. The team escapes and barricades themselves in their house with what turns out to be a shrieking invisible dinosaur waiting outside for them. Only problem, there is another one inside.

Let's talk about the cast, probably the main reason why people will seek Sound of Horror out. Ingrid Pitt, later better known for The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, did her acting debut with this Spanish title but contribute very little to the plot (give or take some nice see-through dress). Soledad Miranda, who has a better part, also became a cult-icon a few years later when she was discovered by director Jess Franco and used in movies such as Vampyros Lesbos and She Killed In Ecstasy. Here she doesn't do much either except screaming and doing a sensuous Greek dance routine (kind of cool, though), but it's still obvious that she could have become a big star if it wasn't for the car-crash that took her life in 1970. One of moviedom's greatest losses.

That said, don't expect any skin around. Someone once said that nudity is the cheapest special effect, but none of it here. Sound of Horror has special effects that are way cheaper. The kind of effects that doesn't cost any money whatsoever. Invisible ones. If no man can see the monster, no man can complain about it looking dreary. Plus it looks great throwing axes at an invisible monster. Actually we do get to see the monster briefly at the end (something about fire and ashes) and it looks just like Godzilla and dreary as hell. As if it needs to be said, Sound of Horror is a very corny little horror adventure, slightly recalling Night of the Living Dead (the premise of a group of people trapped in a solitary country house surrounded by something wicked) made four years later. The first half hour, laying down characters and plot, is a bit boring but once that is done it's non-stop entertainment to the end. Of course it's not scary for a second, but there's plenty of blood (effective even in black & white), some good atmosphere and likable characters to compensate. Sound of Horror is a little seen Spanish classic that deserves to be seen, if only to be believed.