“The sooner we leave the better.” “If our invisible friend out there permits it.”
In Greece a small group of business partners are looking for buried treasure. They have half an ancient map that shows the gold is hidden in an old cave. Professor Andre (Antonio Casas) and his assistant Stravos (Francisco Piquer) detonate an explosive in the cave. They uncover what appears to be a petrified egg. Andre’s niece Maria (Soledad Miranda) is nearby They take it with them back to their house. Neither realizes that there is another egg that has cracked open. The hatched egg releases what appears to be a reptilian creature that promptly disappears.
Back at the house their housekeeper Calliope (Lola Gaos) warns them that there is evil in the cave and they shouldn’t be messing with it. They, of course, ignore her. After dinner Andre, Stravos and Maria return to the cave. Some residual rocks fall away from a wall revealing a mummified body. Stravos believes it is a Greek Neanderthal.
Later the professor’s business partners Dr. Pete Asilov (James Philbrook) and Dorman (Jose Bodalo) arrive with Asilov’s girlfriend Sofia Minelli (Ingrid Pitt) and his driver Pete (Arturo Fernandez). Asilov has with him the other half of the map. When the two pieces of map are put together, it shows that Andre was looking in the wrong place. The men work together digging in the cave. Eventually they take a break and go back to the house. Stravos remains to check out the mummy. While he is alone he is attacked by an unseen monster and is sliced to death. The other men, hearing Stavros’ screams run back to the cave. Just inside the cave they see Stravos’ body. The men hear a blood curdling scream from deep in the cave.
The men are shaken for awhile but greed gets the better of them. They find excuses for what they saw and heard to justify going back into the cave to find the treasure despite Calliope’s warning that the cave is cursed.
Back in the cave they again hear an animal’s scream. They race back to the villa and batten down the hatches with whatever it is in pursuit. Now they are trapped in the house with something invisible outside. Something deadly.
“Sound of Horror” was released in 1965, 1966 in the US and was directed by Jose Antonio Nieves Conde. The film is a Spanish horror movie. I was actually impressed with it. Yes, it does start out slow and there are a few plot holes but in total it is a scary movie. Yes, it is a low budget movie and having an invisible monster does save money, but it works. Instead of seeing a horrible monster you hear a horrible monster. There is an intensity to it that builds. You may find yourself on the edge of your seat.
The movie calls the creature an invisible dinosaur, but since you can’t see it, you don’t really know what it is, or actually how old it is. Even the age of the mummy is a guess. Without lab equipment to actually test either the mummy or the egg shell, or anything else monster, the scientists are just guessing. Calliope could be just as accurate as to what it is as the guys are. It could be a demon from hell. You do get a look at it, three different times, for about two seconds. The rest of the time it’s your imagination that takes over.
This is not the only invisible monster movie out there. Remember “Forbidden Planet”?