Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Tantalizing Trivia: The Wilhelm Scream

In all my internet travels for interesting movie trivia, one tidbit of triv seemed to reappear over and over and over again: The Wilhelm Scream. This oh-so popular stock sound effect has apparently been used in over 200 movies! It's become a bit of a joke to include this cliché effect, which is used most often when a character is dying or being seriously injured in one of the following ways:

a) Falling from a great height
b) Being blown to smitherines in an explosion
c) Being pierced with sharp objects...

I found this compilation of scenes from various flicks which feature the famous Wilhelm Scream. Enjoy! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!



UPDATE: Thanks to Adam's informative post about The Wilhelm Scream, we were able to find the ORIGINAL scream! It's an alligator attack! AAAHHH!!



7 comments:

Unknown said...

I saw this a few weeks back and it's so overused, but I read they were "retiring" the scream! LOL

Another overused sound effect is the crowd gasp, which I don't know what the real term for it is, but if you watch XMEN (the first one) and forward to the scene on Ellis Island, where all the international leaders are meeting outside. It is the exact part where Magneto starts his experiment from the Statue of Liberty. The crowd freaks out and it's a split second gasp. I hear this EVERYWHERE. You must have heard it too!?

KeLLy aNN said...

hahahaha!~ The Wilhelm Scream must be roomies with The Hawk. YOU know, The Hawk. The piercing bird cry in every wooded scene, or american indian movie, or outside in a tv series..The Hawk really got a workout in Lady Hawk. srsly.

KeLLy aNN said...

Copper and I laugh about The Gunshot, too. Although, its been replaced by more modern noise, its very very predominant in the old movies and shows.

"oh look, its The Gunshot...awwww"

Adam said...

Here's my guide to the Wilhelm Scream, complete with a picture of a few guys who are masters at it!...

http://thebluemeaniesarecoming.blogspot.com/2010/04/aaaaarrgh-its-wilhelm-scream.html

Sonsey said...

A list of some of the more famous film sound cliches:

http://www.filmsound.org/cliche/

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how often you hear it. It's like name that tune, but with screams. Cool video.

Heather Taylor said...

Awesome! This does drive me nuts sometimes to hear though.