The Wilhelm Scream (Again)

1. Ali S.
   April 7th, 2008 at 9:38 pm

   Ah the Wilhelm scream. A true classic in the movie world.

2. stacyj
   April 7th, 2008 at 10:39 pm

   Ha, that’s pretty cool, I’d not realized it was used in Space Balls as well as Star Wars - what a neat touch. Although I must say that as far as stock screams go even it doesn’t quite compare to the one used all the time in old(ish) Disney cartoons (especially Goofy ones) - YAAH-hoohoohoo-hoy!

   Makes me giggle every time =)

3. stacyj
   April 7th, 2008 at 10:46 pm

   D’oh, sorry about that, the link redirected to a neatorama 404 page for some reason (come to think of it, a “preview” button so we could check stuff like wonky links before posting would be most appreciated) … Um, at any rate, the ‘Goofy Holler’ I’m referring to is described in a little more detail at Wikipedia …

   Oh, beautiful, beautiful Wikipedia, is there ANYTHING you can’t tell me about?

4. Barbwire
   April 7th, 2008 at 10:59 pm

   My youngest daughter used to work for George Lucas, and she got to scream in several movies. I have to say, her screams, while not cult class, were pretty darned attention-grabbing.

5. michael0411
   April 8th, 2008 at 12:34 am

   I’m so sick of the Wilhelm. It seems even more trite, annoying and unimaginative every time I hear it.

   And Ben Burtt shouldn’t get credit for popularizing it; it was already a popular bit of stock sound. It’s just that he took it to all new levels of obsessive stupidity without care whether he was damaging the art he inserted it into.

6. Rosi
   April 8th, 2008 at 3:55 am

   Ah the Wilhelm scream. Everytime I hear it on a film or TV show I yell out “WILHELM!” as loud as possible. It’s fun to scare my family with it, but they’re starting to pick up on things and scream “WILHELM!” with me.
   So far I haven’t heard it in the cinema, but it will be quite interesting to see what everyone else’s reactions are when I suddenly shout out “WILHELM!” in the middle of the film (you can get away with anything as long as you turn around to see who did it with everyone else…)^_^

7. ted
   April 8th, 2008 at 6:30 am

   You can’t just enjoy the movie?

   We watched Star Wars Episode 3, and the Tarzan yell the Wookies gave as they swing on ropes to attack the robot army is so Tarzany, it actually ruins that particular moment in the movie. Star Wars is not known for its subtlety. Sometimes, effects can be overdone.

8. OddNumber
   April 8th, 2008 at 9:20 am

   I need to go back and watch the Lord of the Rings, because I don’t totally believe it was really used there. Maybe it is just the context of the clip that made the screams cheesy and out of place. Although I think it is cool as sort of an inside joke.

9. CheeseDuck
   April 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

   That scream is so annoying.

10. Thomas
    April 8th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Can’t any other screamers get paid for their hard work?

11. Oomi
    April 8th, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    ah-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

12. ted
    April 8th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

    All the other screamers work in porn, Thomas.

13. Capella
    April 9th, 2008 at 8:18 am

    It’s funny because there is a stock sound that me and my hubby dubbed the “cupboard cat”. you know,that one cat the seems to make that “WREEAAAR” noise whenever it jumps out of somewhere in the horror movies.
    Because all cats make that noise. When jumping. even if they are jumping from the table to the floor.

    WREEEEARR!

14. Sammy
    April 9th, 2008 at 11:22 pm

    Every time I see a story about this “scream” I wonder how long it will be before someone identifies that “car crash” sound effect I’ve heard so many times.

    “Tires screech, crash sound with muffled male scream half way through”

    I’ve heard it on quite a few old radio programs, such as Boston Blackie, The Saint and The Shadow. If anyone has a copy of the novelty song by “Nervous Norvus” “Transfusion”, it’s repeated there at least 4 times.

    Gosh it’s late…. can you tell

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