The Sounds of Silence

[solstice]

Dear friends,

now that holiday season is arriving and I have some more time, I thought about a topic that is - at least to my knowledge - barely discussed in our community: the sounds of the actress as she is meeting her demise. The way she may grunt or scream.

For me, this can be a quite arousing factor to enjoy a scene more or less. In the worst case, it also can totally ruin it. Maybe you remember the beginning of DePalma's BODY DOUBLE where they shoot a slasher scene and everything works fine until the damsel in distress screams and the director freaks out.

In my own videos I try to give my actresses certain instructions and usually they deliver their tasks well. Sometimes they need some demonstration and sometimes it's just not possible. Some girls just can't die nicely vocally :=D

But coming back to the mainstream cinema, I discovered, thanks to DVD and Blu-Ray and various language options, some very interesting differences how a scene works in which country. Today, these vocal fx are not "dubbed" at all, but in the 70s and 80s it was common everywhere to dub everything with local talents, even the death scenes.

I have assembled a little vid with some favorite scenes and want to point of the differences in the dubbing. I had intended to past all clips here separately but this didn't work. So, I've created a vid with them all. Maybe you can download it and read my comments before or with the scenes:



So, what's to see? The following comments may have an excessive use of the word "favorite", so I will apologize in advance for that.

The first comparison is from DEATHSTALKER 2 (1987), one my favorite Barbarian movies of the 80s. I LOVE these CONAN rip-offs. Through them I was introduced to Amazon Warriors and loved the idea behind these women immediately. And the rest is... history :=D
It's the famous scene where Monique Gabrielle throws a dagger right in the bare navel of her evil clone. First is the original English dub. I love the way she later yells YOUUUUU bitchhh... but I even like the German dub more. This comes next. This was the way I saw this movie first on VHS.
What I like better in the German version is the sound of blade entering her belly. It's rather "bumping" in the original, here it sounds softer and "fleshier". I also like the grunt of the German dub and that she grunts and moans more over the scene while Monique is not heard at all after the first grunt. Interestingly the English version has her "Ewwww"-comment after the evil twin dissolves while it's silent in the German version

CONQUEST (1983) is next, another barbarian movie from Italian goremaster Lucio Fulci. The reason why I like this movie so much is mainly due to Sabrina Siani, one of my favorite actresses of the 80s. She has a beautiful skinny body and her pretty face and blonde hair are stunning, too. Both you won't see in CONQUEST as she wears a mask all the time, playing an evil priestess. In one scene she dreams about her future demise, being shot between the tits with a laser arrow. In the German and English version I am not sure if you can hear a scream or not as the sound FX of crushing bones is so loud but in the Italian version you hear a nice scream (German dub first, then the original). Also, she moans louder and even more engaged in the original Italian dub.

It is followed by AMAZON JAIL (1982), one of my most favorite WIP movies. It has so many beautiful girls and sleazy baddies, it's really great fun! The movie came directly to VHS in Germany in the mid-80s and the dub was done cheaply. It's also a bit out-of-synch on tape. The best scene comes when super cute Shirley Benny engages in a great catfight with another sexy gal. Soon they have ripped their dresses and make it out topless. As Shirley grabs a machete, sitting on her opponent to kill her, she is arrowed in the back by a bunch of guys. This scene has always been a favorite of mine. I LOVE how Shirley opens up, stretches herself as she is arrowed. Unfortunately the German dub never highlighted this as it's a screaming mix of the watching other females around it. This changed when I got the US DVD of this with the English dub which has her scream nicely. It made the scene even more thrilling! First comes the German dub, then the English version.

Next is MILLENNIUM CRISIS (2007) a confusing mess of a Sci-Fi-Thriller which story I failed to understand. But there was a nice topless sword fight between the evil lady and some guy. I've got the US DVD first and was a bit disappointed. Not only how the scene was filmed but also how it was vocally done. In the US version the lady grunts two times and... that's it. The German dub is much better but... it was dubbed OVER the English track. So you actually hear both, which is a bit confusing. A great scene... but wasted by the way it was filmed and the sound. First is the English track, then the German dub.

Rounding this little trip up are three movies by my fave director Jess Franco. He is often critized as an untalented maniac making shitty movies. Although I must admit that many of his works suffer from bad editing and the inability to shoot an exciting action scene, there is no other director around who constantly creates such a unique sleazy, sweaty, depraved world than Franco. In his movies the bad girls and boys are so over-the-top... it's fantastic. And also the good ones have dark sides they love to show us. For me, these are always hot movies in a sense that you can sense the heat, the sweat on the naked skin, the lust driven bodies... incredible. If this guy would be more interested to film his death scenes more thrilling, we would all worship his altar today. It would be my dream to make a movie in a Franco-Universe one time. One of my favorites from him is MACISTE CONTRE LA REINE DES AMAZONS (1973) which exists only in French on VHS and on DVD in Italy in a very bad print. This Amazon warrior movie has so badly edited death scenes that I could scream but... damn, I'd love to live in this Amazon Jungle!

Before coming to the movies, I may explain that his movies were financed by many different producers and/or featured actors from all around the world. The movies were shot in a way that everybody spoke in their own language and were dubbed later in every country by the script with local talents. So, no real "original versions" of his films exist. Also, the producers tend to cut the movies as they wanted, so many versions of a Franco film can exist. Censorship problems around the world only made that even worse.

Ok, the first of them is EXORCISM (1974), one of his most personal and best movies, as it's told. The movie begins with a stage act, where Monika Swinn stabs a bound Lina Romay to "death" with a fake dagger. Lina's scream in the English Version is quite good already, but I like the German dub even more. It's not as over-the-top as the English and fits better to her reactions. I first saw the movie on a Dutch VHS tape called THE SADIST OF NOTRE DAME, where this scene was not even included. Only later on US Blu-Ray I saw this opening scene. Later I bought a German Blu-Ray-Set which has many different versions included. Before that the movie was never released in any form in Germany. They also dubbed the film for the first time in German, even hiring some old "dubbers" of the 70s/80s and the result is really excellent!

Then there is SADMONIA (1981), the WIP that ranks with AMAZON JAIL over the top spot. The whole movie is way out, EVERY WOMAN is topless almost ALL THE TIME, it's great! And Ajita Wilson is marvellous as the bad lady(boy)! The most popular scene is surely the fully nude knife vs. spear death fight. Again, this is badly edited and shot in backlight, so you don't see much. I watched this on German VHS first and loved it immediately. Later on US DVD a longer version became available. Also this fight is longer there and to my surprise it ended with a marvellous orgiastic scream as the warden is stabbed in her belly! I liked the German grunt already, but this over-the-top scream became one of my favorites! It comes too early actually, but who cares? German first, US follows.

And finally there is JACK THE RIPPER (1976) starring the great Klaus Kinski. This scene is also one of my all time faves although it's so opposite to what I usually like. When you have seen some of my vids, you'll know that I like long, sensuous writhing, arching, squirming on the ground.
Here we see some plants, the camera goes down and we see a paralyzed Lina Romay, eyes wide open, breathing heavily. We can hear her already when we can't see her yet, as the camera is still moving down. In the scene before she has just been stabbed by Jack, who is now going to... well, you know what he did... This scene really haunts me. Lina does such a great job lying and staring there... breathing... nothing else. For just some seconds. But together with the sound of her breathing... this is so thrilling! I watched this on VHS in German first and will always love that scene. Following are three more different variations of this scene (of the English, French and Italian dub) and as all have some nice touches, I still like the German the best.

So, this took longer than expected. I hope you liked this journey into audio thrills and I would love to hear what are your favorite sounds before the silence? I know there are many, many more... let's hear about them!

Best,
Solstice

[Max5s]

For brevity I’ll only comment on Deathstalker 2. It’s the only film you described that I have watched completely. I agree with you that the German version is more appealing. The “Ewww” in the original English version kind of added to the ruining of the scene. The vaporization was a real scene killer for me because I wanted to see the wound. Up to that point, the scene was great and the lingering comment added insult to injury. But to your major point, the sounds associated with the dying can make a huge difference.

[tostig]

This is a great topic. I will list four films where the sounds are absolutely essential to my enjoyment of the scenes. I have brought a couple of them up so many times I will not even link them. But I don’t think I have ever discussed the audio elements that really topped them off for me.

Seizure - I love Mary Woronov’s guttural sudden screech when she is stabbed in the stomach during the knife fight scene. You really “feel” the sharp pain she expresses as it goes inside her, and it is a very long dagger. They way she moans on the floor, rolling around on the floor in a fetal position is amazing. And when Martine Beswick slits her throat it actually sounds like a blade slicing through her neck, followed by the sexiest death rattle I have ever heard as she collapses to the floor. On top of that, the pulsating background music is so lurid and depraved, the whole atmosphere is incredible for such an old, grainy film. Just perfect in every way.

Lethal Woman with Marete Van Kamp - When she is run through with a massive pike she unleashes one of the most shrill, unrestricted, agonizing screams of all time. The veins in her neck actually pop out, she is straining so hard. That is exactly how someone might react to such an impalement, I think. Her grunts and groans as the life slowly ebbs out of her are good too, but oh my! That scream.

Grievous Bodily Harm - Joy Bell - Her husband stabs her in the lower belly, then rips open about a foot long gash up to her sternum. As he does this, she gasps intermittently and seems to raise up on her tip toes. When he pulls the knife out there is a distinct suction sound to it. Then she groans and drops like a rock to the floor with a resounding thud. This is an Australian film noone has been able to find, so I think I am going to ping G Man about it.

A Stranger is Watching with Kate Mulgrew - I found Capt. Janeway really sexy in her Mrs. Columbo days. She had a really sultry Kathleen Turner resonance to her voice and was just really sexy in general. She looked fantastic in this film, with a low cut beige dress and heels I wish had come off at some point. Rip Torn stabs her in the side with a screw driver while kissing her on the lips. As they separate you hear her lips smick, then the gasps snd groans begin as he twists the screwdriver around inside of her. When he slides it out, she crashes to the floor and recoils, a full body shot that would have been perfect had she been shoeless. She gulps back another pained gasp and passes out. Later in the film she awakes and offers a lot more sexy moans and painful words as she struggles to get away from her captor. While she does not technically die by the end of the film, it’s quite possible she did based on the circumstances. So hot, and her sounds were top shelf.

Thanks for the post Solstice. Great title to the thread too.

[uncle_buck]

Mr. Solstice, if you are seeking women who are capable of uttering the choicest "grunts & gurgles" then may I suggest that you choose those who have an "alto" voice? I was fortunate enough to happen upon a version of "The Bone Collector" which had Queen Latifah in a costarring role. Toward the end of the film, the nurse, played by the Queen, is stabbed to death as she answers a summons to the door of the apartment. If you can ever find the "right version" the killing is done off-camera but the Queen's vocalizations are enough to make your socks roll up and down. They did mine.

[solstice]

Thank you all for the replies!

@max: agreed, these dissolutions are annoying. Unfortunatley widespread in the horror genre, just look at many vampire flicks!

@tostig, I know both SEIZURE and LETHAL WOMEN and can agree! These are remarkably good scenes! I saw SEIZURE on VHS as a teenager and the sight of Mary Woronov thrilled me so much! And those legs!!!! It also has Martine Beswick in it, one of my wet dreams also... her performance in PREHISTORIC WOMEN is THE role model for every Amazon Queen yet to come!

I haven't seen the two other ones, have to watch for them!

@Buck: I have to check this one out, too!

In my first post I wanted to show the differences of some scenes I love, you told me your faves, this is great.

Here is another fave of mine, from MERCY (2000). In the final, cop Ellen Barkin stabs psychokiller Karen Young (thankfully topless) between the ribs and her vocal reation is... amazing to say the least! Outstanding!



I also love how her belly moves later when her death is coming near.

One more interesting thing: I have this movie on US DVD and there are fullscreen and widescreen versions on each side of the disc. While the widescreen version reveals a bit more to the sides, the fullscreen version shows more on top and bottom, but it's not completely "unmasked". I wish if they'd put that on Blu-Ray one day, they'll go for a 16:9 version which shows all. Here is also the widescreen variant. I prefer the fullscreen more because only there you can see Karen's lovely bellybutton when lying on her back next to Ellen.



But let's spare this discussion for another topic and stick to vocal talents. I know I have some more to come which I haven't thought of yet.

Best, Solstice

[tostig]

Thank you for posting Mercy. When Big O started his top 50 thread, I started thinking of my top 50 and this one would have definitely been on it. I had been looking for it for awhile, so this is nice.

[G-Man]

Dear friends,

now that holiday season is arriving and I have some more time, I thought about a topic that is - at least to my knowledge - barely discussed in our community: the sounds of the actress as she is meeting her demise. The way she may grunt or scream.

I could not agree with you more solstice, since there is only "TWO" senses... Sight & Sound
one can display on a clip movie exc... for sound can be just as equally critical in how successful a scene is.
Rarely we hear voice reaction sound, its mostly the sound(s) we hear in a scene are the gun-shot, sword or
knife sound effect going in the victim.
But lots of times we do hear the victim talk, gasp or make some other dying sounds after being shot or stabbed
when someone reaches them before they die.
However... in strangle scenes, we do her the victim make sounds while being choked more so then not.
(I guess it would be funny if the victim talked after they been strangled to death )
I guess that is the way it usually is.