AIEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..........

Unless you're actively trying to be annoyed by it, I don't think the average person notices it.

Subtract movies associated with George Lucas, and you hardly have a trend. I think I can live without George Lucas movies.

@3, its a bit more prevalent than that. It just screams lazy sfx work to me.

@4 it screams a silly Hollywood in-joke that shows up (at most) once per film on a decent number of action films and the occasional comedy.

It also remains, proudly, my phone's text message sound of about the past year.

I can handle the Wilhelm scream, but there's a raft of other sound effects that get used over and over not to make a shout-out to anybody but because they're lazy. When a horse makes the same specific sound horses make in all manner of movies and TV shows and video games, it's jarring. Same thing with cats and laughing babies and gasping crowds and the other things they rely on stock sounds for.

Good movies don't have screaming in them.

@6: "When a horse makes the same specific sound horses make in all manner of movies "

The same horse noise 20 times in every game of thrones episode?

"In Space, No One Can Hear The Wilhelm Scream"...

The good sfx people change the Wilhelm scream enough to hide it to most casual viewers, but giving their sfx friends something to listen for. The examples in that youtube video were pretty bad.

The premise behind using it is that in-jokes can never get old. I refute this assumption.

@6 yepper. I dislike hearing it, not as extremely as choice 1, but as that was the closest, I picked that anyway. As far as I can remember, The Little Mermaid was the first time I heard the reused gasping crowd sound, and I've heard it dozens of times since.

There is another scream I recognize a lot that I first heard in the opening of the kid show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters that sounds more like a torture cry, rather than the accidental mishap of Wilhelm.

I hate it almost as much as the posterized lone eagle "SCREEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeee" sound that signifies "Somewhere in this move there is about to appear a mesa, or a Native American Indian, or both."

@ 14, the really funny thing is that I don't believe eagles make that sound. According to my bird app, that's a red tailed hawk.

What Paul Constant likes is when a book or film makes him feel special. Like when he gets an in-joke, his ego swoons. You got to know that about him before you consider anything he recommended.

I love the red-tailed hawk sound. Whenever we hear them, in the movies or in the wild, either my partner or I will say, "There goes a Buick."

My guess is that even though the scream has "gone public in such a huge way," it is still only recognized by approximately 001% of the movie-going public, and roughly 99% of them get a little chuckle out of it. What a killjoy this guy is.

3: Blame Ben Burtt...

This is so funny. I never, ever heard about this and never, ever would have known had I not read this. Now that I do know, I definitely want it retired precisely for the very same reasons Paul wants it kept - it reminds me too much of the process, and it also makes the movie seem cheaper or lazier.

No.

There's a "oh man yeah" crowd noise blurb that's in _everything_. The Godfather, Blues Brothers, Chasing Amy, The Wire, it just doesn't stop.

Here's another overused scream, except unlike the Wilhlem scream, this one doesn't have some kind of kitschy legacy, it's just shit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf6_hok4-…

Apparently some people call it the "Howie Scream" and it is awful.

The Wilhelm Scream rules; I don't know how someone couldn't like it.

The sound effect I always notice is the "squeaky door" anytime someone enters a room. Seriously, listen for it whenever a door is opened on a TV show. Youll start to hear it everywhere.

Dang,

Who notices these kinds of things? Just sit back and enjoy the movie.

@6 Most of the thunder you hear on film is from the 1930's Frankenstein.

Lighten up, Fnarf!

Comte, you are a treasure.

@14: It's a Red tail Hawk's cry, so it's the wrong species to! Bald Eagles made a kind of cute sound.

Wilheim is only annoying when they don't do some trickery to disguise the tone. but the sfx I find most annoying

-the Redtail hawk subbing for Bald Eagles
-"Doom Doors"
-The Kissing noise

The weird laugh that is in every single laugh tracked episode of M*A*S*H. I'm so glad canned laughter is passe. I would cringe every time would hear that dude laugh.

I'm shocked a sound editor would still want to use any part or form of the Wilhelm Scream. Once Family Guy started using it, that should have been the obvious clue that it was time to move on. It stands out like a sore thumb. It ruins the tone of any scene it appears in. And when I hear it in films like Lord Of The Rings I just have to hang my head. Any film that uses it should lose half a star these days. It's like the sound editors just want to be like every other schmuck before him/her. "Me too! Me too! I want to use it too!" This is not creative. Obviously not original. It is no longer some secret connection to other sound editors. You are cheapening every single production you put it in. How about being the revolutionary sound editor that starts the trend of never using it?! It's so sad that it would be revolutionary. Don't try to be slick and alter the scream or use one of the other less-used recordings from the Wilhelm Scream set. Just don't. Step up and be professionals in your field. Please stop ruining films or any TV show trying to be more serious than Family Guy. Anyone who thinks it isn't overused just isn't paying attention. I hear it on nearly every action movie I watch.

Sure there are a few other overly-used samples. For me, the common one of young children laughing and playing stands out. And a couple of the crowd cheering ones. But there is no excuse for the Wilhelm screams. To every sound editor reading this: Every time you want to put in one of these Wilhelm Scream samples I want you to feel dirty. I want you to feel shame. I want you to know that you have now damaged the film you were trying to do a good job with. You make yourself look more amateur and less creative. Less distinctive. Don't feel like you need to get one under your belt. Just don't. This is the worst way you can do your job. Whoever is in charge of hiring the sound editor should have a contract that prevents the sound editors from using it. It is an epidemic of awful and someone needs to make a stand.

To those of you just discovering this awful epidemic, it isn’t new. I first read about the scream about ten years ago and it had already been used in hundreds of films. I can’t even imagine how many films have been tainted since then.