The Uses Of The Wilhelm Scream, Ranked

You might think you don’t know what the Wilhelm Scream is, but you do. It’s a very specific, brief, high-pitched scream of a man in agony, and it’s been used in hundreds and hundreds of films and TV shows since the 1950s. It’s the ultimate Hollywood inside joke, a little Easter egg planted by sound designers for decades.

Once you know what to listen for, you’ll start hearing it everywhere, from the biggest sci-fi sagas to animated classics. We’ve gathered here today the best uses of the scream, and how it has followed us for decades. It has become both a practical tool and a nod to the history of cinema.

Distant Drums

This is where it all began. The sound effect was first recorded for the 1951 film Distant Drums, in a scene where a man is bitten and dragged into the water by an alligator. The original recording was simply labeled “Man getting bit by an alligator.”

The Charge at Feather River

The scream got its name a couple of years later, in the 1953 Western The Charge at Feather River. A character named Private Wilhelm gets shot in the leg with an arrow and lets out the now-famous yelp, forever linking his name to it.

Them!

Just one year after being named, the scream made the leap to another genre entirely. It was used in the 1954 giant-ant creature feature Them!, proving early on that no movie genre was safe from this particular sound of distress.

Star Wars A New Hope

Sound designer Ben Burtt rediscovered the scream and put it in A New Hope when Luke Skywalker shoots a stormtrooper off a ledge. This is the moment that launched the scream from an old sound effect into an iconic pop culture reference.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Wilhelm scream was used in all of the Indiana Jones films, including this classic moment in Raiders where a Nazi soldier lets it out as he falls from the back of a moving truck.

Poltergeist

Even some of the most serious horror movies couldn’t resist using the scream. It’s the kind of sound that can break the tension for those in the know, or just blend into the chaos for everyone else.

Spaceballs

In a movie that parodies Star Wars, you can bet there’s a Wilhelm scream. When Princess Vespa gets a weapon and starts blasting away, the last Spaceball trooper she hits in the hallway goes down with the classic sound.

Reservoir Dogs

It’s no surprise that film nerd Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of the Wilhelm scream. He slipped it into his debut feature, cementing its status as a cool director’s nod to classic Hollywood history.

Toy Story

The scream isn’t just for live-action films. When Buzz Lightyear is accidentally knocked out of Andy’s window, his heroic fall is punctuated by the unmistakable sound, proving its universal appeal for any character in peril.

Batman Returns

During a fight scene, Batman throws one of the Red Triangle Circus Gang members, and the goon lets out the familiar yelp as he’s tossed aside by the Caped Crusader.

Willow

Amidst the chaos of the film’s sword-and-sorcery battles, the famous sound can be heard, adding a little touch of Hollywood silliness to a magical adventure.

Titanic

Right after the ship hits the iceberg, you can hear the scream as water pours into the lower decks and hits some of the crew members. It’s a little out of place, but it gets the job done.

Kill Bill Volume 1

Quentin Tarantino loves the Wilhelm scream so much he used it again here. It’s one of his many cinematic signatures, a little wink to the audience that they’re watching a movie made by someone who truly loves them.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

During the final battle for Hogwarts, with spells flying everywhere, one unlucky combatant goes down with the famous shriek. It’s a quick one, but it’s there.

Transformers

You might not expect to hear a human scream during a battle between giant alien robots, but that’s what makes it funny, intentionally or otherwise. The famous sound effect found its way into this blockbuster franchise, showing up among the explosions and metal-on-metal action.