I love that sound! It's so chilling and unearthly. I'd freak out if I was out in the desert or the woods and suddenly heard that noise.
See to them, you're just a freak... like me!
If I heard that sound, I would lose 20 pounds (all of it brown!!!)
"It's a trap!"
- Admiral Ackbar
I was clearing brush out in South Texas and the wind was rubbing the mesquite branches together... they made the same eerie chirping sound that the giant ants made! It's a very creepy thing to hear out in the middle of nowhere... : )
shareOne day many years ago i watched this movie and the next day i was standing at a bus stop when a van drove past making the very same sound as the ants,iam sure the sound was from a sqeaky wheel/transmission bearing,it was very freaky.
sharemy washing machine broke one day and made that sound. it sucked.
sharethey used the same sound effect in the (much worse) sci fi film THE BLACK SCORPION, which I think came out a couple years later... in that film it stood in for the scorpion's uh, "sound"
shareThe sound that the giant ants from "THEM!" make as they approach their prey is a recorded chorus of bird-voiced treefrogs (Hyla avivoca) of the southeastern United States. Occasionally a grey treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) can be heard on the soundtrack as well, as these species can often be heard together at the same wetland.
shareThe sound they used was ciccadia beetles that hibrinate under the ground and come out once every seven years. I can remember an infestation of them coming around back in the mid seventies. These big beetles would come buzzing along slow, low, and dumb. They made great targets for wiffleball bats. My brother and I would hear them chirping and yell, "Its Them!" It took awhile for my parents to make the connection.
shareBeta maxx is correct, quoting the information from IMDb trivia. The sound is that of the breed of treefrogs, not cicadas.
As for cicadas: I believe their sound is used in "Pumpkinhead" when the demon creature appears. At least, that chittering sound always reminds me of the cicadas around here.
But, the ants definitely are voiced using treefrogs.
~~MystMoonstruck~~
There is an air conditioner on top of a supermarket close to where I live and I swear, it makes the same noise. It creeps me out. I half expect a giant ant to appear.
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