10 Movie Moments Which Aren’t What They Seem

8. The Lord Of The Rings - Ringwraith Scream Is Someone Playing With Cups

Everyone remembers the first time they heard a Ringwraith scream.

It's one of the single most terrifying sounds ever to be basted out of a cinema's speakers and it still sends shivers up your spine when you watch Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy back today.

Yet, a sound which initially appears to be a pretty intense high pitch screech from a human being or even a car drifting around a bend, actually has some fairly humble roots.

The sound designer on the feature David Farmer actually scraped plastic cups together in order to produce the ear piercing howl, before editing them in the studio in order to convincingly produce the sound of the chilling Nazgul.

It's incredible to think that this truly frightening noise was the product of a dude playing with something which usually contained lukewarm whiskey and coke at a college party, but it proved to be a genius way of bringing the ever present evil forces to life.

Next time you want to spook a sibling or pal into thinking a Ringwraith is coming for them, just head on down to the shops, grab yourself two party cups and start rubbing.

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La Haine
 
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Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...