# Horror Film Scores



## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Ever watch certain Horror films and wonder what makes them so effective? I'll bet each and every one of the films we love that made us sit up and take notice at that right moment have a great film score. This thread is dedicated to your favorite film scores and why. I'm going to put my favorite and then from there lets see what you guys can come up with.

Christopher Young-the scores for *Hellraiser/Hellbound.* The *Hellraiser* series, especially after the first two entries are seriously flawed. However, you tend to look over such glaring discrepencies as the film crew with a trolley pushing the Engineer creature along in the first film, or Julia having a full intact skin when her bandages are removed and full makeup and painted nails, when the musical score plays that certain note right for the moment. I would even go so far as to say these are the best Horror scores of all-time. I might be wrong, but the music impressed me about as much as the films themselves giving the whole experience that majectic dark fairy tale quality it brings out so well.


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## RAXL (Jul 9, 2004)

Hmmm.
Well, it's far, far from great, but, I have the Jason goes to Hell soundtrack, and play it outside, every Halloween. It's pretty neat.:voorhees:


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

The first creeped me out, but that could have been induced by inhaling illegal plant life in my youth 
But it is still on my favorite list!


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

Anything by Jerry Goldsmith! Planet of The Apes. The Omen. Alien. Shiver inducing music

Elliot Goldenthal's Alien 3 score (Less said about Hicks/Alien 3 the better!) And his Interview with The Vampire scores were excellent.

Carpenter should have his own section at the music store! lol! 

.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

I may regret this, but I really like the opening score to the House on Haunted Hill (99 version). Don't know if there is a soundtrack, but the music played when the movie starts is great. I also enjoyed the movie itself.


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Be not ashamed of your liking for that film, Jack! There's a lot of good talent there: Jeffery Combs, Famke Janssen, Ali Larter, Geoffrey Rush, Bridgette Wilson and Greg Nicotero had his hands working on that project as well.

I thought it was pretty good.


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Faustian_Pact said:


> Anything by Jerry Goldsmith! Planet of The Apes. The Omen. Alien. Shiver inducing music
> 
> Elliot Goldenthal's Alien 3 score (Less said about Hicks/Alien 3 the better!) And his Interview with The Vampire scores were excellent.
> 
> ...


Agree with all the sentiments, Pact! Especially with Carpenter. In the course of our friendship you'll hear me praise John Carpenter more than one time on many different levels.


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## TipoDeemin (Oct 8, 2005)

Heresjohnny said:


> I may regret this, but I really like the opening score to the House on Haunted Hill (99 version). Don't know if there is a soundtrack, but the music played when the movie starts is great. I also enjoyed the movie itself.


I love that movie, Heresjohnny, and you're right about the soundtrack being good. Nice modern horror music, for when the symphonic stuff just isn't cutting it. As a huge Rob Zombie fan, I also love the House of 1000 Corpses soundtrack for this.

For the more symphonic stuff I was referring to earlier, though, my favorite is the soundtrack to Bram Stoker's Dracula--the Francis Ford Coppola version with Gary Oldman. Quite eerie and powerful!


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## dougspaulding (May 22, 2004)

Bernard Herrmann chose to use only razor-sharp, slashing strings for his score to Alfred Hitchcock's *Psycho*. And it works like a dream (or a nightmare), the music feeling as edgy and colorless as the noir-ish black-and-white photography. But as noticeably effective as the knife-screeching violins are in the famous shower scene (followed by those deadly blows from the basses and cellos), they work just as powerfully--though perhaps not as noticeably--all throughout the picture. Herrmann evokes dread and tension with just a few notes, or captures Janet Leigh's flighty panic in pizzicato as she hits the fateful road to the Bates Motel after impulsively stealing a large sum of money from her employer.

Another major reason for the success of *Halloween* is the musical score, particularly the main theme. Lacking a symphonic soundtrack, the film's score consists of a piano melody played in a 5/4 time rhythm composed by John Carpenter. Critic James Berardinelli calls the score "relatively simple and unsophisticated," but admits that "Halloween's music is one of its strongest assets." Carpenter stated in an interview, "I can play just about any keyboard, but I can't read or write a note."

John William's film score for *Jaws* is a classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching danger, evoking the start of Allegro con fuoco, the fourth movement from Dvořák's Symphony No. 9. Echoes of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, particularly the opening of "The Adoration of the Earth", are heard as well. Another influence may have been Ed Plumb's score for Walt Disney's *Bambi*, which used a low, repeating musical motif to suggest approaching danger from the off-screen threat of Man. When the piece was first played for Spielberg, he was said to have laughed at John Williams, thinking that it was a joke. Spielberg was later quoted as saying that without Williams' score, the movie would have been only half as successful.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

This is an easy one for me..The theme from Halloween..Simple, repetitive, but EFFECTIVE! Gets my adrenaline going every time I hear it.


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Yes, indeedy! The theme to *Halloween* is superb in it's it's simplicity to set the mood for the entire film. It does this best at the end after Loomis shoots Myers and he falls out of the window and Laurie Stroud asks, "Was that the boogie man?" To which Loomis replies "Yes, I think it was." And when he looks down, Myers is gone. Cue music. Show the darkest corners of the house and neighborhood. Where is he? The simple answer, just like with it's theme: Everywhere. One of the best scores of all-time. :jol:


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## TipoDeemin (Oct 8, 2005)

Gotta agree with that on the Halloween music. It's the only horror theme that still makes me shiver.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Lets work on this some more, I have already purchased 2 soundtracks since this thread started. I was browsing soundtracks on Amazon today, and the Music on movies like 'Dracula 2000' and 'Queen of the Damned' sounded very dark and disturbing, makes me want to rent the movies and check em out. Got me thinking about music from my day that could have been in a horror flick, and I thought of some of the music from Pink Floyds The Wall, and old Black Sabbath like Vol 4. BTW I still listen to modern stuff, current CDs in my player include Evanescence, Dark New Day, and Chevelle, nothing too intense.


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## TipoDeemin (Oct 8, 2005)

The "Queen of the Damned" soundtrack is incredible, despite being attached to that ****ty excuse for a film.  You'd be doing yourself a serious favor to pick it up. And if you can handle Chevelle, nothing on it will be too intense for you.

Couldn't give you an opinion on the "Dracula 2000" soundtrack, as I haven't heard it and don't know what's on it. I can highly recommend the "Underworld" and "Underworld: Evolution" soundtracks on the basis of the Puscifier songs (one on each soundtrack) alone. The other songs are okay, but generally gothy-throwaway backdrop stuff that I listen to if I'm not feeling energetic enough to get up and change the CD after Puscifier is through. 

For gothy stuff that isn't at all throwaway, there's also "The Crow" soundtrack. A might more mellow than any of these others, too, which is good for a change of pace.


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

Elliot Goldenthal's score for Alien.3 was the one part of that movie that didn't let the series down. It is so creepy.Gloom,and doom.


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## claymud (Aug 21, 2005)

I havn't seen many horror movies but The Exorsist theam is on my playlist while writting horror... just that feel it gives off. Also most of the time when I start humming the JAWS theam it comes out as JAWS with a mix of Phyco. 
But the one movie soundtrack that I do have that is anything close to horror is the Ghostbusters casset. I really have to say I enjoy that one. Even though its not that dark and morbid.


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## MrsMyers666 (Apr 13, 2006)

Gotta agree with everyone that said *Halloween*. It's the best. If you have the 25th Anniversary DVD they have a documentary on there and John Carpenter talks about the music and they play a scene without the music to show how boring it is and then with the music and it changes the scene completely. I play this blasting outside every Halloween, have it on my phone and when I was in high school I dressed up as Michael and had a little tape player in my back pack playing the music as I walked and did the head tilt, bothered a lot of people with that.


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

claymud said:


> I havn't seen many horror movies but The Exorsist theam is on my playlist while writting horror... just that feel it gives off. Also most of the time when I start humming the JAWS theam it comes out as JAWS with a mix of Phyco.
> But the one movie soundtrack that I do have that is anything close to horror is the Ghostbusters casset. I really have to say I enjoy that one. Even though its not that dark and morbid.


VERY GOOD CHOICES CLAYMUD!!

We need an Elvis tune by Bruce Campbell! I'm not saying it fits this thread,but hey...I'm just saying..


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Hmmm...this gives me an idea for a thread...


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

Claymud.
You have a demonic possession;a killer shark;a psychotic momma's boy;and The Ghostbusters. You do realize that you are sitting on the formula for box office gold;right?


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

Sinister said:


> Hmmm...this gives me an idea for a thread...


Oh ho ho! I get to be the scapegoat,eh? 

"I'm a hunka,hunka shotgun wielding love!"


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

I can see it all now: A naked Anthony Perkins swims off Montauk Point, and is attacked by a Pazuzu posessed Great White. The gangling hotel owner realizes he won't be able to cross-dress any longer and screams so loud it alerts Janene at Ghostbusters HQ and she get's Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and Zeddemore on the case, who ZAP Bruce with their nuclear accerlator back packs and lock him up in one of those shoebox size traps. Sounds like a better plot than *House of the Dead* to me.


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

You ARE a visionary,Sinister!!


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## dougspaulding (May 22, 2004)

claymud said:


> But the one movie soundtrack that I do have that is anything close to horror is the Ghostbusters casset. I really have to say I enjoy that one.


I really liked the *Air Supply* song on *The Ghostbusters*!


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## dougspaulding (May 22, 2004)

Sinister said:


> I can see it all now: A naked Anthony Perkins swims off Montauk Point...


Visionary or no, you just lost my seven dollars!


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

dougspaulding said:


> I really liked the *Air Supply* song on *The Ghostbusters*!


Heh heh!


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## Faustian_Pact (Apr 19, 2006)

Don't forget REO Speedwagon! Umm...y'know..on second thought,.scratch that.


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