How important is the music in Horror Films?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by DARKANGEL

Not to mention it can also help the atmosphere of a film. I have some horror movies were they are just all out blood and guts slasher so it doesn't really matter to much...

Reading this i immediately thought of the Friday the 13th and Halloween films.

Remove the Carpenter signature tune when Michael is stalking and the Jason chchch ahahah motif and the films would lose so much.

So in this respect music and sound really does add to the whole of a film.

[profondo rosso]

Music to me is vital in movies not just as an accompaniment but also to juxtaposition against that all vital ingredient in Horror....silence! How many movies have we seen where all we want and need to hear is the breathing of the woman in hiding, no music at all.....until she is found or decides to run....then the music kicks in!....it can add to the atmosphere of a film, dramatizing what we see and feel but can also do this by not being there for a time, when its taken away and we wait for it to come back, as when it does we know something is about to happen.

I think music holds a film in its grasp and can stand alone, hence so many on this site collecting soundtracks.

I remember renting VHS videos and hating having to take them back, wanting to keep the special experience of watching Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween 1 and 2, Escape from New York etc so sat in my bedroom, played the film and pressed record on my cassette recorder and listened to the voices and the music for months after returning it to Mr video rental man.

I realised from a very early age how infectious and important John Carpenters music was in relation to atmosphere, I did not need to see the images, just the music and voices.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Music is a strange thing in films because excellent soundtracks which stick in the memory perfectly complement – or even dictate – the pace, atmosphere, and emotion of certain scenes. Sometimes, as in Suspiria, the soundtrack can add to the narrative. I find it fascinating that Alfred Hitchcock had to be persuade it to have a score on Psycho because he initially wanted the film to have no scored music at all, and it wouldn't be half as effective without Bernard Herrmann's stabbing strings.

Other, equally brilliant, soundtracks are ones which you don't notice when you're watching a film – editing works in a similar way – and it's only when you watch a film to study the soundtrack you pay attention to the music and realised that it is so synchronised with the visual aspects of the film that it blends into the background.

Both work equally well depending on the type of film, type of soundtrack, and whether music is appropriate.

[Rik]

Look at Hellraiser, I absolutely love Chris Young's score for this (and Hellbound), but after hearing Coil's version (which actually scared me a little while listening to it!), I can't help wonder what the film would be like if the studio had allowed Coil to finish the score as intended by Clive Barker.

Another one is the score for Irreversible, which is actually designed to upset your stomach due to the low frequencies (think Brown noise, Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about!).
The film is harrowing enough with the visuals, but the score makes it even more unpleasant IMO!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I'm often impressed by very 'delicate' or minimalist score. For example, I didn't realise Gravity had any music until the end credits rolled and Steven Price's name appeared, and it was only with repeated viewings on Blu-ray that I listened to the music and realised what a brilliant composition it was. As such, some of the best soundtracks are the ones you don't notice at all.

Conversely, I've seen City Lights and the original Ben-Hur with a full orchestra playing the original score and they were both incredible experiences so, as I said before, I don't think there is a rule as to which approach is best.