j's heaven: Halloween Week: Day 5, Soundtracks

Friday, October 29, 2010

Halloween Week: Day 5, Soundtracks

I used to date a girl who would say, 'I could probably watch horror movies, if it weren't for the music,'. Got my wheels spinning on the importance of music and sound-design in horror and thriller movies. Atonal strings, to build the tension, to alert you to the fact that someone is probably about to bite it. Heavy breathing and first person POV, to let you know (or at least think) that a psycho is watching the character, who is probably about to bite it.
Truth of the matter is horror movie soundtracks have a lot of qualities that i like in any ol' music, which is to say it is dark, demented, and generally fucked up. And they can get away with being totally unrestrained and over the top, which is something many, say Metal, bands just can't pull off, without being cheesy as fuck. So its nice to sometimes lay the atmospherics on thick, to know, "i am listening to horror music," and that is okay.
So i've pulled together some odds and ends, certainly not definitive, but most of which is damn fine. Hopefully, if yr anything like me, you don't just pull these goodies out a week out of the year, cuz yr not gonna get through this list in the next two days. Unless yr a real freak, in which case, i like you.
Included here, you will find yr standard, 'creepy music, interspersed with dialog from the movie,' as well as straight orchestral scores. You will find creeky haunted house tunes, vintage '80s synthesizer blasts, as well as a some vintage bloopy sci-fi, just to cover all the bases. I think you will find that all the examples i have provided stand up on their own, whether you've seen the movie or not, and are not pure schlock novelty.
Of the batch, probably my favorite is The House of the Devil OST, which has more eerie atmospheric piano pieces than you can shake an inverted crucifix at, with a second runner up going to the Phantasm OST, which is surprisingly listenable. Noteworthy also is the classic Goblin soundtrack to Romero's 1978 Dawn of the Dead, and i am also including the music that got used in the worldwide distribution, which i've not heard yet, but will probably rule.
I hope yr having a good Halloween week, and enjoying the treats i've been putting up here.

OSTs