# Horror films with great musical scoring **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895 "2008-02-16T17:27:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/21 "2008-02-19T15:51:52Z")
I came in to mention Goblin’s _Suspiria_ score, but I also liked Marco Beltrami’s score for _Scream_. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/22 "2008-02-21T14:22:30Z")
“Picnic At Hanging Rock”. It reminded me of that M.C. Escher picture of grim dwarves climbing a staircase on the top edge of a tower, going endlessly up in all four directions. My impression at the time was that the music involved a slow chromatic scales that, like the stairs, seemed to always be ascending. It created a sense of unbearable tension. The movie does move kinda slowly, but I never forgot that music. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/23 "2008-02-21T17:41:39Z")
[QUOTE=The Scrivener] **Beadalin** , what is the movie’s setting and plot? Does your husband aspire to write a groundbreakingly original score, or one that conforms with the expectations and conventions of that subgenre? What are the expectations of the director and producers for the score? And how much time will he have? [/QUOTE] Those are great questions, **Scrivener** , and I’m sorry to say that I don’t know the answers yet, but I’ll pass them along to Randy and see what he knows. Everything is in the way early stages and we have yet to see any footage. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/24 "2008-02-21T18:09:58Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] _Alien_ and sequels (J. Goldsmith) [/QUOTE] Actually, James Horner did the score for _Aliens_ and Elliot Goldenthal for _Alien 3_. One of my all-time favorites that nobody’s mentioned yet is Philip Glass’s amazing score for **Candyman** (which itself is vastly underrated). And of course, there’s Max Steiner’s seminal score for **King Kong** (perhaps the first truly great film score). ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/25 "2008-02-21T18:39:17Z")
For a very different horror soundtrack, you should check out the music for cannibal horror film _Ravenous_. It was written by Damon Albarn (Blur) and Michael Nyman, and very disturbing in a claustrophobia-with-banjos sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/26 "2008-02-21T19:02:44Z")
Look at any of the horror by [Harry Manfredini](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006185/) , most famous for Friday the 13th (ch…ch…ch…ah…ah…ah…) but his creepiest masterpiece are the soundtracks for **House** and **House 2**. They are mostly cello and string, and ooze suspense and tension 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895/27 "2008-02-22T05:14:45Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Actually, James Horner did the score for _Aliens_ and Elliot Goldenthal for _Alien 3_. [/quote] Right you are. Goldsmith did only the [first _Alien_ of the sequence.](http://imdb.com/title/tt0078748/fullcredits) Not much continuity in the music department, it seems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-films-with-great-musical-scoring/437895.md?page=1)