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Author	Topic: The Best Horror Score?

SFT Oscar® Winner	With all the great horror scores out there, wich one do you think is the best? My personal favorites are difinitly Bernard Herrmann´s Psycho and his score to Cape Fear. In my opinion a good horror score has to be able to build up a psycological tention during the movie, and I don´t think there is a better example of this than Psycho. It is completely brilliant. In fact, it is the only music I have ever listened to, that actually frightened me, and it was´nt even within the context of the movie when I heard it the first time. Cape Fear also has this ability. It really does say a lot about the talent of the composer, that he is actually able to frighten people with his music. I mean, there are a lot of great horror scores wich has a spooky atmosphere and gives you a couple of chocks, but can you really think of any that actually scares you? There are´nt many of them, am I right? SFT
posted 04-23-1999 11:21 AM PT (US)

Matt Oscar® Winner	Horner's Aliens.....built tension extraordinarily well, especially the build up to the first encounter, in "Sub Level 3." NP: October Sky
posted 04-23-1999 11:25 AM PT (US)

SFT Oscar® Winner	Matt, I also own Aliens, and it is very atmospheric and packed with tension, but I don´t think it´s very scary. Actually, when compared to Psycho, it´s somewhat tame. SFT
posted 04-23-1999 12:32 PM PT (US)

Gae Oscar® Winner	Psycho is obviously a "classic" score but oddly enough apart from the "stabbing" music I dont find it scary but enjoyable to listen to....the same with "Cape Fear",its brilliantly dramatic but not scary. "Sub Level 3" from Aliens is quite suspenseful and does give me a fright when it suddenly blasts out FF as "Newt" runs past...I never seemed to be able to anticipate this, it always catches me out. I personally dont find music scary as I love "dissonant" music anyway,but I would recommend "Poltergeist" and "Damien:Omen II"(Goldsmith). For me personally they are the closest I have come to being scared with a soundtrack...they're also examples of Goldsmith at his best! Gae NP Return of the Jedi
posted 04-23-1999 02:53 PM PT (US)

S Smith unregistered	I don't know if it's the "best," but I'm pretty sure everybody recognizes the them to "Halloween." I especially liked the treatment of it in, what was it, #6? There's been too many.
posted 04-23-1999 09:50 PM PT (US)

Audacity Oscar® Winner	I think a couple of the tracks on Ennio Moricone's score to THE THING are pretty scary. Audacity
posted 04-24-1999 08:05 AM PT (US)

Matt Oscar® Winner	SFT: music doesnt scare me, music sets me up to be scared, and thats what i consider to be a horror score. That is what Aliens does, it sets up the tension, and that combined with the motion tracker sounds in the movie work remarkably well. As for psycho, i consider it effective within the movie, but it has never scared me just listening. It sets me up quite well, but only within the movie, and even then when i watch nowadays it doesnt even do that(prolly cause ive seen it so many times) I agree with Gae to say that other than the famous stabbing theme the music doesnt really provoke any reaction from me when listening. NP: Field Of Dreams
posted 04-24-1999 10:49 AM PT (US)

James Oscar® Winner	My favorite horror scores come from John Ottman and Richard Band. John Ottman has produced some horror gems with APT PUPIL and HALLOWEEN H20 aka PORTRAIT OF TERROR. I especially love Ottman's arrangement of the Halloween theme, and I consider it much better than the original. Richard Band's style is much different, as he is the master of the B-movie, but I especially love his scores THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW and THE ALCHEMIST. They have beautiful themes as well as thrilling action cues. I recommend to any horror fan that you pick them up at Intrada, for just 3.99, both scores on one CD. You won't be disappointed, especially at $4. NP - THE AVENGERS (Joel McNeely)
posted 04-24-1999 09:08 PM PT (US)

SFT Oscar® Winner	Matt: Maybe I´m just oversensitive... Seriously, I think that some music can indeed be frigthening. I mean...when I first heard the stabbing music from Psycho I did´nt like it; not because it was a badly composed piece of music, but because I just did´nt like listening to it; it was to scary. I was about ten years old, so maybe that´s a bit understandable...well, now when I listen to it, it leaves me with the same impression: An impression of absolute horror. I don´t know why...maybe I´m just a person who is very easy to scare...but it does give me a very intense listening experience, and If I´m a rare sort of person because of this, then I consider myself a little lucky, actually. SFT
posted 04-25-1999 01:54 PM PT (US)

LesterMoos unregistered	Gae, I would have to agree, for me Poltergeist and the Omen are two scores that just give me the chills everytime I listen to them.
posted 04-25-1999 02:06 PM PT (US)

Magdi Oscar® Winner	Some of the most scary music is written by Chris Young: Hellraiser, Hellbound (!!!), The Dark Half, The Fly II... And what about Goldenthals "Alien 3" and "Pet Sematary"? NP: Dave (Howard)
posted 04-25-1999 03:30 PM PT (US)

pietari Oscar® Winner	Goldenthal`s Pet Sematary has a very spooky athmosphere about it, especially that children`s chorus thingy. Personally myfavorite kind of scary music is lyrical at times and dissonant at others. In this area I think Beltrami`s Mimic succeeds wonderfully.
posted 04-26-1999 01:29 PM PT (US)

spunkyxl unregistered	Mark Snow's score to the X-Files is really creepy, complete with animal sounds in the background. It caught me off guard and is packed with tension.
posted 04-26-1999 07:08 PM PT (US)

Sean Bires Oscar® Winner	I enjoyed Mark Snow's "The Truth and The Light" which is a CD of music from The X Files (television show, not movie). It has very good, dark, moody synthesizer/orchestra tracks on it... But The X-Files TV show is more of a suspense/drama than it is a horror/sci-fi. My all-time favorite horror score has to be "SPHERE" from Elliot Goldenthal (who composed the "Alien3" soundtrack that I also liked). "SPHERE" has some great music in it, filled with psychologically terrifying and claustrophobic tracks. Songs like "Opening Titles" and "Wave" add some incredible moody tention to the film. Even though the film wasn't that good (the depth of the film was very shallow compared to the book), the soundtrack is GREAT!!! [This message has been edited by Sean Bires (edited 04-27-99).]
posted 04-27-1999 01:29 PM PT (US)

Ben Penserga Oscar® Winner	Titanic. No, seriously, I'd either go with Aliens or The X-Files.
posted 04-29-1999 10:10 PM PT (US)

Maestro Sartori Oscar® Winner	Let's see... my all-time favorite horror scores. I have a few... Nightbreed, by Danny Elfman. I have a difficult time walking down the street at night, listening to this on my Walkman. Scream & Scream 2 Halloween Any of the Nightmare on Elm Street scores Interview with the Vampire and The Omen!!! I also forgot Poltergeist, Jurassic Park (for the pulse-pounding nature of it), Aliens, The X-Files (television)... [This message has been edited by Maestro Sartori (edited 04-30-99).]
posted 04-30-1999 04:43 AM PT (US)

SFT Oscar® Winner	Maestro Sartori: Danny Elfmans score to NightBreed is indeed very spooky, but I think there´s an adventures and magical side to it, that does´nt quite qualify it as a horrorscore...but it´s defineatly one of Elfman´s best, although not one of his most known and apreciated (wich is a shame, because it really is a fantastic score). SFT
posted 05-01-1999 10:14 AM PT (US)

kyle42 Oscar® Winner	It definetly has to be Bernard Hermann's psycho and then Jerry GOldsmith's The Omen. These two were both very original for their time and now are copied over and over again. Any horror score that uses a choir borrows something from the Omen!
posted 05-01-1999 11:54 AM PT (US)

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