Friday the 13th: 13 Hair-Raising Horror Film Scores

Can you tell I'm a little excited for Halloween already? It's only 48 days away for those who are curious. Anyway, in the spirit of Friday the 13th, I thought I'd put together a little list of my 13 favorite horror film scores. It wasn't easy to cut it down to just 13, and I tried to consider the newer scores as well as the classics. Some of these aren't so much "horror" as they are thrillers, but the scores deserve to be on the list. So, without further ado:

13. World War Z: Marco Beltrami
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I'll admit I haven't seen the movie, but I have heard the soundtrack and it's a cool mix between contemporary action with epic percussion and eerie thematic material. 

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12. Vertigo: Bernard Herrmann
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This theme would probably be in my top 3 - it's only #12 because it's not technically a horror film score. But it is an incredible score and the theme is pretty creepy. Sometimes I'll just sit at the piano and play it for hours just to freak people out...

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11. The Ring: Hans Zimmer, Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman
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There's something to be said about simplicity. This score isn't too complicated, but the simple melody and orchestration lets your imagination fill in the blanks. 

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10. Sleepy Hollow: Danny Elfman
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Typical Danny - eerie and full of fantasy. You know the sound.

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9. The Grudge: Christopher Young
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Chris Young - the master of modern horror. He's scored some of the greatest horror movies, and I could make a list just for him, but for this list I had to go with The Grudge.

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8. Poltergeist II: Jerry Goldsmith
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Poltergeist is another one of those horrifyingly simple scores. The lullaby, oh God the lullaby...

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7. Cape Fear: Bernard Herrmann
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Perhaps a lesser known Herrmann score, but if Chris Young is the master of modern horror, Bernard Herrmann was the master of classic horror. The man defined the sound.

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6. The Omen: Jerry Goldsmith
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Jerry had a great sound that bordered classic/traditional scores with a modern sound, and though this score might be closer to the classic sound, it was a developing sound for horror.

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5. Friday the 13th: Harry Manfredini
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Well, you knew it had to be in here somewhere. 

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4. Halloween: John Carpenter
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Teaching the world to understand 5/4 time - you just have to respect that.

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3. Psycho: Bernard Herrmann
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The classic of all classics - this one has multiple themes that would continue to find a place in scores even today.

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2. Rosemary's Baby: Krzysztof Komeda
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This score haunts my dreams about as much as the movie does. 

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1. The Exorcist: Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells)
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Really, the top 5 are pretty close in my opinion, but I had to pick an order. This one gets #1 simply because it haunts the dreams of multiple generations, and that's pretty impressive.

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Honorable Mention - Jaws: John Williams.

Well, there you have it. These are just some of my personal favorites, post your favorites in the comments below! Did I miss anything?

Related Posts

• Q&A with Harry Manfredini
• Horror Through History: A 2014 October Calendar