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  • Author: Mark Johnson
    October 25, 2012

    We wrap up our Circuit 3 portion of 31 Days of Horror by looking at one of the most essential elements to a good horror flick: the film score. Can you imagine Jaws without that terrifying dun-dun! dun-dun! theme by John Williams? Or even Psycho without Bernard Herrmann’s screeching, strings-only composition playing over the shower scene?

    You almost had to imagine it, as far as Psycho is concerned. Alfred Hitchcock originally intended to film that famous scene with no music at all, but after being dissatisfied with the finished product, Herrmann persuaded him otherwise. I’d argue themes like these are the biggest component to what made these movies so blood-curdling in the first place.

    My Circuit 3 for Horror Movie Themes:

    1. Main Titles from Jaws (1975) – Composed by John Williams (listen here!)
    2. Theme from Psycho (1960) – Composed by Bernard Herrmann (listen here!)
    3. Halloween Main Theme (1978) – Composed by John Carpenter (listen here!)

    And I don’t normally do honorable mentions, but the theme from The Omen (1976) – “Ave Satani” by Jerry Goldsmith – must be mentioned. Still scares the crap out of me just to listen to it (here).

    What do you think are the three best themes from horror movies?

    About Mark Johnson


    Lover of all things film and Oscar. Fantasy sports’ equivalent of George Steinbrenner. Your very own Han Solo, making friends all over the movie-loving galaxy in spite of himself. When he’s not ranking just about everything or dominating boardgames, Mark is breaking down the Oscar race 24/7 with Rain Man-like stats and knowledge. In his downtime, you can find him commiserating with other Northeast Ohio sports fans because a hero isn’t complete without a little heartbreak. If Lost, Homeland, Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Survivor are your style, then congratulations, you have something in common with this inglourious basterd.

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    9 Comments

    1. The Omen
      Halloween
      Hellraiser (I cannot stop listening to this one)

      Can the main theme from Jaws be considered if it’s adapted from another work?

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      • Sure. Still a horror theme, right? It might make it ineligible by Oscar standards though!

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    2. Mark, this top 3 basically seems unnecessary, as you named the unequivocal top 3.

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      • Great minds think alike then! But there are several others I think that can be argued. Tubular Bells from The Exorcist is a great one, The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, Alien, etc.

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    3. I wanted to define my selection based on themes of the movie and not so much the music that precedes a monster such as halloween/ jaws/ etc.

      1. Children of the Corn (Original)
      2. Aliens
      3. Se7en

      honorable mentions…Hellraiser, Poltergeist, Exorcist, The Shining

      My top 3 scare the crap out of me

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      • Poltergeist is another fun and creepy score! I’m not familiar enough with Children of the Corn, so I’m off to youtube to refresh.

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    4. 1. Psycho
      2. Jaws
      3. Halloween

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    5. The order might be different between us, but the top 3 seems to be the actual top 3, more or less…and that’s rare

      1. Halloween
      2. Jaws
      3. Psycho

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    6. BOOM!!! Called all three. Not much of a leap, but still. Anyway…

      1. Halloween
      2. Psycho
      3. The Omen

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