Sometimes a filmmaker does such a fine job selecting just the right song to accompany his images that it becomes almost impossible to separate a song from the association. Here are nineteen songs I'll now forever associate with the horror movies that used them. I'm sure I've missed a few, so please feel free to add your own favorites in the Comments section below.
"Bad Moon Rising" and/or "Blue Moon" Creedence Clearwater Revival and Sam Cooke, respectively
Used in An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Director John Landis has always displayed a gift for selecting the right songs for his movies, as well as for juxtaposing said songs with visuals that seem incongruous. Sam Cooke's soulful version of "Blue Moon" will forever be joined in my mind with the spectacle of David Kessler screaming in agony as he transforms into the titular werewolf for the first time. Even so, for some reason it's the use of the Creedence track "Bad Moon Rising" just before that scene that always pops into my head first when I think of the flick. Bonus points for the doo-wop version of "Blue Moon" by the Marcels that plays over the end credits.
The Chordettes
Used in Halloween 2 (1981)
Why does this one stick in my head? Well, I was only eleven when I saw Halloween 2, and the movie's finale was nerve-wracking to me. This bouncy version of Mr. Sandman was my signal that the tension would finally subside. Then that deep male voice - Mr. Sandman - says "Yes?" in response to the girls' addressing him in the song, and I peed a little. To this day I cling stubbornly to the belief that the voice of the Sandman is disproportionately loud in the mix, and intentionally so. In my mind, Michael Myers would sound exactly like the Sandman if he spoke.
Tears For Fears
Used in Donnie Darko (2001)
Okay, I know Donnie Darko isn't really a horror movie, but it's damn sure creepy. I suppose the Gary Jules version of "Mad World" is the haunting song placement here, but it's the brilliant and surprising marriage of the less dour sounding "Head Over Heels" with the montage earlier in the movie that made an impression on me.
Leslie Gore and Gary Wright, respectively
Used in The Convent (2000)
I've written before about what a nifty little flick The Convent is, and one of the things it has going for it is not one but two fantastic utilizations of pre-exisiting pop songs. A Catholic schoolgirl in sunglasses and leather mows down a gaggle of nuns (it is gaggle, right?) to the tune of Leslie Gore's "You Don't Own Me" in the movie's opening moments. Perfect and unforgettable. We get "Dream Weaver" as part of Frijole's shroom trip later in the movie.
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Johnny Cash and Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine, respectively
Used in Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
I genuinely believe that "Down With The Sickness" playing over the getting-used-to-our-post-apocalyptic-mall-life montage is one of the most inspired cinematic appropriations of preexisting music ever. It's rare that I find myself scanning the end credits looking for song info, so it obviously worked for me. Even more inspired, though, was using the Johnny Cash song "The Man Comes Around" to accompany clips of the world going to hell in a handbasket during the opening credits. With its biblical references about the end times intoned as only the inimitable Cash could have, it quickly and effectively lets us know that the shit just got real.
The Cramps and Roky Erickson, respectively
Used in Return Of The Living Dead (1985)
There really aren't any bad song choices in Return Of The Living Dead. One could just as easily have pointed to "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)" by SSQ that accompanies Trash's strip tease, or even "Partytime (Zombie Version)" by Grave 45 that accompanies the resurrection of a graveyard full of zombies. Obviously, "Surfin' Dead" gets the nod because it's The Cramps. Who can argue with The Cramps?
It's "Burn The Flames" by Roky Erickson that's really used to fantastic dramatic effect, though. It accompanies the scene in which Frank removes his wedding ring and then feeds himself to the crematory fires rather than face his inevitable gruesome end. For anyone reading who's never seen the movie in any form other than the U.S. disc releases, do yourself a favor and track down a foreign disc on which the soundtrack hasn't been bastardized. There are a lot of things that are just flat wrong about the soundtrack on those U.S. discs, not the least of which is that the effectiveness of Frank's scene is ruined by the choice to alter the timing of "Burn The Flames" and then fade it out too early.
Kula Shaker
Used in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
"Hush" gets a mention more for its effective use in the advertising campaign for I Know What You Did Last Summer than for any use in the movie. The somewhat inexplicable choice to use a cover of an old Deep Purple song in the ads just feels right.
Filter
Used in Tales From The Crypt: Demon Night (1995)
Good use of a good song in a good movie. I'd never heard of Filter before this, so "Hey Man Nice Shot" is linked to its use here during the opening segment of the story proper for me.
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" Marilyn Manson
Used in House On Haunted Hill (1999)
Marilyn Manson's very Mansonesque cover of this cold and clinical sounding old Eurythmics song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" works perfectly wed to footage of everyone making their approach to the titular haunted house. Manson's tortured and melodramatic delivery just seems to match the mood of this segment. Each troubled soul making his or her way to the house is doing so in the hopes of securing a million dollar prize for staying overnight in the spooky mansion. Manson couldn't make that sweet dream of a life altering financial windfall sound any less appealing if he tried.
Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell Arthur
Used in Deliverance (1972)
"Dueling Banjos" is an almost perfect example of sound wed to cinematic vision. Originally composed and recorded by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith as "Feudin' Banjos" in 1955, the use of the Weissberg/Arthur version in Deliverance sans proper attribution ultimately led to a lawsuit. It had to be, though, because the disconnect between the viewer's expectations based upon the obviously in-bred appearance of the backwoods banjo player and his virtuosity with the instrument sets the stage for all the ugliness that follows. It's just not wise to encroach upon another's domain and presume superiority, and the "civilized" weekenders from the city pay dearly for their hubris.
The Blasters
Used in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
As is typical of the track selection for most any movie soundtrack involving Quentin Tarantino, the choice of the decidedly creepy tune "Dark Night" to play over the stylized opening credits of From Dusk Till Dawn is spot on perfect. The guitar driven aggression of the track following the tense and violent pre-credits sequence just works.
Queen
Used in Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
Fan fave Shaun Of The Dead is another movie that seems to make all the right musical choices. Who can forget Shaun and Ed's drunken rendition of "White Lines" outside the Winchester pub? It's the choice of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" that's integral to the success of the scene in which it's used though. Watching the movie's principals enthusiastically beat the zombified pub owner with pool cues while the track plays loudly in the background is both incongruous and comical.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Used in The Devil's Rejects (2005)
I know I'm firmly in the minority in preferring Rob Zombie's House Of 1000 Corpses to its follow-up. Still, there's no denying that The Devil's Rejects has its share of powerful moments, not the least of which is Otis, Baby, and Spaulding - down but not quite out - barreling toward the police barricade destined to finally end their murderous crime spree as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" blares in the background. I've never cared much for Zombie's choice to so blatantly try to mythologize three such irredeemable characters, but Skynyrd's classic rock mainstay was the right song to accompany the sequence.
Tom Petty
Used in The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Everyone remembers Buffalo Bill doing the tuck-and-dance to the Q Lazzarus song "Goodbye Horses", but how often do you ever hear the song "Goodbye Horses" in any other context? On the other hand, Tom Petty's "American Girl" - which plays as Bill abducts a senator's daughter - is still on the radio constantly. And what do I think of every time I hear it? Yes, "American Girl" is now forever tainted by the dark and ominous association.
Mike Oldfield
Used in The Exorcist (1974)
The minor key piano motif we now all immediately associate with The Exorcist was not expressly written for the movie, and it's actually only a small portion of a much longer recording. It wasn't conceived as a spooky piece of music, but "Tubular Bells" has now been damned by association such that most folks only think of it as "The Theme From The Exorcist".
George Thorogood and The Destroyers
Used in Christine (1983)
I can't stand the recordings of George Thorogood, but that's mostly because my mother always thought it was funny to wake me from a hangover by playing Thorogood's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" at deafening volume. Still, there couldn't be a more perfect song than "Bad To The Bone" to accompany the evil 1958 Plymouth Fury's introduction as she draws first blood before she's even done rolling off the assembly line. Before some car aficionado calls me on it, both the Plymouth Belvedere and the Plymouth Savoy were also used to portray Christine in the movie. Apparently the Plymouth Fury didn't actually possess all of the features described in Stephen King's novel. We all know the "real" Christine is a Plymouth Fury though, right?
Huey Lewis and The News
Used in American Psycho (2000)
I'd have absolutely no use for Huey Lewis and The News had the uber-psychotic Patrick Bateman not paused to school me before offing Paul Allen for having too nice a business card. The only thing scary about the annoyingly poppy "Hip To Be Square" is that Bateman obviously holds the song in such high esteem. If only I knew how to create a GIF, because the odd little shimmy the raincoat wearing Bateman performs while waxing philosophical about the brilliance of the song is priceless.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Used in Scream (1996)
Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" is a creepy song in its own right that references a line in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost about the vengeful hand of God. It's really not surprising that it turns up in a number of genre movies and television shows. I first came across the song on an X-Files compilation. Despite all of its other genre associations, though, it's the brief use of the song backing footage of a deceptively tranquil looking Woodsboro near the beginning of Scream that most resonates.
The Fixx
Used in The House Of The Devil (2009)
What can I say? I just like watching a pretty young girl from the Awesome 80s bop around a spooky old house listening to The Fixx on her Sony Walkman. Who doesn't?
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