Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Film Scores for October


I'm one of those obnoxious Halloween-obsessed types, and all I want to do all month long is watch Halloweenie movies and listen to Halloweenie music. Obviously what counts as "Halloweenie" depends on who you ask, but here are some of my personal favorite film scores to listen to during this time of year. Of course this is in addition to the obvious choices (John Carpenter's score to Halloween, anyone?), and here we go!


The Addams Family, music by Marc Shaiman
I know this film so well that I could probably tell you exactly what dialogue goes with each part of the score. It's playful and fun, and it's not complete without MC Hammer's "Addams Groove."




Coraline, music by Bruno Coulais
Ah, Coraline, my favorite horror movie for children. The score is wonderful, with lots of singing in some kind of gibberish made-up language. It sounds weird but it totally works.




The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice, etc., music by Danny Elfman
You can't really go wrong with a Danny Elfman/Tim Burton movie score. TNBC is the obvious choice, but I really love the Sleepy Hollow soundtrack too.




The Double Life of Veronique, music by Zbigniew Preisner
The film itself isn't scary or anything, but the music is haunting and melancholy...perfect for listening to on a gloomy day.




Suspiria, music by Goblin
If you don't have the Suspiria theme on your Halloween playlist, you're doing it wrong.




The Haunting, music by Humphrey Searle 
It's, well, haunting.




 
Dracula, music by Philip Glass
This new score for the classic 1931 Dracula is performed by the Kronos Quartet and it's great as a stand-alone album.





Bram Stoker's Dracula, music by Wojciech Kilar
Yes, another Dracula. And full disclosure, I actually don't really like this movie. But the score is really awesome and scary. 




The Woman in Black, music by Marco Beltrami
The movie isn't perfect, but it has a good old-fashion horror movie score that I love, with a creepy music-box-sounding theme that's sprinkled throughout. I love it.




The Witch, music by Mark Korven
Bone-chillingly creepy. There is no warmth in this score, and the whole thing (especially the end) is truly creepy. I think if I blasted this music on Halloween, nobody would come to my door. Or maybe I'd get trick-or-treaters in droves!


Happy hauntings, everyone!

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