Illustrations by Ben RubyEver since the dawn of mass-produced commercial synthesizers a little over half a century ago, electronic music has been intertwined with the history of horror films. While experimental composers, psychedelics enthusiasts, and dancefloor destroyers were busy figuring out the boundless possibilities of electronic instrumentation, the film industry saw this new technology as a practical way to soundtrack its pulpier, more cheaply-made productions. Rather than hire a whole cast of musicians and composers, the invention allowed them to churn out affordable musical accompaniment made by a solo composer, or in many cases, the film's directors themselves.
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Both because of this functional consideration and the unlimited possibilities that the instruments offered, synth compositions became a go-to source for striking fear in the hearts of motion picture audiences over the course of 70s and 80s, and sparked a fated relationship between electronic music and genre films that lasts even to this day. As a new crew of nostalgists operating both inside and outside the film industry take influence from the genre's classic square wave savagery, there seems no better time than now to look back on the music that's sprung out of horror movie soundtracks over the last few decades, from sauntering, sulky funk music to interstellar ambience to crushing industrial terror. So as an early Halloween treat, THUMP has compiled the 31 best horror scores composed on electronic instruments.
31. The Dentist (1996)
30. You're Next (2011)
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29. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
28. Forbidden World (1982)
27. Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
26. The Boogeyman (1980)
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25. Runaway (1984)
24. The Severed Arm (1983)
23. We Are Still Here (2015)
22. Starry Eyes (2014)
21. Shock Waves (1977)
20. Deathdream (1972)
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19. Demons (1985)
18. Xtro (1983)
17. Videodrome (1983)
16. It Follows (2014)
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15. Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
14. Razorback (1984)
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13. Possession (1981)
12. Candyman (1992)
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11. The Legend of Hell House (1973)
10. Angst (1983)
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9. Phantasm (1979)
8. Maniac (2012)
7. The Fog (1980)
6. Chopping Mall (1986)
5. Under the Skin (2014)
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In a 2014 interview with THUMP, the composer said the director's advice to her was "to follow [Johansson's] character in real-time." "He had his ideas as to what he thought music should be, and I had to get really immersed into that," she said. "I had to relate to her; what feelings she might be having, and to think like her—ultimately, to do the right thing for her."— Max MertensThe score by Italian prog-horror band Goblin for Dario Argento's hallowed Suspiria is so married to the film, it's almost too scary to listen to on its own. The band pays homage to Bernard Herrmann's needly orchestral music for Psycho and the strange vocal effects from The Exorcist, but the band creates its own cacophony of torturous tones and supernatural sounds. These electroacoustic compositions mark an early appearance of synthesizers on horror scores, and heighten one of the horror genre's most enduring sources of terror: the sensation that something evil lurks under the everyday, if you're willing to peer under the dark corners.— Tina HassanniaThe German composer Florian Fricke lent his shape-shifting talents to a number of Werner Herzog's existential films, but for 1978's Nosferatu, Fricke's band Popol Vuh attempted more complex material than they'd experimented with before. The score largely crystallized the celestial choral motifs and spiderwebbing sitar figures that became the band's wheelhouse, but also made room for their early electronics experimentation to creep back in. Amidst all the compositional grandeur, Fricke's few Moog pieces feel especially sparse and lonely. The creepiness is all in the context—in knowing that these pieces should be full of life, but aren't.— Colin Joyce
4. Day of the Dead (1985)
Day of the Dead was to be George Romero's masterpiece. After setting the stage with Night of the Living Dead and later, Dawn of the Dead, Romero was prepared to make his grandest cultural statement on human nature yet. A small budget, slashed in half during pre-production, and tepid reactions from critics and fans muzzled the film's intended impact. But in the decades since its release, Day of the Dead has slowly found an audience, at least in part thanks to filmmaker/composer John Harrison's strange score. Following Goblin's hodgepodge soundtrack for Dawn (featured exclusively on the Dario Argento-cut Italian release), Harrison's calypso-tinged offering stands out mostly for its recurring motifs but also because, beyond the horrifying context of the film, it really sounds quite pleasant.— Ian Stanley
3. Suspiria (1977)
2. Nosferatu (1978)
1. The Keep (1983)
The malleable nature of Tangerine Dream's synth compositions made the German electronic music collective an easy fit for a nearly uncountable number of movie soundtracks. But few of the group's scores are as affecting as their work for Michael Mann's The Keep. Some may attribute The Keep's acclaim to its rarity—only around 300 copies were officially released, and only bootlegs have filled the gap since. Mann himself has disowned the film since its release, and licensing rights make it hard to catch a version with the original score intact. But the music that makes up the soundtrack is some of the most diverse that Tangerine Dream has ever released.There is, of course, their signature: the weightless, existentially probing synth runs still imitated by composers to this day, extended here into outright delirium. There's dizzy harmonized guitar solos, disco-adjacent percussive percolations, and hellish descents into atonal static. It's goofy and grim, joyful and panicky, in equal helpings—the sort of measured, sculpted, and revisionist vision of the genre that happens whenever auteurs choose to shoulder the weight of decades of convention.— Colin Joyce