Score Series: Horror Films

Alright, it occurs to me I should try and actually go somewhere with this, so I think I'll get crazy and start something of a series here.

I'm something of a film buff. To me, there's few greater sedentary pleasures than sitting down to really digest a movie and appreciate every aspect of it. In particular, I think the music used in the movie is extremely important and is really what helps to separate mediocrity from movies that are remembered years after their release.

So I'm going to take a while and catalog the scores that I feel really stand out. I don't claim to be an expert in either music or film, and this isn't really anything aside from my own personal opinion.

I'm going by genre, and will start with horror films.

Suspiria by Goblin: Simple and almost childlike, underscored with raspy whispers and that bizarre "la la la" motif. Really gets into your head and is genuinely unsettling when it does.

The Thing by Ennio Morricone: It builds and builds, all the while with a synthesizer beat not unlike a heartbeat under it all. It finally just becomes a scream. A paranoid, hostile piece that perfectly fits the movie itself.

28 Days Later by John Murphy: This one is hard to explain, but something about it just feels right for wandering alone through post-apocalyptic London. It could easily just be a nice mellow song, but something is just off, enough to make it painfully clear that everything recognizable, everything normal is now dead and gone.

The Gonk from De Wolfe Music Library (Dawn of the Dead): Is there a better use of stock music out there? If there is, no one told me. Watching zombies overrun the world and tear apart bikers to this music is much better than it would be with shrieking brass and pounding drums. The contrast between the grim situation and the cheerful music is an interesting one, and it really works for some reason.

Ave Satani by Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen): Just like a Gregorian chant you might hear sung in church. Except it's hailing Satan. And is creepy as hell.

Well, that's all I got for now. Weigh in with a comment if you like,I'd be interested to hear other favorites.

Oh yeah. . .

I have a blog. I had forgotten.

It's going into fall here in Missouri, a time of year I love, when people seem to draw closer together and yet you still have the space to explore the beauties of the world. Hot cider, crunching through leaves, pumpkins at sale- the nostalgic remembrances of a childhood where everything was warm and secure and the world seemed to operate at your convenience, before you grew up and found out that was not in fact the case. I love fall, and I hate the melancholy overtones of the word autumn, which implies a time of death. I love the merest suggestion of cold in the weather, and the sun that invites you to take long walks all over this town to admire the trees and their changing colors.

Apologies for the purple prose above, I just really like this time of year. From an academic standpoint, means I really have to hunker down and barricade myself into the library in order to write several articles, while still making time for my martial arts classes and my friends. Also, teacher observation needs to happen, which I look forward to.

My parents are in the process of moving to another state, so I should probably make at least a token effort to help at some point. We'll see.

I'll try to update more often, all two of my readers.