When fellow AITH staffer Pat Torfe hit me up a while back with the idea for a list of the best horror movie songs, I had no idea putting this list together would be so much f*cking fun. If nothing else, agree or disagree, I hope ya’ll have half as much fun listening to all these jams as I did collecting them.
The only absolute criteria I had for this list was that it had to be populated by songs with both music and lyrics. Other than that, pretty much anything goes. It was tough to have to leave Dueling Banjos off the list, but ya gotta have some standards.
So check out the fun below, and if you’ve got some favs that didn’t make the list, spit bullets so your fellow arrowheads can jam out witcha!
READ PART 1 OF THIS LIST HERE
WARNING – FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK, WE SALUTE YOU BELOW!
5. Pet Sematary (The Ramones), PET SEMATARY
I’ll admit it’s a little weird revisiting this video now that Joey Ramone has passed on, but one has to assume he meant what he said and is happier for it now. Not much to say about it other than it’s a great song that perfectly captures the movie.
4. Cry Little Sister (Gerard McMann), THE LOST BOYS
I’m not gonna use this space to argue that The Lost Boys is one of the best vampire movies ever made, but it certainly is one of the most entertaining. And the final battle scene is perfectly set up by this ridiculously intense song. Ahh the days before Kiefer started
saving the world.
3. Time Is On My Side (The Rolling Stones), FALLEN
I personally thought Fallen was a pretty flawed movie, but I know more and more genre fans who’ve slowly come around to the opinion that it’s a minor classic. No matter your view, it’s hard to imagine a situation much creepier that hearing this song after watching the flick. The beginning does a great job of establishing our expectations, and the rest of the flick cashes in hard core.
2. Hell’s Bells (AC/DC),MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE
Who Made Who is probably the “technically” correct pick from Stephen King’s only directorial effort, but the fact is Hell’s Bells is not only a superior song by any measure, it’s also one of the best songs in the group’s entire catalog. Hard to imagine anybody who doesn’t get chills when that bell starts ringing.
1. Carmina Burana (Carl Orff), NATURAL BORN KILLERS
The O Fortuna chorus of this masterwork is one of the most powerful pieces of music ever written. The fact that it has been so overused and still retains its efficacy is the best testament to its strength. It’s also funny because people remember it from movies it wasn’t even part of because it’s become so synonymous with dark and scary scenes. Don’t f*ck with The Orff!
READ PART 1 OF THIS LIST HERE
Got a Top 10 idea? Hit me up at mattwithers@joblo.com