Top 10 Greatest Horror Movie Musical Scores of All Time

Top 10 Horror Movie Scores

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Horror Movie Scores.

For this list, we'll be ranking the most iconic and enduring scores from the world of horror movies. We're not going to consider Mike Oldfield's contribution to "The Exorcist" soundtrack, as the classic "Tubular Bells" was taken from Oldfield's studio work.

We realize there are just so many great horror scores out there, what's your particular favorite? Sound off in the comments!

#10: "The Boogeyman" (1980)

Tim Krog
Synth scores: you either love them or hate them, but there's no denying that the instrument has played an immense role in the creation of many horror scores. There's a difference, however, between using the synthesizer in a budgetary sense versus exploring the vast array of sounds and moods it can create. "The Boogeyman" soundtrack from 1980 is officially credited to the collective known as Synthe Sound Trax, but its main composer was Tim Krog, who drenches this thing with an otherworldly gleam that's just creepy. The film itself may have had a modest budget, but Krog's work on the ghostly melodies and minimalist approach lends the whole project an air of legitimacy and menace.

#9: "The Beyond" (1981)

Fabio Frizzi
The world of Italian cinema has numerous amazing composers to its credit, but Fabio Frizzi may be one of the best, especially if you're into horror movies. Take your pick, the man has worked on some of the best, from "Zombie" to "City of the Living Dead". For this entry, however, we're singling out Frizzi's score for director Lucio Fulci's dreamlike masterpiece, "The Beyond." There's this odd but captivating combination of melancholy and fear that's indelibly linked to the maestro's music here, working off a chorus of voices, martial drumming, and mellotron. "The Beyond" also makes some prog rock moves for good measure, but the bulk of this score is definitely working to create gobs and gobs of palpable atmosphere.

#8: "Hellraiser" (1987)

Christopher Young
Dark, sumptuous, and grandiose. These are just some of the words that can be used to describe Christopher Young's score to Clive Barker's "Hellraiser." Young actually wasn't Barker's first choice for composer, as a score by experimental electronic project Coil was rejected by producers. Thankfully, it all seemed to work out, as Young's exquisite themes made the score for "Hellraiser" one of the composer's most popular. Although synth does poke through here and there for effect, most of "Hellraiser" is large-scale orchestral beauty, a sweeping sense of majesty that almost lends Pinhead and his Cenobites this air of regality. It's the sort of score that elevates everything from the very first note and leaves an impression long after the last cue has faded away.

#7: "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)

Charles Bernstein
We mentioned earlier how some composers utilize the synthesizer for budgetary reasons, as some film productions just don't have the money to hire a full orchestra for recording sessions. Charles Bernstein took the synth route with his score for Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street," but the end results certainly don't sound like the composer cut any corners. Maybe it's that iconic opening theme, the spooky vocal effects, or that relentless percussion, but the score for "Nightmare" just might be a synth masterpiece. Bernstein knows when to go for the throat and when to sit back and let the melodies weave their magic, and the best compliment we can give this score is that we honestly can't imagine the movie without it.

#6: "Phantasm" (1979)

Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave
Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave may not be the biggest names on this list, but they arguably composed one of the most fully fleshed and realized horror soundtracks of all time. We're talking about 1979's "Phantasm," a whacked-out fever dream that sounds like a prog-rock concept album performed from the darkest recesses of the mind. The music here differs from a lot of other scores on this list, as it really feels grounded in a rock backbeat, with live drums, bass, and synth that make every cue come alive. Of course, there's no denying the main "Phantasm" theme for classic horror nostalgia, but we're willing to bet that reinvestigation of this gem will leave you surprised at how much this thing ROCKS, front to back.

#5: "The Omen" (1976)

Jerry Goldsmith
We could honestly do an entire list of classic Jerry Goldsmith scores-and maybe we should! But for the purpose of this list, we just have to highlight the man's work on the 1976 horror classic, "The Omen." Goldsmith's knack for structure and composition were well documented by the late seventies, but the opening theme to "The Omen" just sounds like evil incarnate. The choral work on "Ave Satani" creates an atmosphere similar to an unholy church, a liturgy of evil that works perfectly with the film's plot of a young Antichrist coming into power. It all builds to a fever pitch on "The Killer Storm" that's cacophonous and yet totally dignified and classic. And that's just one of the reasons why it works so well.

#4: "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)

Krzysztof Komeda
Aw, there's just something soothing about a mother's lullaby, isn't there? Well, maybe not when it's being sung by Rosemary, mother of the Antichrist. Mia Farrow actually did do her own singing for Krzysztof Komeda's score for "Rosemary's Baby," and what a performance. There's a gentle beauty to Farrow's singing voice that sets the stage for the unsettling psychosis, paranoia, and, yes, horror that is "Rosemary's Baby." Komeda's cues here are varied, however, and range from cool jazz numbers and string sections to one utterly terrifying cue for when Rosemary sees her baby for the first time. That horn that blares out, almost to signify the Antichrist's arrival on Earth, and Farrow's terrified reaction: it's the stuff of horror movie legend.

#3: "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980)

Riz Ortolani
Sometimes, appearances can be so deceiving. Case in point? Riz Ortolani's score to "Cannibal Holocaust," the 1980 video nasty that continues to be banned in certain countries, thanks to its infamous levels of shocking violence. The main theme, for example, is delicate and beautiful, a deliberate bait-and-switch for the harrowing ride that lies ahead. Even a more downbeat cue like “Adulteress' Punishment,” with its peppering of creepy synth stabs, is offset by some glorious orchestration from the maestro. "Massacre of the Troupe," however, is unsettling as all get-out, as the synth becomes more pronounced, and the strings more tense and dissonant. It's the sort of score that works symbiotically with its source material to deliver an experience you'll never forget.

#2: "Suspiria" (1977)

Goblin
Goblin is another artist on this list that could easily be the subject of a Top 10. That's because the members of this Italian prog institution have carved a career for themselves scoring films of every genre, not just horror. Of course, there's Goblin's contribution to the giallo genre with "Deep Red," or their collaboration with George Romero on "Dawn of the Dead," but there's no denying the unfettered greatness that was "Suspiria." It's almost impossible to separate Goblin's work on the score from the vision and style within Dario Argento's film. It's cinematic when Argento's legendary eye for color and sound meet Goblin's unsettling vocalizations and almost childlike main synthesizer theme. Oh, and when the band shouts out "WITCH!?" It gets us every time.


Before we name our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions!

"Near Dark" (1987), Tangerine Dream
Synthesizers Meet Heavy Guitars & Americana

"Beyond the Black Rainbow" (2010), Sinoia Caves
Twisted, Trance-Like Brilliance


“Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977), Ennio Morricone
The Movie is Divisive, but the Morricone Score is Amazing

"Candyman" (1992), Philip Glass
Who Said Nineties Horror Had No Memorable Themes?

"It Follows" (2014), Disasterpeace
Honoring Horror's Musical Past While Defining Its Future

#1: "Halloween" (1978)

John Carpenter
It could've been difficult for an average film composer to escape the recognition given to a main theme as iconic as that of 1978's "Halloween," but then John Carpenter isn't your average film composer. The man has helmed some of the greatest horror films of all time, while also writing and performing the scores. His collaborations with Alan Howarth on "Christine" and "Halloween III were outstanding, but we gotta give it up for the OG on our number one pick. The score for "Halloween" is simple, sure, but makes the best out of a presentation that melds actual film dialogue with Carpenter's three-note theme and hair-raising synth stabs that, honestly, never get old.