Horror Movie Soundtracks
AMC Movie List

Horror Movie Soundtracks

Duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh...how would you rank these killer musical scores?

rank title points votes your vote
1 Halloween
John Carpenter composed a minimalist, keyboard-based score in a style that's often imitated, but rarely bettered. 1437 1869
2 Jaws
John Williams' shark theme is barely a melody, but it contains what may be the eight most memorable notes in movie history. 856 1612
3 The Exorcist
Mike Oldfield's tinkling melody "Tubular Bells" wasn't written for the iconic pic, but it's all anyone remembers from the soundtrack. 723 1479
4 Psycho
Bernard Hermann's nerve-jangling works for this Alfred Hitchcock pic are the pretty much the epitome of music that says what words can't. 711 1485
5 Friday the 13th
Harry Manfredini's score is built around eerie whispers that foreshadow the killer's identity and make use of Manfredini's own voice. 613 1509
6 The Omen
Composer Jerry Goldsmith won the only Oscar of his long career for this score, whose highlight is the chant "Ave Satani," or "Hail Satan." 216 1254
7 28 Days Later
John Murphy took a cue from John Carpenter when crafting the weirdly appropriate, spare score for this chaotic zombie flick. 6 1232
8 Rosemary's Baby
Polish jazzman Krzysztof Komeda scored many Roman Polanski films, but he never surpassed this movie's lyrical "Lullaby." -101 1159
9 Suspiria
Dario Argento's candy-colored imagery and Goblin's complex, insinuating score make this gem a high-water mark in Italian horror. -160 1168
10 Vampyros Lesbos
Manfred Hubler and Sigfried Schwab's music is perfect for the Euro-art aesthetic: Funky, freaky, and just plain weird. -702 1006