A horror film without a good musical score is like a sports car without an engine; it just won’t run. Though a musical score is important through the various genres of filmmaking, it's essential in horror. Without atmospheric tension, the visuals will not have the same impact. Some of them have worked better without the sound landscape, but the majority of horror just needs its score.
Update September 18, 2023: This article has been updated with even more great modern horror films with great scores.
Over the years, as films have evolved, so has the soundscape that goes with it. Modern-day filmmakers have realized a theme song placed at the entry of a villain is not enough. If they truly aim at terrifying the audience, they need more. They need to find a way to get under the viewer's skin. These modern film scores in horror do just that.
14 Hereditary (2018)
Hereditary is Ari Aster’s debut film that turned heads when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018. Touted as one of the best horror films of recent times, Hereditary's multilayered narrative was complimented by its quiet yet persistent soundscape. Hereditary's sound teams includes MPSE award-winning supervising sound editor Lewis Goldstein and his team at Parabolic NY, along with composer Colin Stetson. While it’s easy to get lost in Aster’s visual style with abrupt cuts and unforeseen twists, it’s the element of sound design that subconsciously maintains room-tone tension.
13 Dark (2017-2020)
Netflix’s Dark is a series based on the disappearance of two children in a small town in Germany. Upon its release, the aspect that stood out the most was its aural world. Composed by Ben Frost, the show consists of songs from the '80s by indie and contemporary artists. Despite not being an out-and-out horror show, Dark’s score creates moments of unease as Ben Frost uses tense audio motifs to punctuate the extremely complex but interesting narrative.
12 Nope (2022)
Jordan Peele has carved out somewhat of a niche within the minds of horror fanatics. His films do not majorly rely on jump scares; they are rather psychological with an overall message of morality. In Nope, Jordan Peele staple Daniel Kaluuya plays a horse rancher who finds himself facing a foe in the form of a UFO. Peele, along with composer Michael Abels, creates a soundscape that supplements the world of Nope. Almost as an homage to the spaghetti westerns, Nope’s soundscape marries horror, with a tinge of western music, creating an edge-of-the-seat experience.
11 Midsommar (2019)
Fresh off the success of Hereditary, all eyes were on Ari Aster during the release of his follow-up feature. And Midsommar did not disappoint in the least. The film’s plot revolves around a group of friends who visit a commune in Sweden only to find things are not as they seem. Entrenched in Pagan rituals and occult-like practices, the group of friends slowly begin experiencing surreal hallucinations, finding it difficult to differentiate reality and their imagination.
Perfecting the craft of daylight horror, Ari Aster masterfully creates tense sequences that don’t scare you for a moment but terrify you for life. Add to this mix Bobby Krlic’s (The Haxan Cloak) mind-blowing music direction with elements of Swedish folklore along with various string instruments, and you find yourself with an unforgettable horror experience. If you feel interested, try listening to a track called Gassed in Midsommar's score, and you'll get a chilling revelation as Dani cries and an eerie and sinister laugh blends with her desperate wailing.
10 Prey (2022)
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, Prey is the fifth film in the Predator Franchise and serves as a prequel to the first four films. The plot centers around Naru, a skilled Comanche warrior who’s desperate to prove herself as a hunter. Her wish eventually comes true but at a steep cost. Tasked with protecting her people from a supernatural foe, Naru feels all the weight of the world on her shoulders as she tries to outsmart another worldly force. Apart from being a visual treat, Prey’s soundscape perfectly compliments the world in which the story is set. The film's score by Sarah Schachner is one of 2022's best in genre films.
9 The Lighthouse (2019)
In recent times, it’s impossible to talk about horror without mentioning Robert Eggers. After the success of his medieval horror tale, Eggers delivered one of his best films to date — The Lighthouse. Arguably extracting career-best performances from both Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, Robert Eggers' film is a deep dive into man’s descent into madness.
The film revolves around two lighthouse keepers stuck on a remote island in the early part of the nineteenth century. Having nobody else on the island, the two men begin experiencing weird hallucinations and psychological turmoil. Having already worked with composer Mark Korven on The Witch, Eggers and Korven went to extreme lengths of aural experiments to find the right sound, accurately punctuating the narrative of the film.
8 Candyman (2021)
Candyman is a horror film directed by Nia DaCosta and starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The film’s plot revolves around a visual artist called Anthony McCoy, who is obsessed with the legend of the Candyman. This initial obsession quickly transforms into full-blown insanity, resulting in Anthony losing his mind. Candyman’s sound is composed by veteran composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. The score heavily exudes synth-based compositions and electronic elements that are based on Philip Glass' already iconic score for the 1992 film.
7 Pearl (2022)
Serving as a prequel to X, Pearl is set in 1918 and explores the early years of Pearl before the events of X. Living with a needy, wheelchair-bound father and a strict, dominating mother, Pearl has a whirlpool of sinister thoughts brewing within her. Realizing she has more to offer the world than what she currently is, Pearl starts devising unsettling ways to change her surroundings. Director Ti West's audiovisual treatment of the film puts it in the category of a period piece, with rich Technicolor imagery along with an orchestral musical score by composer Tyler Bates.
6 Halloween (2018)
Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green, is an extension of John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher film of the same name. The plot revolves around Michael Myers, a serial killer who has escaped from captivity. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) barely managed to escape with her life in her last encounter with Myers several decades ago, and upon hearing of his escape, the fierce woman decides to fight back because she knows The Shape will come back for blood.
The legendary John Carpenter scored the music for the film alongside his current partners in music, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. With its choppy synths, layered with eerie chord progressions, the score blends well with a new reimagining of the franchise.
5 The Witch (2015)
In Robert Eggers' folklore horror masterpiece The Witch, sound is yet another element of the world the director forces us to explore with a compelling story about growing up beyond the religious restrictions of a strict household. The score by Mark Korven is a haunting compilation of sounds, strange instruments, and the occasional choruses by musicians and singers that appear to be possessed by forces not of this Earth. The track called 'Witch's Coven' which accompanies Thomasin when she finally accepts her fate, is the stuff of nightmares.
4 It Follows (2014)
Modern horror classic It Follows takes place in a dream-like setting that perfectly combines with the synth-pop score composed by Disasterpeace, the electronic artist who truly understands the vast power of synth music. It's beautiful music tuned to the bizarre story of a sexual curse that takes a group of teenagers and forces them to deal with something that's impossible, lethal, and powerful. Of artists on this list, Disasterpeace is perhaps the one with the most potential in horror.
3 Maniac (2012)
The horror remake Maniac, directed by Franck Khalfoun, is one of the best remakes to come from Hollywood's craze for new adaptations of already-adapted material. However, the story is basic. It tells the story of a sociopath murdering women because of a weird obsession with their movies. The score by Rob is synth-based, sinister, and beautiful. It blends awkwardly with the film's story, but considering how stylish the film is, it clicks early on and results in a fantastic soundtrack.
2 Under the Skin (2013)
Mica Levi is known for bizarre movie scores that don't exactly follow the traditional structure. It's hard to find an artist who dares to go against the rules as boldly as Levi.
For Under the Skin, the artist designs a sound backdrop that's filled with out-of-tune percussion and dry harmonies. There's nothing recognizable or safe in the score for the alien invasion movie about a beautiful woman seducing men and feeding on them. This is probably what Hell sounds like if you die in an A24 film.
1 Suspiria (2018)
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke composed the score of Suspiria, the horror remake that flew by unnoticed mostly because it doesn't resemble the original film at all. Luckily, that's a good thing. Imagine Luca Guadagnino's reimagining playing to the sound of Goblin.
Yorke does not incorporate anything you would expect. The soundscape is eerie, deep, and almost melancholic. The film about dance academy being a vessel for a coven of witches is dark and gloomy, and Yhorke's soundscape is thoroughly designed, from start to finish, to accompany our admission.