Concept of Horror Film - Music & Sound Effects

I will now do some research on different types of music and sound affects used in horror films.

One of the most overlooked aspects of films is the sound. An audience can easily forget that if the music and sound affects were taken away from a horror, the fear factor would decrease dramatically, possibly even disappear completely. Reading this may make you think it’s not true but we all know when we watch a horror movie and turn the sound down, we suddenly forget how scared we were and the images on the screen don’t scare us half as much as they would if the volume was up.

From the information I have read about horror films, I have found out that music in horror movies are probably more powerful than in any other film genre. The music in a film is used to communicate with the audience, so we must interpret it. You can watch a horror film without music but it isn't frightening, however it can be gruesome. If you add the music, you add tension.

Classic Horror Music

It has been recognised that orchestral music is the most common type of music used in horror films. When collecting research about music in horror films, I found out that orchestral music has been used since the birth of the genre and is still the most popular type of music used in horrors and thrillers. A reason why orchestral music is used so much in horror films is because of the composer can really vary his compositions as he follows the events in the film. Another possible reason why orchestral music is used so much in horrors is maybe because it is a very neutral type of music and it appeals to a wide audience. Orchestral music really helps set a certain mood and get across different emotions in a horror film.

An example of classic orchestral music in a horror film is the soundtrack for Friday the 13th; Press play to listen below:

Modern Alternative Horror Music

Although orchestral music is the most common type of music used in horror films, it is not the only genre used. Horrors also use modern alternative music. This genre uses synth-based music and industrial music. Examples of this music genre are used in horrors such as Blair Witch 2 that consists of alternative rock and heavy metal music. This music works well with horrors as it is quite dark and brooding, which suits the visual style of the film. Some filmmakers replace the classic orchestral horror music with music that would normally never even be considered for a horror film. One example of the most extreme case that used this type of music is American Psycho that consists of American 80s rock and pop music. When listening to the music used in this film, I can see that horror films definitely require the right kind of music to function properly. The song Hip to be Square by Huey Lewis and the News is used used in American Psycho as the protagonist slaughters one of his victims. I felt that this created a very odd feeling for us as the audience. From research, I have found out that this produces a complete audio-visual dissonance.

Below is a clip of the American Psycho Scene that uses Huey Lewis and the News - Hip to be Square in the background; Have a listen and see what mood it creates for you! :

From doing all this research about music and sound effects in horror films, I have realised how important it is to use the right kind of music in our horror trailer. Without effective horror music in our trailer, the audience won't be drawn to the movie and they won't feel like it is going to be a scary horror. We have decided we are going to use Modern Alternative Music for our horror trailer as our film name 30.10.10 represents the present day and comes across as very modern. It is always the right music to use when linking it to our overall concept.