Top 10 Songs Made Sinister by Horror Films

Music in horror films have always been awesome. We have had some truly tremendous scores created for some of the most greatest horror movies of all time, just look at Halloween, Psycho, A Nightmare On Elm Street etc., as soon as you hear that jingle, beat, note, it automatically takes you back to that scary movie.

But what about innocent songs? You know, songs that weren't specifically created for the movie in question, in stead a choice was made to include such a song for a certain scene and for some bizarre reason it just fits, it just makes sense. In some cases it even makes the film even more frightening, as some of these songs are from happier times, but suddenly they are transported into the unknown and all bets are off.

So I've come up with a list of songs that I thought fit perfectly into horror films perfectly, even though they shouldn't
American Psycho - "Hip to be Square" by Huey Lewis and the News

Patrick Bateman LOVES Huey Lewis and the News, and he wants Paul Allen to know. Bateman struts around in his apartment wearing a raincoat while "Hip to be Square" is blaring on his sound-system and proceeds to unleash hell on Allen while the song plays in the background. It's such an iconic scene made all the better by the song choice.

The Hills Have Eyes - "California Dreamin'" by the The Mamas and the Papas

The 2006 remake of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes is one of the better remakes of recent times, it stayed true to the original while upper the ante on the gore factor by eleven. It's awesome. Anyway, during the movie, The Carters are traveling to California and "California Dreamin' "is playing, the family looks so happy, but you just know what their fate is and the song becomes instantly dark. It's an awesome choice, it also plays during the trailer.

An American Werewolf in London - "Blue Moon" by The Marcels
An American Werewolf in London fuses horror and comedy so well, albeit the horror is much more prominent, but there are some comedic moments. But the transformation scene where David turns into the werewolf is absolutely stellar, truly frightening and just so well done, and of course "Blue Moon" is playing right over all of this. And then before he even changes you've got Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" playing. It's fantastic.

Urban Legend - "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler

Urban Legend is such a fun film! You should really check it out if you haven't or give it a re-watch. Anyway the scene is where our protagonist drives to a petrol station where things veer to us thinking that the petrol attendant is the one looking to cause harm, instead he's trying to get her attention to the backseat. And then Bonnie Tyler sings "Turn around" while our frightened protagonist drives away unaware of the danger in her backseat, it's perfect.

The House of 1000 Corpses - "I Remember You" by Slim Whitman

Man, this scene is something else, the cinematography, the absolute silence of all the horror going on, it's intense and utterly memorable. So the local sheriff and the father of a missing girl come up to a shed to find the daughter tied-up and then all hell breaks loose. It's total silence except for Slim Whitman's "I Remember You" playing over, it's extremely effective and utter heartbreaking, especially the long drawn out gunshot. Rob Zombie truly has an eye for film, it's gorgeous.

A Clockwork Orange - "Singin' in the Rain" by Gene Kelly

A Clockwork Orange was banned for quite a while in the UK if I'm not mistaken and this scene which features Alex and his Droogs is probably why it was banned for quite some time. They manage to con their way into someones house and proceed to rape, cause mayhem and destruction all the while singing Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain." It's such an odd choice but fits eerily well.

The Exorcist - "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield

Did you know that that iconic tune in The Exorcist wasn't exclusive created for the film? Yep, there's actually much more to the song than that small piano part we all know so well and listening to the whole song just takes on a whole other dimension and for better or worse it will always have a connection with Pazuzu.

Halloween II - "Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes

John Carpenter's score for Halloween is absolutely awesome, some of the greatest music ever composed, but Halloween II's use of The Chordettes just comes straight out of left field. After all the horror and the dramatic conclusion comes the credits and the freakin' Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" starts blaring out as if we've just watched an uplifting comedy. It's memorable and I love it.

A Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy's Revenge - "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" by Bing Crosby

I was going to include a Wes Craven film in the form of Last House On the Left with David Hess' quirky music while these murderers have just committed some heinous crimes, but I believe Hess wrote it for the movie? Still, that's a great example of out of place music. But this time I decided to go with a franchise that Wes started and that gave us Freddy's Revenge. Man, I remember the hate this film received and it just didn't and still doesn't deserve it, it's an excellent entry which I myself, have warmed to much more during the years. Anyway during the end credits after Freddy has massacred and still comes back to surprise us at the end, Bing Crosby's "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" starts playing, and I guess it sort of fits as it deals with dreams, but c'mon, Bing Crosby in a Nightmare movie? It's another great choice which just leaves contrasting feelings.

Blue Velvet - "In Dreams" by Roy Orbison

I remember introducing this to a friend for the first time a couple of years ago and they were blown away by the music choice, especially during some of those scenes, it just pulls you back and you just have to question yourself, you know? These songs were so uplifting and now? Well, Frank Booth played by Dennis Hopper is obsessed with the song and it doesn't help that Booth is a murderous psychopath, and it's just an eerie scene with Ben (Dead Stockwell) lip-syncs the song absolutely perfectly, but it's just so unnerving. But killer song choice just like Orbison's "Blue Velvet." David Lynch just absolutely nailed it.

So that's ten of my favorite songs that now have a sinister edge, what are some of yours?

Honourable mentions include Final Destination - "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver, pretty much all the songs in Christine although they weren't necessarily made more sinister for me personally, Insidious - "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim and 1408 - "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters. There's also Jeepers Creepers but I personally don't like it, I think it's the only VHS tape I ever returned to the video store.