This is a guest post by Kristin Claire.
Every great horror movie has an accompanying soundtrack. There’s no better way to build suspense and grate heavily on nerves than the sense of sound. Psycho‘s shower scene violin shrieks were unforgettable, Halloween provided the six creepiest whispers you could ever imagine to hear in the dark, and Jaws made audience terrified of the ocean in only two notes. Music is essential in creating mood.
John Carpenter’s 1982 alien thriller The Thing has a phenomenal score. Ennio Morricone, previously known for films like A Fistful of Dollars and Once Upon a Time in the West, took the minimalist approach to scoring this psychology-heavy film. The composition starts out with a beautiful symphony playing a hauntingly sorrowful song. Since this film doesn’t sugarcoat or play around with the false hope of happiness (the story takes place in an isolated science camp in Antarctica), Morricone gets straight to the point by setting the depressing mood. He focuses mostly on strings to create set his tone, with the occasional full orchestra accompanying. With a few piano plinks or staccato violin picks, he creates an unnerving tension during scenes of dread. His arpeggios build the suspense, but a hold on the high note keeps that sharp intake of breath in. However, it’s his heartbeat-like synth bass thumps at the climax that really express the mortality of the film. To create an ambiance of uncertainty regarding the characters’ remaining humanity, what better way to mock being human than to imitate its lifeforce – its heartbeat. It’s the perfect way to score an ambiguous ending. Simple, haunting, brooding.
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