A foreboding and atmospheric score can do wonders in creating a dark tone for plenty of scary movies. Yet the following films changed things up. Leaving orchestras aside, rock songs took over, some playing throughout the film. More times than not though, they played during the opening and end credits, setting up the mood or finishing off the narrative with a bang.
Several of horror cinema’s icons such as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees have well-known rock songs attached to them. Then there are others, like Leatherface and Pinhead, that might be far more surprising to certain fans. Even if they were in a poorly received sequel, these rock anthems deserve so much more appreciation. Why not have a listen to each?
J. Geils Band — “Fright Night”
InFright Night, actorChris Sarandon(Child’s Play) played a vampire who planned to make his teen neighbor’s life hell. AndJ. Geils Bandgave the perfect tone with their single, both dark and energetic. How “Fright Night” doesn’t get the pleasure of being heard on Halloween playlists is a baffling question. A big “thank you” for the use of J. Geils Band and the other original songs heard throughout, should go to its director and producers. In an effort to create the bestalbumto be played on the radio, music supervisor/soundtrack producerDavid Chackler, film producerGary Goetzman, and directorTom Hollandused the script as a tool to figure out the ideal placement of songs. They wanted a dance-friendly soundtrack. It might be safe to say they achieved that goal.
Alice Cooper — “He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)”
What could a franchise likeFriday the 13thdo to stay fresh for yet another sequel? A sixth film was made and in 1986, was released asPart VI: Jason Lives,and none other thanAlice Cooper, who many consider to be “The Godfather of Shock Rock,” was brought into the franchise to deliver a theme song.
It’s catchy and very campy, a perfect combo for one of the better sequels in theFriday the 13thseries. It wouldn’t be the last time Jason received a rock anthem; it happened again inJason Takes Manhattanwith “The Darkest Side of the Night” byMetropolis. But while a rock theme worked well with Jason Voorhees,Friday the 13th: Part IIIincluded a disco theme for the slasher icon. It was the early 80s, anything was possible!
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Dokken — “Dream Warriors”
In 1987,A Nightmare On Elm Street3: Dream Warriorscaptured the potential of razor-clawed Freddy Krueger. If he could tamper with the dreams of his potential victims, wouldn’t it make sense they could do the same? Bringing back final girl Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) and including even more inventive kills,Dream Warriorsgot a lot right.
Coming out towards the end of the 1980s, the prime decade for slasher films, the surreal horror Freddy caused was a breath of fresh air among the other mortal, masked killers. But to help settle Freddy into horror icon status was the bandDokkenwho did their part to makeDream Warriors, both the film and their song, an unforgettable experience for slasher fans. TheGoo Goo Dollseven got in on Freddy’s fame forFreddy’s Deadwith “I’m Awake Now.”
Louis Chalif — “Twist and Scream”
Slumber Party Massacre 3(1990) didn’t get any rave reviews and it bookended theSlumber Partytrilogy before a 2021remakegot made for the Syfy channel. The original, directed byAmy Holden Jonesand written byRita Mae Brown, should be remembered for how much of an odd product it was. Made during the early years of the slasher film craze, it had a satirical edge that in many ways put a feminist lens to the horror subgenre many critics labelled as anti-women. Of course, as what happens with sequels, by the thirdSlumber Party Massacre, the message became a little muddled. But it continued to be created by women.
Sally Mattisonwas in the director’s chair for the third, with the story written byCatherine Cyran. And while this one might not get a lot of love from fans, one can’t deny the allure ofLouis Chalif’s song. With the tone and vocals sounding close toBilly Idol, it’s a fun one that, if analyzed a little further, could be considered in keeping up with how the first film poked fun at fellow slasher flicks. While the drill weapon is utilized in this one, the guitar riffs heard in “Twist and Scream” work as a callback to the over-the-top guitar-drill weapon used in the secondSlumber Party. All in all, it was an undeniably 80s-esque song heard at the very start of the 90s.
Lääz Rockit — “Leatherface”
Did you know that even the Texan cannibal with a fondness for wearing skin from his victims got his own anthem? It happened inLeatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. If someone only saw the first one, perhaps there would be some confusion as to how a rock song and Leatherface could go hand in hand. But with the outrageous chainsaw fights and neon-lit tunnels seen inTheTexas Chainsaw Massacre 2, the series wasn’t going back to the nihilism of the original anytime soon.
In 1990, audiences gotLeatherface, the film and the track byLääz Rockit. The song is more metal than rock, but that’s an agrument for another day. In this third outing, Leatherface was once again a brutal force of destruction, that could even be considered an effect ofteen angst. He had his chainsaw roaring like a guitar, eager to make contact with unlucky flesh.
The Nymphs — “Revolt”
Pet SemataryusedThe Ramonesin its ending credits.Pet Sematary 2continued that rock tradition with the inclusion ofThe Nymphsand the rock aesthetic works even better thanks to the film’s younger protagonists this time around. The Ramones get all the love but The Nymphs should too. DirectorMary Lambertwas brought back to helm the sequel and there might have been a good reason each of thePet Semataryfilms included excitings songs rather than atmospheric scores.
Lambert started her filmmaking career in themusicindustry. She didn’t work with just any artists either.The EurthymicsandMadonnawere some of the prominent ones she directed videos for. In fact, it was during the editing of one of Madonna’s videos that Lambert’s role in thePet Semataryfilms started. A call from her agent with the prospect of coming on to the Stephen King adaptation came through. The rest was history. Without Lambert, it’s more than possible that the The Ramones and The Nymphs wouldn’t have added their touch to horror cinema.
It really was only time before Pinhead and his fellow Cenobites got a rock hit. All that tight leather they wear was a perfect punk aesthetic. It took three movies, butHellraiser 3: Hell on Earthbrought inMotörheadand lead singerLemmy’s raspy vocals.Ozzy Osbourneoriginated the song on hisNo More Tearsalbum but Motörhead were the ones who officially gave it over to Pinhead.
It was the last entry in the long-runningHellraiserfranchise to have a theatrical release but what a way to go out. Even better would be the music video made for Motörhead’s single.Clive Barker, the original creator ofHellraiser,directed the video, where a poker game is played between Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and Lemmy. As to who wins, you should check out the video for the surprise.
Right off the bat inBride of Chucky,audiences knew they were getting something entirely different than anything seen in the previousChild’s Playfilms. Everybody’s favorite killer doll with a hyena laugh could very well have met his swan song with the third film, back in 1991. CreatorDon Mancinihad other plans and Chucky fans were in for a wild ride.Rob Zombie’s second single off his debut solo album,Hellbilly Deluxe, plays over the opening credits. This is right after a compliant cop has given over Chucky’s remains and left his throat easily exposed for a nail file’s blade. Flesh is sliced and plenty of the red stuff gushes out.
But the rock song isn’t so much for Chucky. In fact, it’s not for him at all. It’s to introduceJennifer Tilly’s Tiffany. “Well, hello dolly,” she coos and, soon after, lovingly stitches her old lover’s plastic body back together, giving a new and creepier look to Chucky. Chucky was back but this time with some help. What a way to introduce Tilly as a new franchise character that has since become a fan-favorite.
Stabbing Westward — “Haunting Me”
Like a twisted high school fantasy,The Facultyleaned into the idea of, “what if your teacher really was out to get you?“Aliya Whiteleyof Den of Geek wrote the best example of how to best identify all the influences at play here. “MixInvasion Of The Body SnatcherswithThe Thing.Throw in someTerminator,a spoonful ofThe Breakfast Club,and a pinch ofThe Stepford Wives,and you’ve got a big mess of a movie set in a school that’s being taken over by a conformist alien, one teacher at a time.”
What makes “Haunting Me” fit so well withThe Facultyis how much it works as a teen anthem plus a rock anthem. The beeping heard in the opening is so similar to an alarm clock, it could produce a nostalgic callback to when you had to wake up for schoolon timeor risk missing the bus. What’s scarier than that memory?
Heard in the end credits forScream 4, it was the last film of the franchise directed byWes Cravenand he continued a tradition. At the end of each of theScreamfilms directed by Craven, a rock song was played. Only time will tell if the directing teamRadio Silencewill follow with that musical tradition for the upcoming installment.Ida Maria’s “Bad Karma” works incredibly well thematically, with the lyrics encapsulating the downfall to failed survivor Jill (Emma Roberts).
Jill was made to be the new final girl, that is until it was revealed she was behind all the Ghostface killings. By the end, literally within moments before the screen went black, Jill got her own dose of karma when her cousin,Sidney Prescott(Neve Campbell), the franchise’s heroine, fired a fatal gun shot. With that, Sidney settled the argument between remakes and reboots with a single line. “Don’t f*ck with the original.”
