02x04 - Film Scores

[bunniefuu]

[omnious music]

[mysterious music]

MICK GARRIS: In a horror
movie, more than any other kind

of movie, you're laying the
groundwork for what's to come.

[piano music playing]

And music is such an important
part of impending doom

and laying the tracks for
the train that's going

to crash into your victim.

ALAN HOWARTH: I learned
from John Carpenter

what a director view
is of the score.

[growling]

He says that music is the
director's velvet glove.

That's how you touch
people without them

knowing you're touching them.

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN: You're
never going to accomplish what

is potential with a horror
film without a, literally,

k*ller score.

[screaming]

It is everything to an
effective horror film.

So what are the essential
horror film scores?

[ominous music]

MICK GARRIS: In 1933,
when King Kong was made,

music was just a
flavor enhancer.

King Kong and the Max Steiner
score kind of created what

a horror movie score could be.

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: Steiner
was kind of one of the first

to really use leitmotifs
in film scores.

Instead of just having little
bits of music, the opening title

and the end credit, and then
little cues during the movie,

Steiner wrote a ton
of music on King Kong.

[foreboding music]

And it's leitmotific and themes
associated with different moods

and characters in
a very similar way

that Wagner was
doing in his operas.

[tense music]

[screams]

MICK GARRIS: '33 was
very early to have

wall-to-wall music,
and especially

with a giant orchestra.

But Steiner was
one of the greats.

You know, this was a
very early monster movie,

a giant gorilla movie.

And just the sense of adventure,
first, on Skull Island...

The eighth wonder of the world.

[dramatic music]

But then eventually
bringing Kong to New York

and putting him on display,
and the buildup of tension

that he creates
before Kong escapes...

and the expl*sive
release when he does

is something that had never
been done before and started

to be copied quite a bit.

[tense music]

[screaming]

This expl*sive experience of
sical devastation in King Kong

was quite game changing.

ALEX WINTER: I think
that it really influenced

the visual style of these
films because they were

able to be supported
by music and not

feel that they had to rely
only on the performance.

[dramatic music]

[screaming]

So you got a lot less
of these close-ups

that just sort of sat there
for what seemed like minutes...

because there was no score.

There was no way to say, no,
now you must be very scared,

or, you know, now this
is a suspenseful moment.

As I said before,
I say again, here's...

here's to a son to the
House of Frankenstein.

WOMEN: Indeed, sir.

We hope so, sir.

[orchestral music]

MICK GARRIS: In 1931 when
Frankenstein came out,

you have the music
over the credits

and virtually nothing
else throughout the film.

But by the time of
the sequel in 1935,

there was a full
orchestral score

by Franz Waxman that
is absolutely stunning

and surely was influenced by Max
Steiner's score for King Kong.

[suspenseful music]

The movies were just
discovering how they could so

masterfully pair a film score...

[dramatic music]

...with a trauma or
a story being told.

And so Franz Waxman
and Max Steiner

were two of the greats who
really laid the foundation

for what was going to come.

[orchestral music]

It is subjective, and
it's subjective in the mind

of the monster.

[whimpering]

Music makes sure that, from
the very, very beginning,

you understand there's another
side to this creature that

is relatable.

[groaning]

It guides you in
very sweet ways,

and it sort of takes the
edge off of what you thought

you were there to experience.

[mysterious music]

NATHANIEL THOMPSON: And I think
that it holds a unique place

still to this day in the
history of film scores,

because Franz Waxman was
a composer who really

understood how to thread that
needle between the poetic

and the creepy.

[sinister music]

But it's a very
witty score at times,

but it's also very sinister
and very, very atmospheric.

But of course, the
moment where it

launches into just pure genius
is the birth of the bride.

The bride of Frankenstein.

[atmospheric music]

NATHANIEL THOMPSON: And you
hear those wedding bells

chiming on the soundtrack.

And it's, like, I
can only imagine,

back in the '30s, how audiences
must have felt when they saw

that scene, because
it still, to this day,

kind of just lifts
you out of your seat

a little bit and you're just
like, wow, that's so cool.

But it's such an obvious
musical flourish.

It's not trying to
just be underscore.

It's like the score is
part of the character

of the movie at that point.

[dramatic music]

So people will say a great
film score is something

that you don't notice.

Uh-uh, sorry.

A great film score is something
like, when it sings like that,

you have to notice it.

And there's no way
that you couldn't.

And I can't imagine it
being scored any other way

after you've watched it
like that, because it's

an absolutely perfect touch.

[orchestral music]

CEIRI TORJUSSEN:
It's very romantic.

And that's what's interesting
about the pre-w*r horror,

is that it has a lot more
romance it seems than Hitchcock

and later horror films.

There's something about the
kind of longing operatic quality

to those early horror films
that are very, very different

style to post-w*r horror.

[ominous music]

Bernard Hermann
started out scoring

radio plays for Orson Welles.

Then Welles hired him to
score his first feature...

Citizen Kane.

Rosebud.

[suspenseful music]

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: And that
kind of made his name.

[tense music]

He scored these great sci-fi
scores in the '50s with

these novel instruments.

[screams]

The Day the Earth
Stood Still, there's

tons of brass and
percussion and harps,

and then there's this
theremin wailing on it.

And it's amazing.

It's an amazing sound.

It's an amazingly original
kind of instrumentation.

Gort, Klaatu barada nikto.

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: But
he was just pushing

the envelope with what he
had, and he wanted new sounds.

And he was trying to
create new effects,

and then went on
to start scoring

Hitchcock's films,
which brought him

to a different level musically.

[orchestral music]

MICK GARRIS: Hitchcock
had been making

full-color, big-screen
movies for years,

and he decided to make
a black and white movie.

[mysterious music]

And when he and Bernard Hermann
met about scoring the film,

he wanted a black
and white score.

So that meant stripping
the orchestra of its brass

and its percussion
and its woodwinds

and just playing with strings.

[suspenseful music]

JOE LAMATTINA:
There's no way you

can listen to that
film score and not

feel the violence behind it.

[expl*sive music]

JOE WONG: It's impossible
to overestimate

he impact of the Psycho score.

It's kind of the template
for any horror score

that came after it.

That score is just constantly
just sort of breathing

right down the
back of your neck,

so you're never really
at ease, even when she's

just driving down the road.

The slashing of the
windshield wipers, you know,

it's like it's always
just perfectly in time

with the movie.

The scene where Norman Bates
is with Marion in the parlor

of the hotel
reception and they're

having this conversation, and
then suddenly, the conversation

turns to the madhouse.

And Marion says...

Wouldn't it be
better if you put her...

someplace?

You mean an
institution, a madhouse?

[tense music]

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: And then
suddenly the music comes in,

and you know something
is not right with Norman.

And the music is
doing all of that.

Put her in some place.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean it
to sound uncaring.

Anthony Perkins's acting is
pretty impeccable in that scene

as well, but the music is
really telling the audience

something's amiss here.

We all go a little
mad sometimes.

Haven't you?

What Hermann was doing,
he was taking a minor chord

but then adding another note.

So for instance, in
Psycho, he's got what's

called a minor major chord...

[mysterious music]

Which in an altered form
is also the vertigo chord.

And that gives a
sort of weird edge

to that tonality that can go
in so many different ways.

NATHANIEL THOMPSON: Originally,
the shower scene was supposed

to have no music, which...

thank, God... Hermann
prevailed on that one

and stuck to his g*ns,
because the music

really does just
absolutely spring

to life during that sequence.

[shrilling music]

[screaming]

MICK GARRIS: The way it screams
during the m*rder scenes,

you know, these...

[vocalizing] it became iconic.

Psycho is still one of the
most expl*sive and dangerous

film scores of all time.

Completely recognizable and
imitated, but unmatched.

CAB DRIVER: Hey,
watch out, lady!

MICK GARRIS: 1968
brought Rosemary's Baby.

Here was Roman Polanski
getting an opportunity

to do a big studio movie
for the first time.

What I love about the
Rosemary's Baby score

is that it plays against
horror for lots of it.

I mean, it's very
sweet and very pretty,

especially the main theme.

[SINGING] La, la, la, la,

La, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la

JOE WONG: That main theme
sounds like musical Prozac.

[SINGING] La, la, la, la,

La, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la

It lulls you into
lowering your defenses

and then hits you
with the horror.

[eerie music]

It makes the audience
more vulnerable.

And that score, it's so satanic.

This is no dream.

This is really happening.

It's about possession.

But it's not treated
like a horror film.

It's treated like
a big studio drama.

[mellow music]

The performances are great.

The script is great.

It's based on a great
book by Ira Levin.

But the cherry on the
sundae was the score.

Polanski brought along
a Polish composer

that he already knew
and had worked with.

Rosemary's treated like a
child throughout the film,

and the lullaby is
definitely a recurring theme.

But the music for Rosemary,
her themes are very adult.

[atmospheric music]

They are canny.

They are knowing.

It's kind of fighting
that rock-a-bye baby feel.

[suspenseful music]

She knows there's
something wrong.

Nobody else will admit to it.

But the music knows
something is wrong too,

and it's on Rosemary's side.

And it's expressing
those things that usually

can only be expressed
in a book or being

read to or with narration.

[tense music]

But we know what's
going on in her mind,

because the madness of this
music is so propulsive.

That was the era of, you
know, antidepressants emerging

and people who were living
unfulfilled lives, especially

women, who were being gaslit by
the patriarchy, kind of popping

pills to make it through.

[dramatic music]

What have you done to it?

What have you done to its eyes?

He has his father's eyes.

JOE WONG: That movie is somewhat
of a metaphor for that...

for being gaslit by society.

And so, I think the score
functions in that same way.

[SINGING] La, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la

[thunder clapping]

[ominous music]

AKIRA MIZUTA LIPPIT: Takemitsu
Toru is an incredible composer...

and worked across genres.

There's no comparison
to what he did,

not just in his composition,
but, in his way,

he understood the relationship
between cinema and music.

[electronic dub music]

MICK GARRIS: Near Dark,
It's really a classic score.

It really drives the movie,
which is a really well-made

movie in the first place.

But it just feels grim
and dark and brooding,

and it's amplified
by the throbbing

electronics of Tangerine Dream.

[groaning]

[sinister music]

Candyman, I think, is
just an incredible score,

because it takes the Philip
Glass sound, especially that

pumping organ sound
that he does so well

in which we associate with him.

That dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.

And that music alone is enough
to just really sort of freak you

out, because you can
feel that sort of thing

is simmering behind the
walls and behind the mirrors,

you know.

That it's always
just right there

and it could jump
out at any time.

[mysterious music]

JOE LAMATTINA: Trent Reznor
and Atticus Ross, they're

using one part of the
music to move us forward,

to propel us through the story.

And the other part is
this undercurrent of dread

that's coming
through, and it just

builds up throughout the film.

Go slowly.

JOE LAMATTINA: They're
moving us through the story.

And then we get to this
really horrific moment,

and they f*cking
k*ll us with it.

[frantic moaning]

[gagging]

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN:
This is a film that's

about a fake film in which
you and our protagonist

get lost in the madness
of that soundscape.

[eerie music]

And Broadcast, who
created that sonic world,

achieved something
in collaboration

with the filmmaker
that is really

special, really unnerving.

[non-english speech]

[ominous music]

NATHANIEL THOMPSON:
Jaws is an example

of how the music can
actually become a character

in the movie itself.

I don't think anyone's ever
forgotten the first time they

watched it and
just those opening

credits and the first time
you heard that dun, dun,

dun, dun, dun, you
know, the camera

just gliding through the water.

You always feel like the shark
could attack at any minute

because you've always got that
music sort of driving you.

[woman shouting]

Hey, you guys.

NATHANIEL THOMPSON:
I feel like Jaws

is the next blockbuster
iteration of what

Hermann did with Psycho.

[panting]

It's also employing a very
simple ostinato in a similar way

what Hermann did with Psycho.

[ominous music]

When I think of Jaws, I think
of being a kid and everybody

in the swimming pool putting
their shark fins up and singing

the Jaws theme song.

He made me do it.

He made me do it.

It's so simple that a
five-year-old can sing it.

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: You always hear
the story that John Williams

just played a couple notes...

the classic notes of the theme.

That's all it took.

It has to be able to work
on a very simple level.

You know, a really
great composer

doesn't need a full
orchestra to communicate

or express what the
larger finished score

is going to sound like.

He should be able to play
a sketch of it that really

captures the spirit
and the essence

of what the finished
score is going

to eventually grow to become.

[chattering]

John Williams, of
course, is also expert

at doing adventure music.

[foreboding music]

That's why it's also
such a thrilling

film to watch because
it isn't all just scary.

Like, when they're out
on the water together,

he does a beautiful
adventure music.

Bring another barrel!

I'm coming around again!

But it's no wonder
that John Williams

got his first original
score Oscar for this movie.

And that really kind
of changed everything,

because after that, it
set the stage for Close

Encounters, Star Wars, Raiders.

All of that stuff would
never have happened

without the score for Jaws.

TIM KASHER: How about
this, John Williams?

You've created a
score that becomes

synonymous with
music the same way

that some of Beethoven's
music is, you know.

That's pretty wild.

What is the sound of music?

Maybe you'd go like
nah, nah, nah, nah.

And then it was like, doo, doo,
doo, doo, doo, like, for release

or something like that.

But then, I think Jaws is a
major example of that, right?

Who doesn't know it?

Show me somebody.

[g*nsh*t]

Smile you son of a...

[g*nsh*t]

[laughing]

[expl*sive music]

Jerry Goldsmith is probably
my personal favorite composer.

What I love about him is, he was
one of the practitioners that

took 12 tone music
that was popularized

in the 20th century and brought
it into the world of film.

Planet of the Apes, for me, is
the ultimate Goldsmith's score.

He had to create a new sound
world for this new world

that we are experiencing, and
he decided to, first of all,

find the wackiest percussion
instruments he could find.

He's using conch
shells from India.

He's using a bass slide whistle.

He's using mixing bowls.

The percussionist,
Emil Richards,

was always creating
new instruments

and showing them to Jerry,
and just would try anything.

[percussive music]

These cool percussion
instruments

makes it sound like
prehistoric music,

and it's incredibly effective.

The Omen is
completely different.

[ascension, "transit"]

Jerry Goldsmith's
score to The Omen is

one of the all-time
greats, not just in horror,

but in all cinema.

That score is so phenomenally
good, I get goosebumps

every time I watch that movie.

The main theme,
Ave Satunus, to me,

it's like the Star Wars theme.

NATHANIEL THOMPSON: I don't know
if anyone has actually seen it.

But you haven't
lived until you've

actually watched
interpretive dancing

to Ave Satani at the Oscars.

Yes, they did do that, honestly.

[liturgical music]

The approach seems so simple.

It's a perversion of
religious chanting

that it takes what you would
normally think of as choral

chanting that you would hear in
mething like The Robe or Ten

Commandments or whatever.

And he makes it
completely diabolical.

[dogs barking]

The voices just sound malicious.

It's like you have
this choir chanting,

but they sound
really ticked off.

It's the soundtrack that
gets stuck in your head.

It has lyrics to it, which
you don't quite understand.

But you can just about
make out that they're

about Satan and evil, and
it's just creepy enough.

But it's also kind of bombastic.

It helps create a
mythology around that kid,

around the events of the
Antichrist, which could have

been a very contained
family unit story,

but it's supposed to have
ripples for the entire world,

because the child
that you watch growing

is going to be the Antichrist,
who is going to rule the world

and possibly destroy it.

[child screaming]

HOWARD S. BERGER:
The film becomes

also surprisingly emotional.

It's about family.

It's about love.

[screaming]

Sometimes you just can't
save the ones you love.

And sometimes the
ones you love maybe

aren't the ones that
you should be saving.

The score never tips it
out of the main character's

perception of things, and
that is extraordinary.

And more rare than not,
even with great scorers,

who have great themes, it's
a thinking man's score,

especially for a horror film.

It adds those levels.

No, Daddy, no.

God, help me.

Police!

Stop!
Stop or I'll fire!

[g*nsh*t]

In a horror film,
you have the luxury

of being able to experiment
and to go places that are not

the average direction
you would take

to be more aggressive in your
use of musical instruments.

And the winner is...

Jerry Goldsmith for The Omen.

[applause]

MICK GARRIS: Jerry Goldsmith
and just the variety of things

that he did, the aggressive
nature of his instrumentation

in some of these films...

you go to a certain
level in one movie,

and your next movie
you think, maybe I'll

go a little further this time,
and the next one even a little

further, especially if
it becomes influential.

JOE WONG: I think
his style really

lent itself well to Alien.

He had established
the use of Echoplex,

which is a tape-based
delay on a film

that he did earlier, Patton.

[suspenseful music]

And that was used again
on the Alien score.

And he originally wrote a much
more lush, romantic, beautiful

theme for the main titles,
and then Scott, the director,

insisted on using a
more dissonant piece.

That crap's going to
eat through the hull.

I think it's going to eat
through the g*dd*mn hull.

Come on.

It was Jerry Goldsmith's score,

but they threw out a
lot of his new stuff

and put in music he'd written
for Freud for the John Huston

movie, which nobody liked.

But the music was great.

And I can't imagine two
more different movies

utilizing that same score.

JOE WONG: I think he
does use the didgeridoo

and the alien score, and then
also combined instruments

from other cultures.

And because those elements
were not necessarily

familiar to moviegoers in the
United States at the time,

they really did sound, you
know, extraterrestrial.

[tense music]

It really has an instantly
identifiable texture.

No!

No!

I think a great film score
is one that obviously has

a unifying theme that kind
of holds the film together

but also tells its own story.

[ominous music]

Suspiria is one of
my favorite movies.

And Goblin did the
soundtrack for that.

It's about a girl who
goes to a dance academy

and there's a coven
of witches there.

Nothing prepared
me for Suspiria.

The music was this
blasting, terrifying prog

rock with whispers
and paranoid...

really made you terrified.

JOE WONG: It feels almost
like a silent movie score

but by a rock band, because
it has this liveness to it.

It's not super precise
in lots of areas.

That element is very exciting.

It feels a bit unhinged.

You're not sure what to expect.

It doesn't feel like they went
through with the slide ruler

and timed out
every single scene.

It felt like they were really
in there playing to picture.

[glass shatters]
[screaming]

I'm not sure if that's
how they actually did it,

but that's certainly
how it feels.

JEFFREY REDDICK: In Suspiria,
the horror is like not

a lot of chasing around.

A lot of it's like atmospheric
walking down dark hallways.

[ghoulish whispers]

When she walks down and the
cleaning lady turns the mirror

and it flashes on her like...

[ghoulish whispers]

JENN WEXLER: The breaths
of the Suspiria score

make you feel like you're
in the belly of the school.

The school is this entity, and
you're caught inside of it.

And you can't escape it.

[gasps]

[screaming]

And then you have the scary
action chase scenes with

the pounding, thundering music.

[eerie music]

NATHANIEL THOMPSON: Argento
was actually blasted on the set

to get people in the mood.

The scene with
Stefania Casini, where

she's sort of being
pursued down the hallway

and she winds up
in the barbed wire

room, that whole
sequence, what he would do

is, right before they'd start...

you know, before they'd
yell action on the set,

all of a sudden, he'd be like...
[vocalizing]

[screaming]

And so, to make people
kind of look like that,

that's because of the music
that was already written.

And so he already
knew in his head

what this thing was
going to be doing to you.

[screaming]

[ominous music]

Hello?

MICK GARRIS: The first
time I met John Carpenter,

I was interviewing
him for a magazine,

and I met him at this tiny
little studio in Hollywood,

where it's just him
and his keyboard,

and he was scoring Halloween.

We had no idea what that
was going to become.

[ominous music]

ALAN HOWARTH: He's brilliant at
imple themes, hence Halloween.

Da, da, da, da, da,
da, da, da, da, da.

I mean, kids come up
to me... because they

know I was part of
Halloween... to show

me that they could play it.
It's like the new chopsticks.

It's that simple.

I mean, anybody could play it.

Whereas a musician, who was a
trained musician, would have

skipped over that because
that's too simple.

TIM KASHER: I get
so excited about

the Halloween score because, I
think, it's 5/4, technically.

But it's written in 5.

And so that is, you know, like...

[vocalizing]

And so it's, like,
you count five.

But the beauty about when
you write in 5 so well

is, nobody realizes it.

It's just that it just gives
you this feeling of tension,

that it leaves you unsettled.

CHILDREN: Boogie man.

Boogie man.

Boogie man.

Boogie man.

[laughter]

He uses the main theme a lot.

And every time it kicks in...

[suspenseful music]

You're, like, back in it.

Part of what makes
a movie so enjoyable

is when a director knows
when to kick in that theme.

What's the emotional moment
where the audience is just

going to melt because
they hear that

and then they're
just in it again?

JOE WONG: The thing I
like about Halloween

and any Carpenter
score is he's making

the music function in such a way
that it best supports the film.

I think that the most important
part of scoring a film

is understanding the
intentions of the filmmakers.

And so, since he's
one and the same,

he has that very clear
understanding of how

the music should function.

ALAN HOWARTH: Synthesizer music
was considered low-budget.

You could get a
couple synthesizers

cranking out a score.

But for Carpenter, this
is the sound he wanted.

[sinister music]

The idea of making this
score with these, I'll say,

original textures, not a
violin but a synthesizer...

it's kind of like a string...

and a sort of a brass and
making these other things

put us in a different place.

It wasn't a familiar place.

It was a new place to go.

[moans]

And therefore, taking those
instruments and those sounds

and marrying to these, in this
case, horror movie images,

became married.

It was made for those
movies that way.

[foreboding music]

JOE WONG: He's taking the
most direct route from A

to B with these kind of
minimalist electronic scores.

And from what I can
hear, there's no kind

of compositional ego there.

There's no fad.

He just gets right to it.

And as a result,
it's super effective

and it's really catchy and
instantly recognizable.

[panting]

ALAN HOWARTH: We're doing this
stuff, and it's so simple.

It's like, as a musician,
you tend to get,

oh, this is going
to be really cool...

G9, 7 over 5, and Jazzy,
and all this other stuff.

And we'd sit there,
and he'd hold a low C

for, like, a minute and a half.

The very most basic definition
of music at the simplest form

is the alternation
of sound and silence.

So there's also the space in
between when there's nothing.

That's very important.

[door creaks]

So, as a composer, you want
to keep changing the textures.

You want to take
a pause and give

a minute for things to breathe.

If you just keep that quietly
going in the background

and the silence of
the scene, everybody

knows something is not right.

And as a composer,
the next thing you do

is just before the
bad stuff happens,

you give them a stinger.

And you get really loud.

[screams]

JOE WONG: The score
for The Shining

is interesting because it's more
of a soundtrack than a score.

It's pieced together
from Bartók, Penderecki.

And then the composers of
record are Carlos and Elkind.

I think that there's more
pre-existing pieces of music

that are repurposed
for The Shining

than there is
original composition.

The Shining was kind of
scored by Gordon Stainforth,

the assistant editor, who
was given a couple of weeks

just before the dub
to lay in some music

because the Wendy Carlos
music wasn't really working

out for him,
although he does use

a couple of cues in the film.

[mysterious music]

JOE WONG: That opening title
sequence with Carlos playing

synth and then Elkind singing
through effects is super spare...

and super effective.

It kind of feels like
the motor of the car

that you see as you're tracking
above it, and it also, to me,

feels like, you know,
sonic neurosis taking root.

The music alone signifies that
they're driving towards doom...

and there's nothing
they can do about it.

That is their fate.

They were always
meant to go there.

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: It's
a terrifying film,

and the score is
equally terrifying.

WOMAN: Whatever the
explanation is...

[sniffles]

I think we have to
get Danny out of here.

Especially in the quieter bits,

the bits of dialogue where
Jack is talking to his wife,

and just this creepy Bartok's
sinewy kind of violins come in

and you know something
is just not right.

And the music is really doing
a lot of the heavy lifting

in those scenes.

Seeing how Kubrick pairs
his music with the images

of the film is just
like... that's part

of what makes The Shining
so haunting, so lasting.

Just a collective
nightmare that we all have.

In the way that Jack
Torrance has always

been at the Overlook Hotel,
it feels like The Shining

has always existed.

We really can't talk about
soundtracks and horror films

without talking about
the sound design

because it's so intermingled.

And I'm just going
to use Nightmare

on Elm Street as an
example, because I

think they do such a great job
with mixing the soundtrack.

CHILDREN: [SINGING] One, two

Freddy's coming for you

JEFFREY REDDICK:
The main theme is

ery nursery rhyming, with One,
Two Freddy's Coming For You.

And that kind of theme
plays throughout.

But when you see almost every
set piece that Wes Craven does,

the sound design, like,
when you're in the basement,

you know, you have
the music playing,

but you have the dripping water.

You have the blades
going across metal.

[screeching]

Tina goes out into the alleyway.

That metal lid
comes out and spins.

[clacking]

Every nightmare
scene, there's layers

of sound design behind it.

When Nancy goes
to the jail cell,

she can hear whispers of
her name coming from Tina.

TINA: [GHOULISHLY] Nancy.

[squealing]

One of my favorite scenes
is when she goes down

into the basement
of her house, which

turns into the boiler room.

She hears Tina whispering,
Johnny Depp calling for his mom.

The overlapping of sound design
and mixing it in with the score

adds 10 times the level
of intensity to a film.

[yelling]

ALAN HOWARTH: I was invited
to join the sound team

for the Dracula film.

It was myself and
another fellow up

in San Francisco that were
creating sound effects

and then put it in the movie.

[rattle]

I didn't hear you come in.

[creaking]

So I was then to make
all the Dracula stuff.

So what does Dracula
floating sound like?

Welcome to my home.

Or what's the
ambience of the castle?

I don't want to scare you,
but I want us to haunt you.

This is a little different.

This is ghostly versus K*llers.

[woman moans]

I made the sound of his
breathing using a 5-gallon

Sparkletts bottle,
but breathing across

the thing like a big thing.

[growls]

[growling softly]

We're in the movie.

[flames swooshing]

The blue flames that
come up at the entry...

that's actually made
with a hot water heater.

It was really a challenge
because everything

had to be subtle.

You couldn't hit him
in the face with it.

[growling, howling]

Listen to them.

ALAN HOWARTH: They had to lay
into the layers and mix it in.

But I enjoyed the challenge.

Do it now!

[screaming]

[frantic growling]

I think there's a
tendency to rely too much

on score in a horror movie.

[door creaking]

When, in reality, the sound
effects, or even the lack

thereof, can actually
do most of the work.

I've seen a lot of
horror movies recently

where you wish you were
on the mixing stage,

because you just want to whisper
in the director's ear like, k*ll

the music, you
know, and then bring

the sound effects down by 50%.

[banging]

Because just hearing some
wind and a creaking floorboard

is all you need.

[pensive music]

The biggest
influence on film music

probably in the last 30 years
has been since on electronics.

I mean, it's undoubtable.

TIM KASHER: I just rewatched
Under the Skin the other week.

I mean, the score to that
is such a crucial part.

It's a character, right?

I mean, it's a
character in that movie.

[mysterious music]

JOE WONG: I had the good
fortune of being asked

to play with Mica Levi for a
live interpretation of her score

for Under the Skin.

And I was playing
electronic percussion.

And when we were
rehearsing for it,

she sent me some of
the samples that she

used for the percussive
elements in the score.

And what I really liked
about those sounds

is that they are unnatural.

They didn't necessarily
sound like they

were created by organic drums or
organic percussion instruments.

[creepy music]

She played most of it
herself in the studio

and did a lot of overdubs
and kind of approached

it almost like making a record.

What I love about it
is that it's relatively

minimal and extremely lyrical.

There's a lot of space.

And I think that all
that negative space

creates a really
wonderful tension that

works well with the picture.

[bizarre music]

The score for Under the Skin
is both primal and minimalistic

in a way that a lot of
film scores are now,

but it also taps
into this itchiness

that we all have in our minds.

There's this desire
beneath that score that

doesn't lead to anything good.

When we have unchecked
desire and we follow it

without thinking
about it, we're going

to turn into black, molten goo.

CEIRI TORJUSSEN: If you have a
subtle drama or a light comedy

and the acting is not doing
it, chances are the music

is not going to do it either.

There's something
about horror films

that if a character
is looking scared

but you put extremely
scary music on it,

it's going to be
way more powerful.

Good morning.

My elementary school
music teacher, Ms. Hayden,

who was consoling me when
I was a very little boy,

she said, David, the next
time a scary movie comes on

and you feel like you're getting
too scared, cover your ears.

It is the music that is making
you scared, I promise you.

Cover your ears.

To this day, if I start
to get really, really

scared in a scary movie,
I'll still cover my ears.

And I'll tell my kids
the same bit of wisdom.

[thunder claps]

[ominous music]

[boisterous laughter]

It's all for you.

[screaming]

We all go a little
mad sometimes.

Man: As I gaze into the stars
at night,

I often ask myself, what are
the must-see space horror films?

Woman: Space just makes
it so obvious

that we are so insignificant.

Visually, it represents a kind
of death, a kind of nothingness.

Space is horror.

Space is the worst.

[ominous music]

What sweet music they make.

Music?