Ten film scores to be scared by

1. 1

   Psycho (1960)

   Music by Bernard Herrmann · Listen on Spotify

   Strings only, no brass or percussion: a black-and-white score for a black-and-white film. Hitchcock wanted the shower scene without music, and Herrmann talked him out of it.

2. 2

   The Exorcist (1973)

   Music by Mike Oldfield · Listen on Spotify

   Not a score written for the film: William Friedkin used a passage from Tubular Bells, the album Oldfield recorded at nineteen, and that turned it into a worldwide hit.

3. 3

   Jaws (1975)

   Music by John Williams · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

   Two low notes, E and F, repeated faster and faster: that is how the shark announces itself long before it appears on screen. When Williams first played it on the piano, Spielberg thought he was joking. It became one of the most recognisable themes in film.

4. 4

   The Omen (1976)

   Music by Jerry Goldsmith · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

   The Latin chorus of Ave Satani turned a horror film into something like a black mass. It was the only Oscar Goldsmith won in his whole career.

5. 5

   Alien (1979)

   Music by Jerry Goldsmith · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

   Ridley Scott and his editor moved or dropped several of Goldsmith's cues, and he was not happy about it. For the end titles they used Howard Hanson's Second Symphony instead of his music.

6. 6

   The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

   Music by Howard Shore · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

   Howard Shore, composer of nearly every Cronenberg film, wrote it for Jonathan Demme ten years before The Lord of the Rings.

7. 7

   The Sixth Sense (1999)

   Music by James Newton Howard · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

   The first of eight M. Night Shyamalan films scored by James Newton Howard.

8. 8

   The Others (2001)

   Music by Alejandro Amenábar · Listen on Spotify

   Amenábar directed the film and wrote the music himself; it was nominated for the Goya.

9. 9

   The Orphanage (2007)

   Music by Fernando Velázquez · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

   The film that made Fernando Velázquez's name, and the start of his work with J. A. Bayona.

10. 10

    Under the Skin (2013)

    Music by Mica Levi · Listen on Spotify · Apple Music

    Jonathan Glazer commissioned it from Mica Levi, who came from experimental pop. It won her the European Film Award.

Facts taken from FilMaestro's pages, checked against public sources. If you spot a mistake, write to [email protected].

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