The Top 15 Horror Movie Themes (as presented by 100HorrorFilms)

Over the weekend, I happened to catch an interview with PJ Soles on the radio, and one of the bumpers happened to be the theme from Halloween (naturally), and in looking for the theme on Youtube, I discovered that someone had put together a rather good list of the Top 15 Horror Themes under the username 100HorrorFilms. Here's how his list played out:

1. Psycho
2. Halloween
3. Jaws
4. Deep Red
5. The Omen
6. The Shining (due to copyright holder of Wendy Carlos's work, it could not be presented by the listmaker, so this is an alternate video featuring the music)
7. The Exorcist
8. Zombi 2
9. Dawn of the Dead
10. Phantasm
11. Hellraiser
12. Rosemary's Baby
13. Cannibal Holocaust
14. Bride of Frankenstein
15. Toccata & Fugue in D Minor

Now, personally, I don't agree with all the choices above. For instance, I am still not entirely sold on Cannibal Holocaust's theme, but I do respect the choice. Of course, there are a few themes which I also think are notable that I thought merited inclusion:

Suspiria: Another work by Goblin (Deep Red, Dawn of the Dead), this theme was almost a supporting character in one of Dario Argento's greatest films.

The Thing Ennio Morricone wasn't really happy with the selections John Carpenter made from his original score, but I feel that Carpenter made the right choice in this case.

Friday the 13th Harry Manfredini composed this iconic theme song, taking cues from the work John Williams did on the score for Jaws, and over the past 25 years, its vocal aspects have been parodied in both comedic and dramatic situations (ki,ki,ki,ma,ma,ma).

And I am probably missing some exquisite music myself, so even I have a few things to learn about horror music scores.

Tags: 100horrorfilms, pj soles, halloween, psycho, jaws, deep red, goblin, the omen, the shining, the exorcist, zombi 2, dawn of the dead, phantasm, rosemary's baby, cannibal holocaust, bride of frankenstein, toccata and fugue in d minor, bach, the thing, friday the 13th, suspiria, dario argento, harry manfredini, ennio morricone, mike oldfield, wendy carlos, john carpenter