Good music throughout the entire movie. I went back and watched Candyman, and Philip Glass is a ****ing genius. The music just build up that sense of horror, and literally absorbs you into the movie.
that being said, i can only recall a few with great music in the new horror era:
Silent Hill, and Saw came to mind. 28 Days Later was good as well from what I remember.
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Well I'd say being scary...Older stuff just used to be outright terrifying to me. I remember watching IT as a kid and thinking it was the most horrific thing in the world. Nowadays horror movies get by, by simply making something pop out, some cheap little scare that lasts for half a second. They're lacking that horrific atmosphere that all horror movies should have.
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Agree with Charlie Clouser(liking his score music for most films that he has done) and the Saw series music, one of the memorable scores lately. Especially the main score that was first used wonderfully during the twist part of the first Saw, and then used again throughout the series in different variations:
I've found that most horror films involve characters that are fairly annoying; I don't care about them. Horror/suspense films are much more effective imo when the audience sympathizes for who may or may not be getting killed. A lot of horror movies fall into more of the comedic category nowadays (Paris Hilton in the House of Wax remake comes to mind) because you WANT to see the "victims" get murdered and their ridiculous deaths are often laughable. This is just one aspect among other things, but it really bugs me that the horror genre is so shitty (overall) and I think this is part of it. Movies are scarier when they're at least a little grounded in realism, with effective usage of mystery, suspense, musical score, etc.
Co-sign. Either they go for the cheap scares as u said or go overboard with the goriness (Saw, Hostel). Im still waiting for a movie (new stuff) with that horrific, suspenseful atmosphere that will make me think twice before shutting off the lights at night.
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That's one reason I can't stand crap movies like Hostel, Hostel 2 I liked slightly better because you felt a pinch of something towards the girls at least compared to Hostel.
One film where I liked the characters was in Wolf Creek, horrible to watch, especially for the girl who was in the head on a stick scene... might of been idiots in some scenes, but not nasty/negative idiotic people.
I remember watching TCM as a kid. I realized the fear was in the fact that there was barely any music in the background. Just the sound of the chainsaw, screams, and the environment surrounding the victims.
watched The Thing today on Sci Fi. Another classic film.
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