10 Great Goth-Rock Moments In Horror

We may be nearing the smoldering heat of summertime, but that doesn’t mean you have to change out of your black duds – May 22nd was World Goth Day, after all – but let’s just call it Goth Week – or while we’re at it, why not Goth Month? Or Goth year?! Every Monday of the year is Blue Monday, so let’s have at it.

There are a great number of terrific rock moments in horror, but for this we’re diving specifically into the moments where goth-rock had its moments to shine. The genre is synonymous with horror, with lyrics oftentimes referencing horror films or literary works of old sung in ghoulish vocals. So in the midst of the miserable temperatures rising, and us being past the halfway point to Halloween (five more months!), let’s take a look at ten great goth-rock moments in horror films! Let’s let these bats out of the belfry…

[AdSense-A]

10. “Funtime” – Iggy Pop

from The Hunger

Tony Scott’s 1983 horror The Hunger is a dark, gothic vampire love story starring David Bowie – so of course, it’s going to have a great soundtrack. First in this list is a track from Iggy Pop’s “The Idiot” (an album produced by Bowie), whose sound at the time was one of the examples of the emerging post-punk sound, an early precursor to the goth rock movement. The song plays as Bowie’s character Jonathan stalks a rollerblader in a dark, blue-hued alleyway. The song itself is eerie – made even more so by how much the filmmakers slowed the song down in comparison to its album version, adding a creepy effect to an already spooky moment. The song is also not without its horror references, with lyrics like “Last night I was down in the lab, talking to Dracula and his crew.” Why Iggy has Dracula in a lab instead of Frankenstein, I have no idea, but I digress.

9. “This Corrosion” – Sisters of Mercy

from The World’s End

Next on this list is a track from The Sisters of Mercy. There is surprisingly little of their material used in horror films, let alone films in general, but thankfully Edgar Wright put their music to good use when he included their 1987 hit “This Corrosion” at the end of his 2013 sci-fi/horror invasion film The World’s End, in a scene where Simon Pegg’s goth-music loving Gary King enters a bar, dressed in a black trench coat and cowboy hat, looking not unlike Fields of the Nephilim singer Carl Mccoy. Also worth noting is the moment when Pegg’s character even reveals his huge Sisters of Mercy tattoo he bears on his chest!

8. “Roland” –  Interpol

from House of Wax (2005)

2005’s House of Wax is a relatively unremarkable horror film, but it actually has a pretty decent soundtrack, with songs including Joy Division’s “New Dawn Fades”, and Interpol’s “Roland” from their 2002 debut album Turn On The Bright Lights, which is played early on in the film before the teens head to a campsite. If you know me, you know I’d do anything to throw an Interpol reference somewhere – but with lyrics like “My best friend’s a butcher, he has 16 knives, he severed segments secretly, he liked that” – it’s a good song choice for a horror film, but also considering their background: Interpol emerged in the early 2000’s at the height of the resurgence of 80’s post-punk sound in a movement now called post-punk revival. But what set Interpol apart from their contemporaries was that they established a sound reminiscent of the goth bands of old, drawing comparisons to Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, and The Chameleons. But there was something special about Interpol’s sound to me in that they spun it in a way that was uniquely their own.

7. “The Killing Moon”, Echo and the Bunnymen, “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, Joy Division

from Donnie Darko

2001’s Donnie Darko is a soundtrack full of goth and new wave classics, including songs by bands such as Joy Division and most notably Echo and the Bunnymen, whose track 1984 “The Killing Moon” plays during the film’s opening credits, setting the somber and eerie mood for the rest of the film. Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is also used near the end of the film at a house party in a somberly romantic moment. The songs chosen for the soundtrack fit the mood of the film quite well, and I’ve always loved how it takes place near Halloween.

6. “People Are Strange” – Echo and the Bunnymen

from The Lost Boys

The Lost Boys is known for a lot of musical moments (sax man Tim Cappello, anyone?) but apropos of this list, is the opening credits song as the Emerson family arrive in Santa Carla. And so Echo and the Bunnymen make the list for a second time with their cover of The Doors’ “People Are Strange”. It’s a fun if slightly spooky rendition of the song – not unlike the movie itself.

5. “Dead Souls” – Nine Inch Nails/The Cure

from The Crow

1994’s superhero-horror The Crow has a variety of great songs on it’s soundtrack, but the highlight is after Brandon Lee’s character Eric Draven’s resurrection by a crow, as he revisits his derelict apartment and has flashbacks of his fiancee’s murder, set to The Cure’s Burn (also the film’s main theme). Immediately follows is Nine Inch Nails’ terrific cover of Dead Souls by Joy Division, as Eric is led by the crow out into the city to avenge his fiancee’s death.

4. “Partytime” – 45 Grave

from Return of the Living Dead

It’s a soundtrack that’s full of goth-punk tracks including bands like TSOL, The Damned and The Cramps, but the standout track is 45 Grave’s Partytime, famously used when when the zombies begin rising from the graves. I actually prefer the film version, otherwise known as the “Zombie Version”, to the standard release. It’s just got a meaner edge to it that’s missing from the album version.

3. “Blue Heart”, Peter Murphy; “Power”, Fields of the Nephilim; “Panic”, The Smiths

from Demons 2

This movie is hit or miss for some people, but I absolutely love this one. The entire soundtrack is basically all 80’s post-punk and goth rock bands of the era, including Fields of the Nephilim, The Cult, alt post-punkers The Smiths, and Peter Murphy of Bauhaus fame, so of course it’s my cup of tea. It’s hard to pick the best music moment in the film, but what immediately comes to mind is the great scene in which one of the demons comes out of the TV and the aftermath in which the character Sally comes to the party and begins killing the guests, before which Peter Murphy’s Blue Heart plays. I like to believe Murphy’s channeling his best Oingo Boingo impression in this one. Also great is the scene when the party guests are goofily dancing to “Panic” by The Smiths (though not really spooky goth, there’s plenty of synergy between their music and the goth subculture – they do constitute as “Sad Boy Goth” royalty). It’s a delight and of course I wish every party I go to could be as cool.

2. “Stigmata Martyr” – Bauhaus

from Night of the Demons

Peter Murphy makes the list again as his prolific band Bauhaus’ song “Stigmata Martyr” is featured in the famous “Angela’s Dance” scene from 1988’s Night of the Demons. A movie taking place on Halloween night in the 80’s would do wrong *not* to include a Bauhaus song, and it has one of the best goth rock moments in horror as character Angela crawls on the floor amidst Halloween decor hanging from the ceiling – it’s a goth horror lovers dream. A boombox turns on by itself, Angela begins her creepily hypnotic dance to the song before finally revealing her transformation into demonic form.

1. “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” – Bauhaus

from The Hunger

Chalk up another for The Hunger, making good use of its soundtrack choices, and a third Peter Murphy/Bauhaus track on this list. The film begins with the two vampire lovers, Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) and John (David Bowie) stalking prey in a dark nightclub where Bauhaus happens to be performing “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” – aka “Free Bird for Goths”. What I love is how this film doesn’t care how on the nose the song choice happens to be – it throws you right in and wastes no time in setting up its gothic atmosphere, with a live performance by arguably the kings of goth rock as the stage drop. Even Bowie is gothed up in this scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-o39BJ0Aww

What are some of your favorite goth-rock moments in horror? Are there any I forgot to mention? Did I leave some bats in the belfry?

Let us know in the comments below!