Scary Beats: Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs
Samples from legendary horror film used in some of our favourite songs.
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To get into the spirit of Halloween, we’re looking at classic Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs by some of our favourite artists.
In this Article:
Sampling sounds and speech from feature films became a popular Hip-Hop production technique in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, it’s surprising how many other styles of music have also used samples from iconic films over the years.
Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs: Night of the Demon (1957)
Hounds of Love is the title track from Kate Bush’s iconic 5th studio album that makes use of a voice sample from the British horror film, Night of the Demon from 1957.
In this particular case, the voice of Maurice Denham is sampled as the track’s intro. Meanwhile, the video, which Kate Bush directed herself, is inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps (1935).
It’s known that Kate Bush was a fan of horror and fantasy films with references throughout the artist’s catalogue, especially in songs like Get Out of My House and Hammer Horror.
- Read about Kate Bush
- Official Artist Page
Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs: Psycho (1960)
Few film scores have had such an impact on movie-making as Bernard Herrmann’s score for the groundbreaking Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho (1960).
In the creation of Gimme Some More by Busta Rhymes, George Spivey aka DJ Scratch used a 4-bar loop from the film’s haunting main theme, along with a string stab that is used as a more percussive element.
The ghostly melodic string part becomes the foundation of the track, underneath the stuttering rhythm section creating an unresolved tension throughout. All this is happening while the pulsating drums and bassline provide the perfect platform for the rigorous wordplay of Busta Rhymes.
Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs: The City of the Dead (1960)
Few contemporary music artists are as closely associated with horror films as Rob Zombie. In fact, he has even produced his own stylized brand of movies for many years, as well as written and directed remakes of the classic Halloween I & II movies.
For Dragula, the lead single of his debut album, Hellbilly Deluxe (1998), Rob Zombie used dialogue samples from The City of the Dead (1960). The passage comes from screen legend Sir Christopher Lee, whose unmistakably eerie voice adds atmosphere to the song’s intro.
Although it was the last song to be recorded on the album, it’s hard to imagine Rob Zombie’s career without this song. The more electronic production approach gave the music a certain crossover appeal that still holds up today.
Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs: Halloween (1978)
Another ingenious example of a song that samples an iconic horror film comes from John Carpenter‘s Halloween (1978). This incredibly low-budget blockbuster has one of the most recognizable musical themes in the genre and influenced countless slasher movies that followed.
When he was creating beats for his follow-up album to The Chronic (1992), Dr. Dre turned Carpenter’s famous piano theme from Halloween into a hook and combined this with a dancehall-style chorus in a track aptly named Murder Ink.
Although the Halloween theme had been used previously on Ice T’s The Tower back in 1991, it simply didn’t hit quite as hard as a Dr Dre production.
- Read about Dr. Dre
- Official Artist Page
Horror Movie Samples in Famous Songs: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Possibly one of the most distinctive sounding albums of the 1990s, The Downward Spiral (1994) is littered with unexpected samples from well-known sci-fi and horror films.
As creator Trent Reznor intended for the album to be constructed as a concept album, he collaborated with many musicians, and his use of samples added to the album’s collage-like character.
The song Reptile makes use of many samples, including sounds from Alien (1979) and a short voice sample from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).
- Read about Nine Inch Nails
- Official Band Page
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