Research: Why is music important in a horror film?

When watching a horror film, you are more likely to be more intrigued about what's happening in the film rather than what you're listening to, the music is always an overlooked aspect in a horror film however it possibly is the most important aspect of it.

It is important to remember that without the music and sound effects in a horror movie, the fear factor would decrease dramatically because the music is always used to create tension for the viewer. Tension is a major part of a horror film as it makes the viewer fear that something is about to happen, which might not always be the case but because of the music, it can change their view on what might happen. Sounds such as heart beat and deep base instruments create tension as they are most related to a person thoughts on what they feel in a tense situation. The most popular tense type of music is that of the film 'JAWS' with the deep base sound which gradually starts to quicken and becoming lighter resembling a racing heart. 

The Auditory symbol

In most horror films, a certain melody or sounds serves as a symbol for the main threat in the film. This is achieved by a extracting a small portion of the films characteristic sounds and assigning it to the main threat by playing the sound whenever the threat is back into focus. The use of the auditory symbol helps the producers of the film by adding the threat without actually using any visual representation.

When sound is shown well in horror films

A great example of when sound is shown well in a horror film is in the movie Phycho. The scene in where the lady is in the shower and gets stabbed is a great example as it shows how powerful music can be. The reason in why it is so powerful as there is a loud screeching sound when the lady gets stabs, this represents a scream and the loud screeching noises scares the viewer due to its high pitch velocity.