Music is a vital component in film, especially horror. The right score or song heightens the emotional impact, alters the tone, or sets the mood. A perfect song choice can even layer in a wry wink to the audience or create irony. One of the more acute examples of implementing music to elevate a scene is the Needle Drop, which refers to the use of a pre-existing song in a movie.
The best Needle Drops use well-known songs in unexpected ways and resonate so strongly that not only does the song effectively manipulate the viewer, but it becomes forever associated with the movie. The worst Needle Drops can pull a viewer right out of the film. For example, Eddie’s showdown with the Leper in It Chapter Two took a jarring left turn with the Needle Drop of Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning.” The intent was to elicit a laugh, but it felt so tonally out of place that it wound up confusing instead.
These fifteen Needle Drops not only captured the energy of the movie, they got our fists up in the air and embedded the songs so far into our skulls that they’re permanently tied to their respective horror movies…
Scream – “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper
Nick Cave & The Bad Seed’s “Red Right Hand” is most associated with the franchise, but it’s this Needle Drop that perfectly showcased the humor in this beloved horror-comedy. The cue comes right after Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler), alone in his office, gets stabbed to death by Ghostface. Just as he utters his last breath and the mask of the killer is reflected in his eyes, Alice Cooper’s hit song kicks in. It’s an on-the-nose dad joke, in song form. We miss you, Wes Craven.
Night of the Demons – “Stigmata Martyr” by Bauhaus
Not only does this song serve as an introduction to Gothic rock back Bauhaus, but it’s intertwined with one memorable scene in horror; a demonic Angela’s mesmerizing dance of seduction. Not just visually compelling, this scene imbued the film with rock attitude.
You’re Next – “Looking for the Magic” by Dwight Twilley
It’s next to impossible to walk away from a viewing of You’re Next without humming this tune. Granted, a large part of that earworm effect might be due to the fact that it plays on loop throughout the narrative. Mostly, though, it’s that the pop song perfectly captures the tone of the film with an upbeat tempo that belies a somewhat unsettling undertone.
1408 – “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters
If ever there was a song title that sent a clear message in a horror movie, it’s this one. Taking a hit single pop song by The Carpenters and turning it into an ominous threat was a brilliant stroke of genius. A stroke with a major sense of humor, which is fitting for a Stephen King adaptation. Mike Enslin’s (John Cusack) skepticism flipped upside down thanks to the menacing supernatural presence in room 1408, and this song on the clock radio continuously cues up another round of supernatural onslaught. If you didn’t think the song was creepy before, you will now.
Pet Sematary – “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” by Ramones
Almost every single track by the Ramones, a Stephen King favorite, is catchy as hell. Including this one, which serves as cheerful misdirection. The truck driver is bopping along to this song as he barrels down that fateful road, and it’s intercut with the Creed family enjoying a blissful day under the sun. Neither parties are aware that they’re mere seconds away from tragedy. This optimistic song choice is punctuated by a devastating sucker punch.
Shaun of the Dead – “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen
Sometimes the best Needle Drops are the ones meant to get your fists pumping and your feet tapping along. The lyrics and tempo of Queen’s song say it all, as the jukebox kicks in, and zombies invade the Winchester pub. Appropriately, the survivors fight the horde off along with the beat of the song.
The Final Girls – “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes
This Needle Drop essentially becomes the theme of the film, acting as aural symbolism of the deep bond between mother and daughter. It’s a suitably melancholic song about an actress and ultimately brings closure to Max over the death of her mother. Moreover, it completely recontextualizes an ’80s synth classic, ensuring we can no longer hear this song without thinking of The Final Girls.
Us – “I Got 5 On It” by Luniz
As previously stated, the best Needle Drops take a previously released song and apply it in a completely unexpected way, and this makes for a perfect example. The song’s hook is about kicking in money to buy weed, and it’s used as a film as a fun throwback to dad Gabe Wilson (Winston Duke) when it plays on the radio on the road to vacation. The song becomes a fun family moment, presenting the dynamic between the foursome soon to be terrorized by doppelgangers, but it also hides a more sinister foreshadowing in terms of keeping the beat. That the song was featured in the trailers further ensured that we’d never hear this one the same way again.
Stir of Echoes – “Paint it Black” by G.O.B.
This cover of the famous song by The Rolling Stones essentially becomes a supporting character in this spectral murder mystery. When Kevin Bacon’s Tom is hypnotized to become more open-minded, it works and then some, making him susceptible to the other side. That allows the ghost of a missing girl to haunt Tom into solving her murder, and this song becomes a vital tool in unlocking the mystery. So, while “Paint it Black” features in numerous T.V. series and movies, it’s never as prominent as it is here.
Final Destination – “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver
John Denver’s folk song and a love letter to Colorado doesn’t initially seem like a suitable theme for Death, though it does effectively render an uplifting song a sinister one. That alone would make it an ominous Needle Drop worthy of the film’s suspenseful tone, but then you take into account that John Denver died in a plane crash, and well, it’s an eerily fitting pick. Alex (Devon Sawa) first hears it playing over the speakers in the airport, just before the plane crashes, and again throughout the film as Death claims more victims. Death’s song changed with every entry in the franchise, but the original set the mold.
Insidious – “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” by Tiny Tim
Something is disconcerting about a demon that adores this already relatively creepy song. What’s meant to be a romantic song becomes anything but thanks to Tiny Tim’s overly cheerful, high-pitched voice, and the lyric “by the window, that’s where I’ll be” takes on a voyeuristic quality as ghosts terrorize the Lambert family. That it’s the Lipstick-Face Demon’s theme makes a lot of sense; the song perfectly conveys the terrifying yet whimsical aesthetic of the Further.
American Psycho – “Hip to Be Square” by Huey Lewis and the News
The entirety of Patrick Bateman can be distilled into this iconic scene, in which he manically breaks down this song and its band while preparing his latest victim for slaughter. It’s a song choice befitting of the era in which the movie is set, but it’s enhanced tenfold by Christian Bale’s performance and unforgettable dance moves.
The Devil’s Rejects – “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s power ballad pops up often in cinema; it’s a massively popular song considered to be the band’s signature, after all. From a lyrical perspective, it’s also a fantastic choice as a moving sendoff to one of horror’s most twisted families: the Firefly clan. The remaining trio of murderers flee their persecutors, badly wounded, then opt to go down in a blaze of glory when they encounter a police barricade. There’s no dialogue or sound outside of “Free Bird,” and it makes for a moving conclusion. Well, until the sequel, anyway…
The Silence of the Lambs – “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus
Sometimes movies pluck little known, obscure songs from the ether and transform them into classics. The story goes that director Jonathan Demme met Q Lazzarus in a taxi, where she played her demo for him. He was blown away, and put it in his movie Married to the Mob. It wasn’t until he used it in the iconic Buffalo Bill dance scene that the song took off. Thematically, it’s earworm precision. A dark wave song about transcendence complements James Gumb’s desire to become a woman, going so far as to craft a woman’s suit. Ted Levin’s dance, complete with a woman’s scalp on his head, launched this song and its corresponding scene into the pop culture lexicon.
An American Werewolf in London – “Blue Moon” by The Marcels
While the film is full of amazing Needle Drops, including two other renditions of “Blue Moon,” it’s the end credit version by The Marcels that wins the prize. Why? Because it serves as a much-needed reminder that this movie is as much a comedy as it is a horror movie, by way of major emotional whiplash. The closing moments of the movie see poor Alex tearfully mourning her lover David, lying dead and naked post werewolf rampage. It’s an absolute downer. Cue the buoyant take on “Blue Moon” by The Marcels, which sends the audience off on a much more cheerful note.