When compared to all other film genres, horror is obviously the closest thing that cinema has to punk rock, with even mainstream scary movies engaging in subversive ideas and often embracing outsider artists behind the camera. That’s why rock stars tend to gravitate towards horror when the time comes to bring their talents to the silver screen in movies like the upcoming V/H/S/MIXTAPE.
With MIXTAPE inviting musical giants like GWAR, RZA, and even Ghost’s Tobias Forge to apply their chaotic skills to a visual medium, today I’d like to highlight five memorable musical performances found in horror films!
For the purposes of this list, I’ll only be including in-universe concerts and private shows that the characters themselves can actually hear – which means that we won’t be featuring extra-diegetic needle drops that only the audience can enjoy.
That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite musical performances if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. Sammi’s Return – Trick or Treat (1986)
Charles Martin Smith’s original Trick or Treat may have been overshadowed by Michael Dougherty’s similarly titled film from 2007, but this nostalgic rock ‘n roll nightmare is even more entertaining now than it was back in the ’80s. Not only does the flick boast the feature film debut of Ozzy Osbourne, with additional cameos by giants like Gene Simmons, but it’s also one hell of a fun ghost story.
During one of the film’s most memorable scenes, the undead spirit of fictional musician Sammi Curr violently replaces the lead singer of “The Kickers” and begins to unleash rock ‘n roll vengeance upon a horde of unwitting teenagers attending a Halloween dance. The pyrotechnics may have gotten out of control, but this is certainly one musical performance that the surviving genre fans will never forget!
4. “I’m a Hex Girl” – Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost (1999)
When it comes to ’90s kids and their most popular cartoon crushes, I’m pretty sure that the Hex Girls are somewhere at the top of the list. That’s why I feel no shame in admitting that I was obsessed with this witchy trio back when I was a budding young horror fan.
While the fictional goth rock band plays several bangers throughout Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost, it’s really their surprisingly well-animated introduction scene that was forever burned into my eyes and ears – and that’s why their performance of “I’m a Hex Girl” makes it onto this list.
3. Beef’s “Life at Last” – Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
A post-modern pastiche of Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Phantom of the Opera, Brian DePalma’s cult classic Phantom of the Paradise is a deeply weird horror musical with plenty of memorable set pieces. However, one of my personal favorite moments in the flick happens when the glam rocker Beef (played by the late, great Gerrit Graham) is forced to sing the Phantom’s music despite being warned not to.
Naturally, what follows is an appropriately over-the-top performance culminating in a shocking finale where Beef is electrocuted onstage by a vengeful Phantom. The best part is that the smoked Beef is immediately replaced by Jessica Harper’s character and the audience simply goes along for the ride.
2. Blind Mag’s Final Show – Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Darren Lynn Bousman’s gothic opus is basically one gigantic sequence of incredible musical performances, but only one of these is a literal show experienced by the characters themselves. That would be the climactic performance by Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman) towards the end of the film – the central event that ties the whole story together as our protagonists converge in and around the Opera House.
From Brightman’s breathtaking rendition of “Chromaggia” to her character’s grisly defiance as she removes her own eyes in front of the audience in order to escape her debt to the Largo family, this entire scene is a meticulously crafted exercise in operatic excess.
1. Juke Joint Dance – Sinners (2025)
No matter what you think about the rest of Ryan Coogler’s vampiric period piece, you’ll likely never forget the moment when the film finally leaves conventional reality behind as Sammie Moore’s music begins to conjure surreal visions of black culture from beyond the limits of time and space.
Not only does this musical sequence serve a narrative function, with the supernatural aspects of Sammie’s talents attracting the Remmick and his bloodthirsty cohorts to the Smokestack Twins’ club, but it also provides us with a visual representation of the script’s themes. The song itself, “I Lied to You” (followed by “Magic What We Do”), is also a banger, and that’s why the scene takes the number one spot.
