Because there’s so much more to horror-pop than ‘Thriller.’
Halloween is upon us, and we’re sure you’ve already put the finishing touches on your costume (it’s Furiousa from Mad Max, right?! Or Left Shark maybe? Marty McFly?), but it’s not a real Halloween party without a killer playlist.
And even better? Spooky visuals. In the spirit(s) of the holiday, we’ve been watching our favorite horror-inspired music videos and have whittled our collection down to our Top 8 for your viewing pleasure.
Sugababes – “Freak Like Me”
The UK’s pop scene of the early 2000s was a pretty gritty place. At least judging by the girlband Sugababes’ video for their surprisingly tight mash-up of Adina Howard’s “Freak Like Me” and Gary Numan and Tubeway Army’s “Are Friends Electric.” The video served as an introduction to the band’s newest recruit, Heidi Range, and the band took the idea of the initiation quite seriously, turning the video into a full-on vampire story, which also starred Pretty Little Liars’ Julian Morris in one of his early roles. Too bad the band didn’t go on with the horror themes for all the future line-up changes (they had a lot of those).
E-Type – “Angels Crying”
Oh, the ‘90s! Only then, the long-haired Swedish europop guru and his equally long-haired voluptuous sidekick could decide to use their Max Martin-produced rave ballad “Angels Crying” as a soundtrack to a Friday the 13th-inspired mini-slasher. What’s the missing link between the harrowing love song, a dance routine in the brook and the story of the kids getting chopped into pieces in the woods? Not a single one! They just really love their horror: E-Type also remade Poltergeist for the “Here I Go Again” video.
Brandon Flowers – “Lonely Town”
One can argue that one of the latest videos from the most famous Mormon rocker has nothing to do with horror genre. But one would be as wrong as the “Lonely Town” video’s carefree heroine, who’s blissfully dancing around the house while a stranger is watching her through the windows. The video is an obvious homage to the scene from 2009’s retro-horror The House Of The Devil. Maybe it’s time someone reminded this girl that Brandon’s band is called The Killers for God’s sake!
Theory of a Deadman – “Bitch Came Back”
Every rocker knows a scorned groupie can cause some serious troubles. But what about a really crazy scorned groupie? Canadian rockers learn it the hard way in their “Bitch Came Back” video. The gorgeous girl their manager for some unclear reasons didn’t let in to their private pool party came back to literally shoot her way straight to the rockers’ hearts. Only question: how come the manager survived all of this, while the band pretty much didn’t? Here’s music industry in a nutshell for you.
Backstreet Boys – “Everybody”
One Direction can play astronauts all they want now, but back in the day when BSB commanded everybody to “rock your body,” you obeyed, no questions asked. Even if you were a horror icon. And who would’ve though Nick Carter would make such a flexible mummy? Or that Dracula Howie would charm supermodel Josie Maran? Certainly not the band’s label, that didn’t support the concept and let the fabulous five shoot the “Everybody” video using their own money. We’re sure Werewolf Brian let out a victorious howl once the video became a global hit.
Christina Aguilera – “Your Body”
Years after Natasha Henstridge started hunting foolish men in Species and before Scarlett Johansen came to Earth to seduce some clueless Scotts in Under The Skin, there was this genie from the bottle, out for blood, sweat, glitter and pink explosions. While aggressively sexual lyrics promised the doomed boys that tonight was their “lucky night,” in the “Your Body” music video the ex-Lady Marmalade was slashing boys left and right before any of them could say, well, “Say!”
Sum 41 – “Blood In My Eyes”
Considering the single was taken from an album called Screaming Bloody Murder, it was a no-brainer that Canadian pop-punks turned a music video for “Blood In My Eyes” into their very own take on the revenge thrillers in the vein of I Spit On Your Grave. Now who’s up for a proper Sum 41 horror-themed musical? We are!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll”
Something tells us the “Heads Will Roll” video’s Big Bad Stylish Wolf is a relative of Christina Aguilera’s deadly vixen from “Your Body,” considering both suffer from some form of glitter-gore obsession. He’s also somehow related to Michael Jackson, given the werewolf’s killer moves on the dance floor, which is all very unfortunate to the party goers and even the band itself: when they promised that the heads will roll, they didn’t lie. But while the cast of the video didn’t survive the night, the song very much did: thanks to the A-Track remix it became the staple on the parties around the world. We just don’t recommend playing it during full moon.
