10 Essential Italian Horror Soundtracks

Nora Orlandi is often considered the first female composer in Italian cinema. Along with horror, her work appeared in Eurospy and Spaghetti Western films. In this soundtrack for the Geneva-based murder-mystery movie Il Dolce Corpo Di Deborah, Orlandi sets the mood early with jazz and lounge numbers, adding a dash of sophistication to the setting.

Later, songs like “I Robot” take things in a more propulsive direction. It’s an early example of Italian horror music, but its influence on later works in the genre is undeniable.

Never has music so beautiful been paired with such a perverse movie. The juxtaposition of the senses — one harsh and disturbing, the other soft and oddly comforting — makes Cannibal Holocaust and Riz Ortolani‘s accompanying score so unnerving.

The free-flowing and often upbeat tracks directly parody the carnage happening on screen. There is always something slightly off with the deep, fuzzy synth sounds, making for an unnerving listen.

For The Thing, potentially his most critically-acclaimed work, John Carpenter let go of the compositional reigns. Instead, the director chose to hand them to Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Morricone brough the whole orchestra with him to score the icy landscapes present in the film.

Much of the music features high-pitched melodies played on the strings or organ, creating a prickly, cold atmosphere. On “Contamination,” he sends the string players into a frenzy, having them pluck their instruments at increasing speeds, mimicking a crawling spider. It’s a perfect match for the desolate landscape that dominates The Thing. If you’re looking for omnipresent, ambiguous ethereality, give this one a spin.

For the Satanic thriller Tutti I Colori Del Buio Bruno Nicolai pulled out all the stops. The composer employs crawling orchestral arrangements, unsettling sitar and guitar, and spell-casting vocals. His work aptly sets the mood for the black masses and nightmare dream scenes.

Fans of Italian horror will hear the similarities to some of Ennio Morricone’s masterful scores. The two composers had a long partnership, beginning while studying at a conservatory and lasting through revered works like Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy. Tutti I Colori Del Buio is a true exemplar of Italian horror soundtracks.

The La Terrificante Notte Del Demonio soundtrack is lauded for its dark grooves, especially on tracks like “Demon Arise” and “Devil’s Nightmare.” However, Alessandro Alessandroni’s (celebrated for his whistling ability, showcased in several of Morricone’s compositions) score for the demonic thriller, just like the movie’s castle set piece, contains much more inside.

Alessandroni’s score, while relatively tame at points, strays from the theme with sections of raw noise, untethered vocals by Giulia Alessandroni, and structureless experimental passages. The composer also leans into the organ, which fits the medieval building where most of the film takes place, creating an immersive environment.

Director Dario Argento went out on a limb hiring Goblin. After selecting them to score his film, he spent countless hours listening to soundtracks with the band in his own house to help guide the sound.

Unlike Suspiria, the record begins with a bonafide Italian groove on the eponymous title track. Soon after, the album gets more frantic. By the third track on Side A, the listener is fully entrenched in a bass-heavy nightmare. The band never ventures too deep, though. There are hypnotizing rhythms (led by bassist Fabio Pignatelli) sprinkled throughout that help balance the horror with the light and breezy.

Three former members of Goblin, Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, and Massimo Morante, came together at the request of Dario Argento to record music for Tenebrae. While the soundtrack may be past their prime 1970s prog rock days (the band officially broke up in 1979), the group still brought a fresh take.

For Tenebrae, the members celebrated the synthesizer. Perhaps its most notable aspect is the lack of bass-driven tracks, which largely mirrors the pop music trend at the time. Overall, it’s an entertaining listen for fans wanting to hear the evolution of the genre to come.