10 Grisly Horror Movies With Surprisingly Beautiful Music Scores

10. Extraterrestrial (2014)

Composer: Blitz//Berlin

Listen To: "Into the Dark"

Back in 2011, writing/directing duo The Vicious Brothers (Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz) released a little flick by the name of Grave Encounters. While it was a tired retread of found-footage tropes and eye-rolling scares, it surprisingly received a healthy dose of attention and was eventually followed with a meta-sequel directed by John Poliquin.

Nothing about either of these films was particularly noteworthy, nor did they give any sort of hint that the filmmakers had a voice their own, let alone talent. Extraterrestrial changed that.

Yes, much of the story plays to convention, the aliens look like something you'd see on a bumper sticker in Nevada and one character in particular is nothing short of obnoxious. But given a chance, Extraterrestrial actually has some pretty groovy things going for it, not the least of which is its surprisingly moving score by Toronto-based band Blitz//Berlin.

Once the martians finally land and bickering is replaced with screams, Extraterrestrial moves at an energetic clip while delivering a handful of stand-out moments such as a wall of rain that seemingly stops at a forested boundary and a rectal probe that's well, a few sharp points too many.

However, it's the emotion of its central plot thread (a failed marriage proposal) that gives the entire narrative a tragic foothold. Pulsing beats, shrill sounds and electronic music play as though a 50's alien theme was a given a Nine Inch Nails overhaul (especially the title track "Extraterrestrial/Main Title" at 1:14:45), but it's the orchestral swellings that pump Extraterrestrial's heart.

The most moving example of this is the film's climactic track "Into the Dark" (begins at 1:12:28), which reinforces the ill-fated romance between two lovers as they escape one fate only to have to come to terms with another.

What begins as a quiet track quickly evolves with the thunderous arrival of steady drums before a beautiful crescendo of strings give heroic rise--and mournful fall--to soft and lamentable strokes of a piano. It's at once triumphant, heartbreaking and most importantly, powerful.