10 Grisly Horror Movies With Surprisingly Beautiful Music Scores

3. The Descent (2005)

The Midnight Meat Train
Lionsgate

Composer: David Julyan

Listen To: "The Descent" and "Crawlers Attack/The Crawlers Final Fight"

Forget about the appalling "Part 2" that sought to negate this now iconic fright flick. The Descent is a spectacular vision of claustrophobic terror and emotional density. Writer/director Neil Marshall could have taken the easy route and simply made this a creature-feature focused on caverns of gore (though it's got that too), but he instead chose to pack it up to the stalactites with personality and a psychological arc that paid off with devastating dividends.

David Julyan's score is as primal as the Crawler's subterranean habits and as sentimental as each of the heroines and their tender relationships with one another. It's one of the finest juxtapositions of horror and raw emotion that staggers with its seamless ability to glide between morose notes, ferocious chugs and crestfallen sinfonietta oscillations.

All in all, the perfect soundtrack next time you go grotto spelunking.

Contributor

Greetings from The Yentz! The Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla! I live, eat and breathe film... And videogames... And comics... And, well... Anything that might be considered "nerd related". I consider myself the voice against that of mainstream cinema. While critics might praise the ostentatious drivel supplied by Oscar-pandering films, I enjoy directing attention to less popular gems in hopes of educating people on incredible film experiences that may not be backed by massive studios, nominations and a star-studded cast. Outside of WhatCulture!, I write for Movieweb, assisted BlueCat as a script analyst, have worked on films from the east coast to the west and continue to write, critique and direct here in the lovable land of ol' LA. I hope you enjoy reading my diatribes as much as I enjoy writing them.