10 Music Videos That Could Be Horror Movies

The Cure’s Robert Smith, in bed wearing classic striped pyjamas and a full face of make-up, uneasily alternates his fearful gaze between a spiderweb on his windowpane and a ticking clock. As the tension ramps up, Smith’s bandmates appear as ghostly tin soldiers each taking a turn to play outside the bedroom window - an eerie equivalent to a noisy neighbour’s garden party.

The spookiness overflows when Smith’s The Spiderman persona appears at the window, clawing the pane with long, dirty nails. Somehow The Spiderman’s makeup is more smudged and heavier than that usually applied to Smith’s gothic pallor. He is an immediately interesting horror character.

The visuals become claustrophobic as Smith is encased in webs which cling to his face, billowing outwards with every deep breath and the syllable of every lyric. An uncomfortable close-up of Smith’s red lips as he rasps beneath cobwebs adds to the feeling of dread.

The idea of a supernatural being in one’s own image is an intriguing subject for a full horror movie, as seen in Jordan Peele’s acclaimed Us. The Spiderman is a mix of its victim and that victim’s phobia – an entity which can gain access to his victim no matter where they hide.