Monstrous Music Videos



This post was inspired by Jenn over at Calvacade of Perversions and her commentary on Kanye West's freaky cool music video for the song Monster featuring Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj. The vid makes gratuitous use of horror elements like the Day of the Dead hands and Vampirella dominatrix wear. This video sent me on my own search for music videos that likewise pay homage to horror. Here's what I found.



This video features the classic final girl pursuit by the slasher with an explosively bloody ending.  The music adds a really surreal edge to the whole scene. It's mostly electronica screeches with a haunting refrain. The whole look reminds me of House of A Thousand Corpses. Lots of running, snow and gore.


I remember a time when everyone at my high school was into Slipknot and now I'm glad that time is past. This song has screaming lyrics and features iconic imagery from the Shinning under all those masks, including the famous "Here's Johnny!" moment and the creepy hallway twins.


I can admit that I was a fan of the Backstreet Boys back in the day. The video for Backstreet's Back pays homage to all my favorite classical monsters from Jekyll and Hyde to the Wolfman. Howie makes a smooth Dracula and it doesn't get any better than Nick Carter dressed as a mummy asking "Am I sexual?"


In this video Jared Leto and his band decide to get some rest and relaxation at the Overlook Hotel. Looking at the Slipknot video I wonder, who did The Shining better? Jared Leto with his emo boy hair, smudged mascara and black nail polish gets my vote.


Rob Zombie pays his respects to one of the great German expressionist horror films "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari" The music video is like a mini-silent film as Zombie borrows the movie's iconic two dimensional sets and presents Sheri Moon Zombie, the living dead girl, in place of the original  somnambulist, Cesare.




Landscape's My Name is Norman Bates is pretty self explanatory. The creepy, off key eighties ballad accompanies black and white footage of our female victim trying to escape Norman. There is also a play by play psychoanalytic voice over.

....and everyone's favorite



So are there any horror themed music videos I missed?

Please leave a comment.

Comments

  1. "Psychotherapy" by the Ramones, from 1983. Banned by MTV back in the day. At about the two-minute mark it starts to get all horror-freaky...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VRiTUyQiQk

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes this video is freaky! But just kind of freaky for freaky's sake.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There is Skillet's "Monster" which has echoes of Jekyll and Hyde: http://www.theofantastique.com/2009/11/24/skillet-monster-as-rock-n-roll-jekyll-and-hyde/.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the video suggestions!

    And Japan, I do agree. Kanye thrives on shock value though I love Nicki Minaj's rap.

    ReplyDelete

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