New Book: Music In Horror Film

[Frank W. Baker]

Music In Horror Film: Listening to Fear is a new book in the Routledge Music and Screen Media Series. Read this interview with the author, Neil Lerner.

[Mike Gange]

Thank you Frank. I am sure this will be an interesting read.
One of my colleagues was playing the soundtrack for Forrest Gump the other day. As I entered his classroom, I started telling him what the scene was that the music was supporting. It soon became "Oh Yeah?, the how about this one?" and I got that one and the next one and the next. I maintain that Forrest Gump is the movie that best uses music as a subtext. "I Don't KNow Why I Love you (But I Do)" is playing while Forrest is sitting in the rain, waiting for Jenny who is out with another guy. When the two park and the new guy starts to get fresh, Forrest pops open the driver's door and lands 3 solid slugs on the guy's chin. The radio volume goes up as the door opens, as it would, and the irony of the song is not lost on the literate audience.
My real question is this: What other movies use music as a subtext? Are there any that do it as successfully as FG?