Saturday, October 2, 2010

Top 10: Horror Music Video Tie-Ins Part 2

Hi there! This certainly took way longer than it should have, didn't it? Crap keeps popping up and delaying everything. Something tells me this month is going to be crazy. Speaking of which, I'm hoping to have a post up tomorrow related to the month, but you never know what the hell will throw a monkey wrench in to the Mangler, grinding everything up. Anyway, here's the long-delayed final half of the top horror movie music videos. The last half was full of kitschy songs that I liked for their camp value, but this half's selections are songs I truly enjoy. I would willingly rock out to these songs any given time. So, at last, here you go. Rock on!


5. Alice Cooper - The Man Behind the Mask
By the time the sixth Jason movie came out, the series had already established itself as a cultural icon. What better way to tap into that than a trendy music video for the kiddies? And what better way to reach them than by pairing up what was once the most shocking rocker of all time with the slasher with the highest body count? The result: a pretty damn corny rocker that fits right in line with the tone of the series at the time. Even though Alice was already showing his mileage at this point in the 80's, it didn't stop him from his leather and theatrics. It begins with him popping up in a theater showing Friday 6 and breaking glass over his head right in the patron's faces and eventually escalates with him whipping various his minions in an elaborate set, including one girl with black wings taking flight from a giant unicorn. What this has to do with a guy in a mask stabbing people, I have no idea. In the end, the song's cool and the video's a trip, so it's all good in the end.



4. The Dickies - Killer Klowns From Outer Space
The perfect song for such a whacked out movie. The music sounds like it comes from a carnival in Hell as you whip around their most ludicrous roller coaster, meanwhile the singer sounds like a worm being choked out every time he hits the chorus. And yet, it works. It's catchy as hell and always brings a smile to whoever's listening to it. The video itself, besides the obligatory film clips, works with the movie pretty well. The band is dressed like an amalgamation of Mick Jagger, Sid Vicious, Ratt, Paul McCartney, and...an Amish guy, so wardrobe synchronization was never an issue here, apparently. Someone decided to bring these yahoos together and give them the power of judge, jury, and executioner. That's right. Together, they are Judge Dredd-ful. These rejects from the Cuckoo's Nest send a Klown to jail, and then torment him with their music until the other Klowns boot them and take over. At least, that's how I read the narrative, which I believe was penned by John Grisham.

Dickies - Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Uploaded by lucky33. - Click for more funny videos.


3. The Ramones - Pet Sematary
It takes a certain type of 8-year old to rip off Columbia House's video program, and I was that type. After committing mail fraud at an exceptionally young age, I watched this movie for the first time and was subsequently wrecked from it. Yet, I kept watching it. At the time it was the most adult movie I had ever seen and I thought it was great. It wasn't until years later that I found out The Ramones had recorded a tie-in song for it. I have no idea how an infectious, amazingly written (for The Ramones anyways) pop song became the banner advertisement for such a solemn, depressing movie, but I'm glad it happened. I can only assume it was due to Stephen King's personal love for the band. No matter how it came to be, it became one of my very favorite Ramones songs, over even "Beat on the Brat" which I sang to myself constantly throughout my elementary school tour of duty. While the video may not be anything fancy, just the sight of The Ramones playing this song at a graveyard while still in their prime is probably one of the coolest sights ever to be produced. It reeks of awesome. And cadavers. I can only hope that one day, my funeral will be exactly like this one.



2. Motorhead - Hellraiser
Now, this is actually a newer one to me. If it wasn't for Youtube, I probably never would known there was any such thing as a Hellraiser-themed music video. It makes sense that it would be for the third one since that was the lone attempt at throwing money at the series to bring it to a Freddy Krueger-level of success. When I came across this video online, I was blown away. The song is simply awesome. Motorhead is known as a heavy metal band, but something about their music has always pushed them far above others in the same genre for me, so already I'm going to like this on some level. It may not be one of their hardest songs, but it's definitely one of their catchiest, maybe even over "Ace of Spades." Every time, and I mean every goddamn time, I hear this song, it's stuck in my head for days. I'll be walking to the store and I'll be set upon by an overpowering urge to start chanting "Hellraiser!" in a voice that sounds like gravel. It's like a disease for me. The video for the song is great. It incorporates the requisite film clips into the video far more seamlessly than most others and runs with their own storyline of Motorhead taking on Pinhead while others are turned into human-boar-beast cenobites patterned after the band's signature skull logo. Personally, I believe that if Pinhead were a real person, Lemmy would be one of the few people on the planet who wouldn't even bat an eye as he walked up and kicked the cenobite king right in the balls. That's just how he rolls.



1. Dr. Reanimator - Move Your Dead Bones
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the real deal. I liked the movie enough, but after it was over I flipped through the special features and came across this little number. Needless to say, my life was changed. Chills ran down my body as this giddy piece of eurotrash unfurled. I have no belief whatsoever that a musical entity entitled "Dr. Reanimator" existed before or after this movie, but for one shining moment, they conquered the world. I'm sure the underwear model front-lining the video had nothing to do with the creation or performance of the song, but whoever you are and wherever you are, you are a genius, Dr. Reanimator. This is a game-changer. There's a reason there hasn't been any horror tie-ins since this, the bar was just set so high. The only reason this isn't as revered as Citizen Kane is because no one had the inspiration to have Jeffrey Combs leading the goth rave-line while wearing a top-hat and monocle while twirling a cane. Prepare to have your mind blown:

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