It's that time of year again, and this time, I've taken the liberty of compiling all fifteen of my original scary music video picks into one, easy-to-use video playlist. Unfortunately, some of the videos have embedding disabled, so you'll need to visit my playlist page on YouTube for the full list. I've also added three new videos to the mix:
Liars, "Plaster Casts of Everything" (dir. Patrick Daughters) It's official: Patrick Daughters has made my list of Best Music Video Directors of the 2000s, thanks to his eye-catching videos for Feist, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Grizzly Bear. In this clip, he teams the back-projection used in The White Stripes' "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" with a concept straight out of a David Lynch film. The end result is most unsettling.
Fever Ray, "If I Had a Heart" (dir. Andreas Nilsson) Karin Dreijer of Scandanavian electronic group The Knife is no stranger to scary music videos, having appeared on last year's list in her collaboration with Röyksopp for the song "What Else is There?" Now, for her solo effort, she hired Andreas Nilsson, who has been behind most of the videos for The Knife, to pull out all the stops on the express train to Creepy Town.
Bodies of Water, "Under the Pines" (dir. Andy Bruntel) In addition to being an exceptional animator (see: Rilo Kiley's "It's a Hit" and his Roman Coppola collaboration "Red"), Andy Bruntel has made a fair share of kickass music videos for the likes of No Age, The Mountain Goats, and Best Music Video of 2007 nominee Bat for Lashes. In this clip, a hunter is cursed with bad luck after he steals a diamond from inside a dead dog's stomach. What follows is a Grimm fairytale with a twisted sense of humor.
Don't forget to check out the otherthreeentries in the Scary Music Video series.
You gotta hand it to the French: they sure do love a good anthology. Last year’s Paris Je T’Aime had the considerable task of taking over fifteen short films from a wide range of directors (including American favorites like Joel and Ethan Coen, Wes Craven, Alexander Payne, and Gus Van Sant) and stringing them together in a multi-faceted look at France’s most cherished city. Now, Fear(s) of the Dark attempts to take the French anthology feature to the darkest points of the imagination, using an extremely limited color scheme (black, white, and various shades of gray) and a variety of talented animators of many nationalities.
Of course, the unfortunate truth is that Fear(s) of the Dark varies wildly in terms of quality and enjoyment. The biggest mistake that the curators of this miniature film festival make is chopping up three of the six entries and interspersing them throughout the program, making it hard for the audience to discern when (and if) those entries have reached their conclusion. Pierre di Scuillo’s short, in which a woman rambles on about her many fears while abstract images morph on the screen, works as a good transitional device, but shorts about a Japanese samurai ghost and an evil man with four vicious attack dogs would’ve had more impact if they were shown without interruption. Though this might come off as a little bias, the best shorts were the ones from the Americans, cartoonist Charles Burns and animator Richard McGuire. The former’s story, about a socially awkward college student with an unhealthy fascination of insects, does an exceptional job of creating a protagonist that has to earn its sympathy from the audience, as the young man (voiced by the late Guillaume Depardieu) changes from willing participant to hapless victim.
While most of the entries in Fear(s) of the Dark qualify as unsettling or disturbing in some way, McGuire’s short (the last in the program) is the only one that is downright scary. McGuire’s minimalist animation style makes the previous entries seem flamboyant by comparison, as he relates the wordless story of a man taking shelter in a house during a snowstorm, only to find that he may not be alone. So while Fear(s) in the Dark, as a whole, may not be a sweeping success, it does make me wish that new installments would show up each Halloween as opposed to new Saw films.
UPDATE: Use this playlist to view these videos plus twelve others! For this list, click the playlist button on the bottom of the video, then click the right arrow.
Two years ago, I posted five of my favorite creepy music videos and it has consistently been one of my most linked-to articles. So last year I did it again and this year, I've scoured YouTube to find four more for your viewing (dis)pleasure. Enjoy!
Basement Jaxx, "Where's Your Head At" (dir. Traktor) Superimposing faces onto animals and other people is nothing new here. Chris Cunningham famously took the face of Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and planted it on creepy little kids as well as supermodels, with equally horrifying results. But Traktor's video for "Where's Your Head At" takes it a step further, revealing a secret plot to kidnap musicians and transfer their brains into monkeys. What purpose this is supposed to serve is never revealed, but it does make for a frightening music video.
Squarepusher, "Come On My Selector" (dir. Chris Cunningham) Despite his two freaky-ass videos for Aphex Twin (three if you count the experimental short film Rubber Johnny), Chris Cunningham's video for Squarepusher is my personal favorite. And while it certainly isn't his scariest, it is definitely his most fun. So many bizarre things are in this, including a hyperactive Japanese kung fu girl, a talking dog, and a bad case of brainswap. Another oddity about this video is the fact that Cunningham had all the actors speak English, then dubbed over their voices in Japanese and included English subtitles.
Mogwai, "Batcat" (dir. Dominic Hailstone) The newest video on my list this year comes from instrumental rockers Mogwai, who delivered their uncharacteristically metal single "Batcat" not long ago, and with it, this terrifying video from Dominic Hailstone. Seemingly torn from the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the video concerns a hooded girl fleeing from masked people only to wind up in a cave inhabited by the vicious title character.
Hugh Cornwell, "Another Kind of Love" (dir. Jan Švankmajer) Who knows what '80s pop singer Hugh Cornwell was thinking when he hired freaky Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer to helm his 1988 music video for "Another Kind of Love." Like one of my earlier picks, the visuals and music don't match at all, which only heightens the disturbing nature of the video. Watch for the part where Cornwell's dismembered head collides with the female mannequin's head and creates a swirling mass of clay with four eyes and an alligator mouth and tell me that a Nine Inch Nails song would've probably suited Švankmajer's creepy vision better.
Feel free to leave links in the comments to some of your own favorite scary music videos, and have a Happy Halloween!
UPDATE: Use this playlist to view these videos plus eleven others! Click the playlist button at the bottom of the video to choose the videos listed on this page.
One of the most frequently linked-to blog posts I ever wrote was one in which I listed my top five favorite scary music videos. Well, I've recently fixed some of the YouTube links that have gone stale and I got to thinkin...it being Halloween and all, why not showcase a few more of these creepy vids?
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Y Control" (dir. Spike Jonze) Spike Jonze is generally well-known for his lighthearted videos for Fatboy Slim, featuring either Christopher Walken flying around a hotel lobby, or Jonze himself breakdancing in front of a movie theater. But did you know he made this creepy little promo for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Deranged children flicking off the camera while a wild-eyed Karen O dances around them is a good way to start, but pretty soon, Jonze has the little kiddies drag a dead dog around a barren room, chop off each others hands, and slice open their stomachs, all done in a decidedly low-budget grindhouse fashion. This is Bizarro Sesame Street! UPDATE: The link broke, so I found a version on YouTube that includes a goofy intro Jonze recorded with one of the kids.
Daft Punk, "Prime Time of Your Life" (dir. Tony Gardner) You'd think Daft Punk would be the last band to do a unsettling music video, but they've got two! "Technologic" made my list last year and I even picked this one for Most Disturbing Vid in my 2006 Hall of Awesome. The message is that the girl in the video suffers from a poor self-image that makes everyone around her seem skinny (or, in this case, skeletal). But it's really just a pretense for director and effects wizard Tony Gardner to dole out some shocking and graphic imagery. The mechanical droning of the song doesn't make the video any less creepy.
TV on the Radio, "Wolf Like Me" (dir. Jon Watts) So, my affinity for the videos of Jon Watts are well-documented, but rarely does he get under your skin as effectively as he does here, with this vid for indie darlings TV on the Radio. A combination of factors help make this video work, such as the gritty quality of the film stock, the silent movie title cards, and the rigid stop-motion animation of the werewolves. Watts' website has a higher-quality version of this vid, along with many more that are worth watching.
Röyksopp, "What Else is There" (dir. Martin De Thurah) Electronic duo Röyksopp's video library is pretty well-rounded. They've got the fun and surprisingly informative "Remind Me," the endangered species escape film in "Poor Leno," and the animated postcards of "Eple," but this one caught me by surprise. We can go ahead and establish that Karin Dreijer of Scandanavian electronic group The Knife is a pretty creepy individual, but even though that's her voice singing, the woman floating around in the video is actually a model named Marianne Schröder. (Dreijer makes an appearance at the end.) It's still a weird-ass vid, with flying houses, dripping milk, smoking trees, and general apocalyptic visions. It's Lynchian symbolism at its darkest.
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, "The Owl" (dir. Emmanuel Ho) Who would've guessed that a two-minute instrumental would make for such an effectively grim music video? Ho's sparse animation style fits the stark visual of a crow tethered to...something, as it tries in futility to reach the light billowing through a window, all while the title character sinisterly watches from afar, its harsh white eyes glaring directly at the camera. Poetic, minimalist, and downright creepy. If you aren't afraid of owls, you just might be after watching this video.
I just might start making this a yearly feature, so if you know any other scary music videos I have yet to mention, send me an e-mail! I leave you with a humorous look at the life of a pumpkin, by Waverly Films, the production group Jon Watts is a part of:
UPDATE: Use this playlist to view all these videos, plus eleven more! Click the playlist button at the bottom of the video to choose the specific songs mentioned in this list. (The Jet video is no longer available on YouTube.)
In celebration of Halloween, I'd like to share with you five music videos that always give me a good dose of the jibblies. YouTube links will be provided. Please keep in mind that most of these videos are inappropriate for kids, and anyone who does not wish to have nightmares should not view these videos.
5. Jet, "Look What You've Done" (dir. Robert Hales) Robert Hales' video for Jet's single "Look What You've Done" isn't scary 'cause of what it shows. It's scary 'cause of what it doesn't show. The video features the Australian rockers in the middle of an animated forest, complete with Disney-esque furry woodland creatures, awakened by the sound of Jet's sweet balladry. But the critters soon turn vicious as the song reaches its bridge and day turns to night. In addition to the animals sudden change of character, most of them end up getting killed by a creature that remains unseen, save for it's yellow eyes and sinister smile. Another thing that adds to the creepiness factor of this video is the fact that the song in no way supports the visuals. It's almost as if Hales already had this idea set in stone, and at the last minute decided to drop Jet into the middle of it with their sugary-sweet melodies. It's a brilliant non-sequitur that ultimately adds up to an undeniably disturbing vid.
4. Interpol, "Evil" (dir. Charlie White) Photographer and creature designer Charlie White makes his music video debut with this surreal and ultimately unnerving video for New York quartet Interpol. He definitely picked the right song for the job; "Evil" is not only the best song off Antics, the obtuseness of the lyrics allows White to do whatever he wants as far as the visuals are concerned. So, he decided to create a humanoid puppet modeled after the physical features of the band, stuck him in the middle of a car crash, and then had him dance around on a gurney. The puppet, which fans have dubbed "Norman," is creepy enough just standing still, but when it starts singing and dancing around, it's all the more disturbing. Plus, the puppeteers didn't quite nail the lip-synch, creating this disembodied voice effect. Creepy!
3. Daft Punk, "Technologic" (dir. Daft Punk) After a string of successful videos by Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, Daft Punk decided to take to the cameras themselves for their third album, Human After All. "Technologic" may have become a hit through a prominent iPod commercial, but the actual video tells quite a different story. More creepy puppets, only this time the featured creature sports a metallic, skeletal exterior, plus some mad-creepy eyeballs and a distorted mouth. Daft Punk (they're the two guys in robot costumes in the video) then props their demented robot up on a podium reminiscent of something out of 1984. Oh, and for some reason, someone on YouTube marked this video as "inappropriate." Go figure.
2. UNKLE, "Eye for an Eye" (dir. Shynola and Ruth Lingford) The longest video in our countdown, and also the only computer animated one. UNKLE had touched upon the creepiness factor before, when MTV pulled their video for "Rabbit In Your Headlights" on the grounds that it was "too disturbing." A hard act to follow, for sure, but Shynola and Ruth Lingford's six-and-a-half minute video for the Never, Never Land single "Eye for an Eye" surpasses "Rabbit" in terms of scares, creepy imagery, and a definitely unnerving ending. Set in a fairytale world where happy little creatures eat fruit and frolic around. That is, until an unexpected surprise drops into their village. Soon, their greed and desire lead to terrifying consequences. Watch the video and tell me those creatures with the gnashing teeth aren't the scariest things you've ever seen. What could possibly top this video?
1. Aphex Twin, "Come to Daddy" (dir. Chris Cunningham) Oh right. This one. Chris Cunningham is a director synonymous with fucked up, scary-ass images, and his first video for Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) is no exception. The video for "Come to Daddy" meshed with the song so well that one can't hear the song without envisioning all the creepy visuals that make up Cunningham's masterpiece. It's got everything: dank, dirty alleyways; sinister groups of children, each with the face of Richard James digitally applied onto their own; and a freakishly tall, humanoid mutant crawling out of a discarded TV, only to howl voraciously at the video's elderly protagonist. This video is definitely one for the ages, or rather, one for the Dark Ages.
Honorable Mention: The Horrors, "Sheena is a Parasite" (dir. Chris Cunningham) Chris Cunningham returned briefly from his music video sabbatical to deliver a two-minute vid for British punk group The Horrors, featuring actress Samantha Morton in the title role. Pretty damn creepy, but way too short to fully capture Cunningham's deranged visual style.
"Black" (dir. Saiman Chow for Adicolor) Last summer, Adidas commissioned a bunch of experimental filmmakers to do videos based on various colors. While the aforementioned Charlie White, whose video "Pink" is pretty damn disturbing, it's Saiman Chow's video for "Black" that takes the cake. Starring a stop-motion panda and fish who play a game of Russian roulette, the video references everything from the Brothers Quay to Sesame Street, all while retaining its own unnerving visual style.
While most of the entries in 
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