Lately I’ve been uncovering all these loony theme songs to horror and sci-fi movies from the 50s and 60s on Youtube. Some were actually attached to the films; others were novelty records to promote the movie. But they all are a blast. So, I thought I’d share what I’ve found so far. If you click on the title it should (hopefully) take you right to the song on Youtube so you can enjoy them too.
The Blob. This 1959 sci-fi classic starring Steve McQueen about an alien gelatinous invader consuming everything in its path and growing exponentially had a catchy theme song sung by The Five Blobs right during the opening credits. “It creeps and leaps and slides across the floor. Right through the door and all around the wall. A splotch. A blotch. Beware of the Blob.” Words to live by.
Journey to the Seventh Planet. This 1962 Danish/American sci-fi movie is about a five-man astronaut crew who arrive on Uranus only to have their brains controlled by a one-eyed brain in a cave. The “love” theme popped up during the final credits, courtesy of Otto Brandenburg with such lyrics as, “Journey to the seventh planet- come to me. Let your dreams become reality. I wait for you. Somewhere on the seventh planet- out in space. You and I will find a magic place- like lovers do.”
The Green Slime. The 1968 sci-fi favorite, directed by Kinji Fukasaka (Battle Royale), is about a space crew sent to destroy an asteroid hurtling towards earth. They discover a weird green amoeba on the surface of it and stupidly bring it back to the ship where it morphs into an army of slimy monsters. But the theme song (also including during the movie), sung by surf music pioneer Richard Delvy, is a hoot. “Is it something in your head? Will you believe it when you’re dead? Green slime…green slime!”
Robinson Crusoe on Mars. A terrific 1964 science fiction adaptation of the Daniel Defoe classic, this time about an astronaut (Paul Mantee) stranded on the “red planet” who befriends an alien slave (Victor Lundin) who has escaped from his captors. This theme song, sung by Johnny Cymbal is less about the plot. “My kid brother fell asleep in his bed last night. With his new space helmet over his head- what a sight. Holding his adventure book in one hand, he was dreaming of a strange new land.”
Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory. A 1962 Italian horror movie about a werewolf attacking girls at a reformatory school. Is it the new teacher (Carl Schell), who has a shady past? Are the murders just to cover the search for a batch of incriminating letters? Who cares? You’ve got to love a movie whose theme song is A Ghoul at School, sung by The Fortunes. “I was lying in my bed in school out of town, when all of a sudden I heard a horrible sound. There was a ghoul at school. There was a ghoul at school.”
The Horrors of the Black Museum. A particularly sadistic 1959 British/American horror film from starring Michael Gough as a crime writer who has his own “black museum” like Scotland Yard’s. But he is gleefully committing murders (using a hypnotized assistant) to flaunt his superiority over the police. This recording by the Nightmares, must have been a promotional platter, but how can you not enjoy lyrics like. “Oooooh I’m scared. Scared like I never was before. Cause the horrors of the Black Museum are hiding out behind that door.”
Brides of Dracula. A wonderful 1960 Hammer horror film about a French schoolteacher (Yvonne Monlaur) who inadvertently aids the escape of the blood-drinking Baron Meinster (David Peel) from his mother’s imprisonment, with calamitous results. But the mind-boggling tune by Bob McFadden & The Transylvanians turns the supernatural horror to a cha-cha tune. “Dracula, Dracula, Drac, cha-cha-cha. Some folks say he’s wild. But he can’t help having bats in his belfry- he’s a crazy, mixed-up child.”
The Headless Ghost. Goofy 1959 British teen horror comedy about some university students, touring the castles of England, who hide out and spend the night in one of them hoping to encounter a real ghost. They discover that the haunter of the castle is 600 years-old, and if they can reunite the ghost with its missing head the curse will be lifted. As pointed out by The Nightmares in this frenetic ditty, “The headless ghost comes around by night, looking for folks to scare. You can recognize the crazy cat cause he aint got no head.”
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors. A 1965 British horror anthology film from Amicus studio about five men who board a London train and encounter a mysterious man (Peter Cushing) who opens a Tarot card deck and informs each man of their frightening fates. As sung by Roy Castle, “In Dr. Terror’s House of Horror, you hear moans, you hear groans. You even get a creepy feeling deep down in your bones.”
Journey to the Center of the Earth. Rousing Jules Verne adaptation (with a great ominous score by Bernard Herrmann) about an Edinburgh professor (James Mason) who leads a perilous expedition to the center of the earth with a diverse group, including a duck named Gertrud. Pop singer Pat Boone co-starred in the movie and cut a record promoting his film that mercifully was not included in the actual film, where he croons, “For love so true. For love so rare. I’d follow you, my love, to the center of the earth. To bring you joy, my love, beyond compare, my love. I’d even go, my love, to the center of the earth.”
The Horror of it All. Pat Boone rides again in this lame 1964 British horror comedy where he plays an encyclopedia salesman who arrives at the crumbling mansion of a family of eccentric murderers. Boone actually does sing this theme song in the film itself, “When the bats fly free, through the belfry, and I hear quick steps, soft and stealthy. Through a clammy fog, so unhealthy, I feel the horror of it all.”
Have Rocket Will Travel. Torturous 1959 sci-fi comedy with the Three Stooges, which now include Moe Howard, Larry Fine and new Stooge Joe DeRita (Curly Joe). They play three bumbling janitors who accidentally blast off in a spaceship heading to Venus. And, yes, it does end with a pie in the face. “The race for space has just begun. The race to reach the moon and sun. And we’ve got half the battle won. Have rocket, will travel.”
The Face of Fu Manchu. Christopher Lee stars as the oriental villain created by Sax Rohmer. Nigel Green plays his nemesis Nayland Smith in this 1965 thriller about the discovery that Fu Manchu, thought to have been executed, is very much alive and concocting a poison that will kill every living creature in London. In this bizarre recording by The Rockin’ Ramrods, they warn, “Don’t fool with Fu Manchu. Don’t fool with Fu Manchu. Cause if you do, he’ll make a fool out of you.”
Hercules. Steve Reeves starred as the musclebound mythic hero in the 1958 film, whose success started an avalanche of sword and sandal films from Italy. According to this oddball Vaughn Monroe song, “He jumped a lion with his own two hands and carried him back to town. He tangled next with a nine-headed snake and he won that match hands down. Yes, that was Hercules. Heroic Hercules. Stronger than any man ever since time began.”
The Mummy. Rod McKuen was a popular poet and singer/songwriter in the 60s. But who knew he penned and sang a song (along with Bob McFadden) related to the Hammer horror film about a cursed mummy (Christopher Lee), re-animated to life and taking revenge on all those who disturbed the Egyptian tomb of Princess Ananka? In the jokey novelty song, “I don’t try to scare people. I really came back to life to buy a copy of Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb, but people run from me. Watch what happens when I walk up to somebody. I’m a mummy!”
Jack the Ripper. A 1959 black and white film (with a cool color insert at the end) about the famed killer that stalked the streets of London in 1888. In this jazzy song by Nino Tempo and Peter Rugulo, we are asked to wonder, “Who’s that hiding in the dark? Waiting there for Mary Clark. Chased her clear through old Hyde Park. Jack the Ripper.”
Attack of the Giant Leeches. A hunky game warden (Ken Clark) tries to root out creatures living in the swamp that are capturing people and dragging them to an underground cave drinking their blood. The novelty song by Bill Anson cries out, “The leeches, the leeches, all is black with the leeches. The screeches, the screeches, nothing’s heard but their screeches!” No kidding.
Thanks, what a delightful collection of tunes! In case you weren’t aware, the theme song for the Blob is by Burt Bacharach (lyrics by Mack David, the brother of his usual collaborator at the time Hal David).