"Horror Movie" is a song by Australian band

Skyhooks Skyhook, sky hook or skyhooks may refer to: Fiction * 'Skyhooks' or 'Skyhooks II', parts 1 and 8 respectively of the Adventure Time Elements (miniseries), Elements miniseries. * ''Sky Hook'', a Hugo-award nominated science fiction fanzine * Sk ...

, released in December 1974 as the second and final single from the band's debut studio album, ''

Living in the 70's ''Living in the 70's'' is the debut album by Melbourne band Skyhooks. Released in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label, the album achieved relatively little success until early 1975. It spent 16 weeks at the top of the Australian album cha ...

''. The song peaked at number one in Australia, staying there for two weeks in March 1975. The single was greatly helped along by the band's appearance on the then-new

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

''. At the Australian 1975 King of Pop Awards the song won Australian Record of the Year. Along with "Women in Uniform", "Horror Movie" is widely recognised as one of the Skyhooks' signature tracks. The song itself, written by

bass guitarist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

Greg Macainsh, is about how the world has taken a turn for the worse with all of the chaos in society, to the point where watching the nightly

TV news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televi ...

is like watching a

horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

. This song remains popular as a Halloween song in both the United States and Canada. It appears on the compilation album '' Elvira Presents Haunted Hits''.

Video

Australian music television show ''

'' made an in-house video featuring the band at

Luna Park, Melbourne Luna Park Melbourne is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. It opened on 13 December 1912, with a formal opening a week later, and has been operating almost continuously ever ...

as well as miming the song in front of an audience. It was broadcast on the first day of colour television in Australia. In Peter Wilmoth's ''Glad all over : the Countdown years'', it was said, "Shirl here gives the distinct impression that he would rather be surfing. There’s also the (not so) small matter of the ludicrously large outstretched hand painted on the crotch of his tight satin jumpsuit); the gladiator’s hat worn by drummer Freddie Strauks; the black lipstick, white make-up and long black hair on Bob Starkie; and Red Symons who is a remarkable combination of ingénue, geisha and the devil himself." Biographer Jeff Apter agreed, "it was the scene-stealing - or should that be crotch-grabbing - satin sleeveless number he wore that really caught the eye of young Australia. Shirl had perfected the art of TV performance, as he bugged his eyes and stared down the barrel of the camera, pouting and preening."

Reception

In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Horror Movie" was ranked number 47.

Junkee Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...

declared it one of the best Australian songs ever, saying, "this song hasn’t earned its place on this list because it’s a searing takedown of modern industrial capitalism, or the news media’s involvement in it. It has earned its place on this list because that chorus is a dagger pressed with gold leaf; a snaking, vicious piece of art that mixes high camp theatre with

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

-esque sonic chops."

Track listing

7" single (K-5753) * Side A "Horror Movie" - 3:47 * Side B "Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)" - 3:58

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Legacy

In 1998 Australia Post issued a special edition set of twelve

stamps Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...

celebrating the early years of Australian

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

, featuring Australian hit songs of the late 1950s, the 1960s and the early 1970s.

"Each of them said something about us, and told the rest of the world this is what popular culture sounds like, and it has an Australian accent."

One of the stamps featured was the "Horror Movie" stamp.

Popular references

In 2012, Australian Federal Minister for Trade

Craig Emerson Craig Anthony Emerson (born 15 November 1954) is an Australian economist and former Australian Labor Party politician. He served as the Australian House of Representatives Member for the Division of Rankin in Queensland from 1998 until 2013. E ...

did an impromptu improvisation of the song HORROR SHOW: The most embarrassing thing ever?
when answering a question about the mood in

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta i ...

, singing "No Whyalla wipe-out there on my TV...shocking me right out of my brain" mocking the claim by the opposition leader that Whyalla would be "wiped off the map" due to the

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

. The track was also used during the ending credits of the 2012 film ''

The ABCs of Death ''The ABCs of Death'' is a 2012 American comedy horror anthology film produced by international producers and directed by filmmakers from around the world. The film contains 26 shorts, each by different directors spanning fifteen countries, inc ...

'', and was incorrectly titled, "Horror Story".

References

1974 singles Number-one singles in Australia Halloween songs 1974 songs Mushroom Records singles Songs about television Songs written by Greg Macainsh Skyhooks (band) songs {{1970s-rock-song-stub