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Many iconic movies are known for their soundtracks. Often, good music can help make or break a film; the right song in the right place can help the atmosphere far more than any other story-telling device. It's one of the greatest strengths of film as a medium, using music to set the tone. As such, the absence of a soundtrack can be just as noticeable as an excellent soundtrack, and can be just as impactful.
There are many movies that use the lack of a soundtrack to its advantage for a better experience. However, there are a few movies that can pull off a lack of soundtrack better than almost any other film that viewers will watch. While the absence of music might seem like a drawback, it works to great effect in the following movies.
7 The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The lack of soundtrack in The Blair Witch Project is not just used to make the experience even more intense in the unique horror film. The movie is presented as a “found-footage” film; many people believed that the events depicted were real, and the absence of a musical soundtrack helped to push that narrative.
As such, with the lack of music, only the ambient sounds of nature surround the viewer, along with the sounds of three teenagers screaming for their lives. Without a soundtrack, The Blair Witch Project becomes an excellent viewing experience for all lovers of psychological horror.
6 No Country For Old Men (2007)
No Country for Old Men, though it does briefly play music, can otherwise be considered a film without a soundtrack. An ordinary film will constantly have music playing in the background; however, in No Country for Old Men, the music is sparse and only appears in a few moments throughout the movie's run time.
The film is about a drug deal that has gone horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of all the drug runners. A man named Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon the aftermath, before quietly pocketing the two million dollars that were present and running. After that, it’s a total fight for life.
5 Cloverfield (2008)
Similar to The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield is a found-footage style movie that released in 2008. Another movie designed to present a narrative of supposedly real events, there is no soundtrack within the film’s length. This serves to develop the atmosphere of the film and further the narrative that everything shown is really happening.
A group of friends celebrates one of their friends being promoted in his job, and throw a surprise party before he moves to Japan. However, before the party can finish, New York City suddenly erupts into a nightmare as monsters attack the streets.
4 Winter Light (1963)
A Swedish film released in 1963 and filmed entirely in black and white, Winter Light is a poignant film about humanity’s relationship with God. It was created entirely without a musical soundtrack.
A priest in a small, rural church desperately attempts to grapple with his existential crisis and his faith in God. He tries to help a fisherman who was suffering with anxiety and suicidal thoughts, along with a woman that was once his mistress. This film is considered by many to be a slow-burning piece that develops wonderfully, and the lack of a musical soundtrack completes the masterpiece once and for all.
3 The Birds (1963)
Directed by the famous Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds lacks a musical soundtrack, which is sure to put many people on edge during viewing. Based on of the 1952 story of the same name, The Birds is about how people who start getting suddenly attacks by groups of birds, for apparently no reason at all.
Although the idea sounds rather unorthodox and silly, the movie itself is quite unsettling. The fact that the movie does not have a musical soundtrack of any sort adds to that uneasy atmosphere, overall making for a satisfying – if not unnerving – watching experience for anybody.
2 Beyond the Hills (2012)
Without a soundtrack, many people have more space to pay attention to all the subtler details in Beyond the Hills, which is a character-driven story more than anything else. The film centers around two women who grew up in the same orphanage, but lived different lives afterward.
One woman goes on to live in Germany and starts a new life, while the other woman joins a Romanian convent. The story is simple, and it focuses on the slow-burn of how different their lives turned out. With a lack of a musical soundtrack, the atmosphere becomes quite thick, and ultimately improves the experience as a whole.
1 Rope (1948)
Another film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on of the play by the same name, Rope is considered by many to be one of Hitchcock’s best films. The fact that there is no musical soundtrack within the film is also considered among the biggest contributions to the movie's atmosphere.
The movie is about two friends who strangle their old friend to death with a rope, just before hosting a dinner party. Together, the pair of men host their party and desperately attempt to make sure that nobody knows of what they have done mere moments ago.