Metallica’s Kirk Hammett explains his love of horror movies

Kirk Hammett is a central figure in the heavy metal scene, serving as the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter to Metallica, one of the most iconic heavy metal bands of all time. After the first lead guitarist Dave Mustaine left the group due to complications, Hammett auditioned for the group in April 1983, performing ‘Seek and Destroy’ and immediately earning a spot. Hammett’s inspiration and love for music started after stumbling through his older brother’s vinyl collection, which included Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. In addition, the musician also developed a passion for horror movies after watching The Day of the Triffids to pass the time when recovering from a sprained arm. 

Horror and heavy metal are synonymous, borrowing from and inspiring each other in equal measure. Imagery and effects in the two genres can do a great deal for one another in their mirroring: “Heavy metal’s much more effective if it’s talking about evil and dark stuff because the music’s evil and dark!” Hammett one told Louder. “And what else is evil and dark? Horror movies!”

Hammett has previously shared how horror master Stephen King inspired one of the band’s trademark albums. Ride The Lighting, released in 1984, features an electric chair on the cover. This design and the title come from King’s book The Stand, which features a character proclaiming he will ride the lighting during his execution by an electric chair. Hammett was immediately attached to this part of the book, so much so that he shared it with his band mates and King’s text was channelled into the album’s iconography and title. 

Furthermore, Hammett has spoken of his love for horror, something he couldn’t wait to indulge in after his first childhood experience with FrightFind. “When I got a little bit of disposable income around 1985, I jumped right back in again, and the first thing I did was I went down to my local comic book store, and I bought a bunch of vintage horror comic books,” he once shared. These collector items held a special place for Hammet, who adds: “I took them on tour with me on the ride the lightning tour, and I would read them with much pleasure”.

The musician then elaborates on his connection between writing, performing heavy metal music, and indulging in horror. “It was great knowing I actually generated this money through playing my guitar and playing my music to feed my other muse, which was horror,” he shared. “I was back on track from that point on. I started buying horror comic books, toys, props, masks, posters.”

Classic horror has a profound and stylised artistic approach, with Universal’s monster movies constructed of stark black-and-white imagery accentuating the boldness and chilling atmosphere. Hammett acknowledges the beauty of these historical contributions: “Then, around 1989, I remember buying a Bride of Frankenstein half sheet, it’s the one at the Peabody, actually, and just staring at it going my god that’s so beautiful.”

He added: “The images are so iconographic, and it puts so many wonderful thoughts in my head.”

This image of James Whale’s 1935 classic starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Elsa Lanchester fed into the musician’s love for horror films and their style. The film is a sequel to the 1931 film Frankenstein and tells the tragic tale of a misunderstood creature who falls in love. “It was so inspiring. And from that point on, I dived head-first into the movie posters,” Hammett reveals. “And out of all the stuff I collect, it’s the movie posters that mean the most to me and have the most significance to me outside of the actual movies themselves.”

Hammett utilises these horror memorabilia as a creative haven, concentrating on their distinct style and responses as a means to create his art. “What happens is I sit in my movie poster room, where I’m very inspired and very comfortable,” he outlines his process. “It’s a very safe place for me, creatively, mentally, and spiritually. I sit there, and I create, and that’s the impact these movie posters have on my own personal creative muse.”

The Metallica member specifies one horror era that he holds very close to his heart when asked about his favourite horror film. After initially struggling to settle on one film off the top of his head, Hammett shares: “But yeah, I do have a handful of films that I continually go back to, and they’re almost exclusively classic horror movie films. There’s something about that era that always pulls me back”.

This era of Hollywood horror includes many pivotal and foundation contributions, such as Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy. Hammet has seen these titles over 100 times, citing other titles such as Nosferatu and Invaders from Mars as horrors he always finds himself returning to. These classic horror movies display titles from Universal Pictures between the 1930s and 1950s, with the titular characters becoming icons in pop culture. 

These films have been remade and reimagined in recent eras, such as a 2010 version of The Wolf Man starring Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. Horror enthusiast Leigh Whannell breathed fresh air into The Invisible Man thanks to a social commentary approach in 2020. 

Hammett also loves more modern cult horror pictures to break up the Universal classics. Hopefully, he keeps the horror inspiration going, as the harmony between his music and his passion for them creates some brilliant sounds. 

Check out Hammett sharing his horror collection below.