some creepy chords

I've always associated the minor-major 7th chord with jazz tunes, South American (mainly Brazilian) music and cliff-hanger moments in James Bond movies and 70s TV shows like Charlie's Angels. But I just watched The Machinist (2004) a Spanish made film with Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh and it turns out that they can be used to convey creepiness, too (which I guess, after all, is an extension of tension). The moment I'm talking about here occurs at ca. 40min 37sec.


Note also that the 2nd "creepy" chord (1st chord in the 2nd measure) is an augmented triad with a major 7th. (You could also look at this as a C/Ab, which could easily come from the Harmonic Major mode.) From the first chord to this one the only changing part is the middle two voices: a major third that rises a half step. The last chord in that measure is also an augmented triad: really just the "upper" part of the Ab min/Maj7th.

Other elements which add to the creepiness (which seem to be universal): a slow tempo -- somewhere around a quarter note equaling something in the 50s -- and a lot of reverb.

Music by Roque Baños.