When Harry Manfredini began working on the musical score for the 1980 film, the decision was made to play the music only alongside the killer so as not to trick the audience into believing that the killer was around during moments that they were not supposed to be. Manfredini explains that the lack of music for certain scenes was deliberate: "There's a scene where one of the girls [...] is setting up the archery area [...] One of the guys shoots an arrow into the target and just misses her. It's a huge scare, but if you notice, there's no music. That was a choice." Manfredini also noted that when something "was" about to happen, the music would cut off so that the audience would relax a bit, which allowed the scare to become more effective.