Sounds from the Pictures
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- DirectorHerk HarveyStarsCandace HilligossFrances FeistSidney BergerAfter a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.Haunted organ music that plays a huge part of the film's ghostly and surrealist atmosphere. By the looks of it, the film's composer Gene Moore never went on to make another record and disappeared without a trace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91WxZQ3JLQk - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.Weird, atmospheric lounge music by Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda.
- DirectorBob ClarkStarsOlivia HusseyKeir DulleaMargot KidderDuring their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.Eerie soundscapes from the film, gloomy choirs, and creepy dialogue makes this a chilling record to spin during the holidays. Didn't get an official release until 2016 by Waxwork.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQZmPFTexM - DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.David Lynch's finely-crafted sound design makes this one of the most aurally unsettling films in existence. The industrial factory drones themselves are blood-curdling, thanks to mastermind Alan Splet. Can't forget the organ music excerpts from Fats Waller, and the nightmare-inducing Lady in the Radiator song.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsRoy ScheiderBruno CremerFrancisco RabalFour unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.Tangerine Dream's film scoring debut is a rather dark and ominous effort. A fine mix of eerie psychedelic atmospheres with their early krautrock stylings.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.Some of the earliest use of spectralism in film.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAdrienne BarbeauJamie Lee CurtisJanet LeighAn unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.There's a very fine mystique to the music that manages to resonate with me more than any other John Carpenter film. Distinct piano and synth arpeggios were characteristic of his early soundtracks.
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsJoe SpinellCaroline MunroAbigail ClaytonA psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.Jay Chattaway incorporates warm analog sounds with dissonant noise, psychedelic overtones, woodwind instruments, and even fretless bass. Perfectly captures the sleaze and grime of the film.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.Despite being shelved for almost a decade and not having an official release until 1994, the music by Vangelis, which has a characteristic space ambient and ghostly noir jazz sound, remains one of the most revered amongst cult 1980s films and still heavily influential today.
- DirectorGerald KarglStarsErwin LederRobert Hunger-BühlerSilvia RyderA troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.Klaus Schulze's only notable film score. The music provides a haunting quality throughout certain scenes. Only two tracks made it into the film: "Freeze" and "Surrender".
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsWilliam PetersenWillem DafoeJane LeevesA fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.Wang Chung were chosen by Friedkin to compose the music for his gritty neo-noir. The monolithic 9-minute opening credits track consists of nothing but a pounding drum machine, bass guitar, and female vocal choir. Surely one of the best soundtracks of the early 1980s wave of action/crime thrillers.
- DirectorRobert HarmonStarsRutger HauerC. Thomas HowellJennifer Jason LeighA young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.An overlooked score from Mark Isham. Traditional ambient pieces with vintage synths and cavernous percussion.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.Music plays a huge role in the world of David Lynch. This soundtrack is different from his others, which contains multiple industrial rock/metal songs. Badalamenti's dark jazz pieces, as well as Barry Adamson, are the standouts here.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.David Lynch embraces that 50s/60s style of music to great effect. Just listen to "I've Told Every Little Star" by Linda Scott and you'll see how beautifully it fits within the picture.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsDavid CarusoStephen GevedonPaul GuilfoyleTensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.Lots of electroacoustic timbres and heavy use of dissonance. Sometimes I wonder if the composer of "Under the Skin" took cues from this soundtrack.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsMads MikkelsenMaarten StevensonAlexander MortonForced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.Hellish dark ambient atmospheres with distant metal clanking, subtle organ, and some incredible sound design that makes you envision a vast, desolate moor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma-h7AdNLRg - DirectorDavid FincherStarsJesse EisenbergAndrew GarfieldJustin TimberlakeAs Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business."Hand Covers Bruise" is probably one of the best themes in modern cinema. The scene where Mark walks through the college campus, laden with Fincher's warmly-lit atmospherics, is just a marvelous set-piece.
- DirectorPanos CosmatosStarsEva BourneMichael J RogersScott HylandsDespite being under heavy sedation, a young woman tries to make her way out of the Arboria Institute, a secluded, quasifuturistic commune.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingCarey MulliganBryan CranstonA mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.The film that supposedly influenced lots of modern-day synth revival soundtracks.
- DirectorFranck KhalfounStarsElijah WoodNora ArnezederAmerica OlivoAs he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.Haunting, dreamlike synthesizer music that takes cues from giallo horror soundtracks.
- DirectorPeter StricklandStarsToby JonesAntonio MancinoGuido AdorniA sound engineer's work for an Italian horror studio becomes a terrifying case of life imitating art.Immaculate sound design. Hearkens back to vintage early electronics, channeling the works of British sound sculptress Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingKristin Scott ThomasVithaya PansringarmJulian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.In collaboration with Mac Quayle, Cliff Martinez’s oriental-sounding score for Refn's violently bleak neo-noir contains traces of ambient techno and tribal percussion.
- DirectorJonathan GlazerStarsScarlett JohanssonJeremy McWilliamsLynsey Taylor MackayA mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.Visceral electroacoustic drones with a recurring theme of eerie violin strings. One of the most unearthly film scores I've experienced. Like an aural equivalent of dread.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBen AffleckRosamund PikeNeil Patrick HarrisWith his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.A third collaboration between Reznor and Ross sees them venture further into industrial ambient territory. You'll hear elements of drone, musique concrète, glitch, and IDM. Much more experimental and sparse than previous works.
- DirectorAdam WingardStarsDan StevensSheila KelleyMaika MonroeA soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.Probably one of the best and most distinguishing soundtracks. Old-school EBM, electro-industrial, and some gothic darkwave. Doesn't get any better than that. On the other hand, the score by Steve Moore is laced with brooding vintage synths in the vein of Carpenter.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMsFR-IuG_7GnbgXXjypO0YAx7OVq0H95