Mark Kermode & Jenny Nelson

What makes a film soundtrack genuinely terrifying? And why can a few notes of music stay with us for decades?

This week on Scarred for Life, we’re joined by legendary film critic Mark Kermode and writer Jenny Nelson, authors of Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music, to explore the strange, powerful and sometimes downright disturbing relationship between film, music and memory.

Mark and Jenny discuss how film scores can create fear, tension and atmosphere — from Bernard Herrmann’s iconic Psycho score and the unsettling theremin sounds of The Day the Earth Stood Still, to Pino Donaggio’s haunting music for Don’t Look Now and the chilling childlike vocals which wrap out The Night of the Hunter. They also get into Utopia, Twin Peaks, Rosemary’s Baby, Poltergeist and why children singing can be one of the creepiest sounds in cinema.

Mark also reveals one of his earliest cinematic scars: the wonderfully bizarre but surprisingly disturbing Dougal and the Blue Cat, while Jenny recalls the childhood trauma of Flowers in the Attic.

Plus, Mark talks about his experiences improvising live music for silent films, and the pair explain what readers can expect from Surround Sound — a book packed with first-hand stories from composers, directors and the people who actually make movie music.

If you've ever wondered why film soundtracks stick with us and how some have evolved into musical synonyms which can be sung instead of using a particular word (Psycho, JAWS), then you're really going to enjoy this episode.

CONTENT WARNING: there is brief discussion of adult themes (sexual assault) in the episode so please be advised.

Scarred for Life is the podcast about the films, television, books, music and experiences that left a lasting mark on us — The Podcast for Traumatised Nostalgics

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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @MacabreLondon

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