Behind the Couch

Jonathan Glazer’s abstract sci-fi chiller follows the gruesome exploits of an extraterrestrial predator disguised as a beautiful woman (Scarlett Johansson) who feeds on the lifeforce of unsuspecting men she abducts while driving around Scotland. A provocative rumination on the idea of what it is to be human, the film features a fittingly moody score courtesy of Micachu And The Shapes front-woman, Mica Levi. The classically trained Levi cites John Cage, strip-club music and euphoric dance as her main influences for this, her first film score. Pulsing between sensual and sinister, her music for Under the Skin creates a chilling sense of space and cosmic vastness. Head over to Paracinema to read my full appraisal and listen to a track. The following article was published on Paracinema.net on 28th Feb 2015  Under the Skin – Mica Levi  "If your lifeforce is being distilled by an alien, it's not necessarily going to sound very nice. It's supposed to be physical, a...

Italian composer Ennio Morricone is responsible for creating some of cinema’s most evocative and powerful scores. Widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant film composers of all time, his work spans decades. While particularly renowned for his scores for Sergio Leone-directed Spaghetti Westerns, such as Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly , Morricone has written film music for almost every conceivable genre. Though they are not as renowned as some of his other scores, his soundtracks for various horror films, psychological thrillers and Italian gialli are among some of the most dazzling, unusual and nerve shredding scores ever compos Head over to Paracinema to check out the second in a two part series in which I examine some of Morricone's musical contributions to horror films, including John Carpenter's The Thing, Mike Nichols'  Wolf , and Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome (pictured).  The following ar...

Released in 1999, Antonia Bird’s gruesome, satirical horror-comedy Ravenous tells of a group of soldiers descending into a nightmare of murder and cannibalism while snowed in at an isolated fort in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Referencing the plight of the infamous Donner party, aspects of Native American folklore, specifically the figure of the Wendigo, and the weird tales of Algernon Blackwood, Ravenous was initially criticised for its ‘uneven’ tone, but has since garnered a cult following. Owing to its reputation as a horror oddity is its rich and unusual score, born from the inspired pairing of minimalist classical composer and ethnomusicologist Michael Nyman, and Damon Albarn, front-man of experimental British indie bands Blur and Gorillaz. To celebrate Scream Factory’s recent release of the film on Blu-ray, and because it’s just an incredible score, Matthew Monagle and I have written separate pieces on it; Matthew ponders Damon Albarn’s contributions and how the score can...

"Death Serenades Me" * Italian composer Ennio Morricone is responsible for creating some of cinema’s most evocative and powerful scores. Widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant film composers of all time, his work spans decades and he has scored films for the likes of Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mario Bava, Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento, Brian De Palma, Roman Polanski, Adrian Lyne, Oliver Stone, Pedro Almodovar and Roland Joffè, to name but a few. While particularly renowned for his scores for Sergio Leone-directed Spaghetti Westerns, such as Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly , Morricone has written film music for almost every conceivable genre. Though they are not as renowned as some of his other scores, his soundtracks for various horror films, psychological thrillers and Italian gialli are amongst some of the most dazzling, unusual and nerve shredding scores ever composed. Head over to Paracinem...