Music plays an integral role in movies. It can set the mood, cue the viewer as to when to laugh or cry, or get the audience excited for what’s to come. Music in movies should feel natural and in general, should jibe with the plot. There are some movie composers, like John Williams or Hans Zimmer, who are a bit predictable but very consistent. Their scores have been just as memorable as the movies they appeared in, like 1975’sJawsand 2008’sThe Dark Knight.
Sometimes a film’s score or soundtrack can be spot-on, but other times it’s jarring or even distracting. Understandably, filmmakers sometimes take risks with their scores - they’re creative people, after all - and those gambles can pay off. But other times, it can seem like a film’s score is juxtaposing, odd, or off-putting, making it hard to concentrate on what’s going on with the story. These are the movies that, for better or worse, contain very unconventional scores.
10Hereditary
Hereditaryis a 2018 horror movie directed by Ari Aster that stars Toni Colette, Gabriel Byrne, Milly Shapiro, and Alex Wolff. When the matriarch of a middle-class family dies, they realize she left something mysterious and supernatural behind. As they grieve, the family realizes that they are slowly becoming possessed by a demon that seems to be passed down from generation to generation.
For the score forHereditary, Aster went with a unique idea. He asked Arcade Fire and solo musician Colin Stetson to compose the music. Stetson is known for his progressive, avant-garde style of playing the saxophone, and he creates a perfectly creepy score. Stetson’s minimalist approach makes the scares inHereditarymore intense, while at the same time teasing the audience with background music that sends chills up your spine.
9Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxyis a fan-favorite MCU movie that was released in 2014. It follows Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), an outcast who travels the galaxy and steals an orb from a group of smugglers called the Ravagers. When the Ravagers come looking for him, Peter is forced to team up with a group of misfit rebels to escape.Guardiansis fast-paced, funny, and full of quotable lines, which makes it one of the most surprising superhero movie hits ever made, starting one of theMCU’s best trilogies.
The MCU movies have a wide variety of scores. Some films, like 2012’sThe Avengers, feature classically composed music by Academy Award winners like Alan Silvestri. TheGuardiansmovies, however, took a different approach. Those movies are primarily soundtracked by forgotten 1980s hits, and it adds to the whimsy of the movie.Guardians Vol. 1features songs by Blue Swede, David Bowie, The Runaways, and The Jackson 5, to name a few.
8There Will Be Blood
Multiple Academy Award-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis is the star of the show in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 historical dramaThere Will Be Blood. Based on the novelOil!by Upton Sinclair, the movie follows an entrepreneur named Daniel Plainview who travels rural areas looking for places to take advantage of villagers and drill for oil. He encounters a skeptical pastor (Paul Dano) and will do anything he can to get the man out of his way.
The score forThere Will Be Bloodwas written and composed by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood. It features sparse guitars, minimalist noises, and bizarre instrumentation. It captures the intensity of the movie perfectly, but unfortunately was not eligible for an Academy Award for Best Soundtrack. Greenwood used some preexisting material for the score, which made it ineligible.
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In 1977, Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) leaves her Mennonite family and enrolls in a dance school in West Berlin. She has big dreams of becoming a dancer but is surprised to learn that one of the school’s students has gone missing. Some investigators believe the school may be run by a coven of witches, led by Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), leaving Susie shaken and scared.
The music forSuspiriawas written by another Radiohead member. This time, it was bandleader Thom Yorke who soundtracked the film. Yorke is known for his unique voice, unconventional delivery, and haunting guitar parts. His score matched the movie and gave viewers a sense of uneasiness throughout the film.
2011’sHannastars Saoirse Ronan as Hanna, a Finnish teenager who has been raised by her father Erik (Eric Bana) in the wilderness since the age of two. Hanna is taught to be a deadly assassin, with special skills in hand-to-hand combat and target shooting. Erik is teaching Hanna to kill his old arch-enemy Marissa (Cate Blanchett), but Marissa has other plans.
Hannafeatures a very upbeat soundtrack crafted by the legendary techno duo The Chemical Brothers. The group is made up of Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands and they’ve toured the world playing hits like “Block Rockin' Beats,” “Let Forever Be,” and “Galvanize.” ForHanna, The Chemical Brothers mixed fast tempo and busy songs with offbeat and dissonant blips and beeps.
5Kill Bill Vol. 1
Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 action movieKill Bill Vol. 1tells the story of The Bride (Uma Thurman) an assassin who decides to get out of the criminal underworld when she finds out she’s pregnant. The assassin squad’s leader Bill (David Carradine), however, won’t let that happen. He sends the rest of the members of the team to a rural church to murder The Bride. She survives the hit, recovers from a four-year coma, and seeks revenge on Bill and his cronies.
Tarantino movies always contain awesome music, andKill Bill Vol. 1is no exception. The movie features everything from country covers to classic jazz to surf rock. Some artists featured include Nancy Sinatra, Quincey Jones, Charlie Feathers, Isaac Hayes, The RZA, and more.
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4Thor: Ragnarok
Chris Hemsworth returns as the title character in 2017’sThor: Ragnarok. Directed by Taika Waititi, the movie follows Thor as he finds himself caught in the middle of an interstitial battle. He must prevent his sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) from returning and causing Ragnarok, a catastrophic event that will destroy everything. Thor must even go through his former friend Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to stop Hela’s power from ruining Asgard.
The score for Thor: Ragnarok was written and composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, who rose to fame in the 1980s as the leader of the band Devo. Devo scored a big hit with the song “Whip It”, and Mothersbaugh has been making a name for himself as a film composer ever since. His score forRagnarokis a bit divisive, with some MCU fans enjoying it and others finding it a bit distracting.
Dead Manis a long-lost Western movie from 1995 directed by 1990s auteur Jim Jarmusch. Some fans would argue it’s thegreatest Western you’ve never seen. Johnny Depp stars as William Blake, an accountant from Ohio, who moves to a new town for a job. When he arrives, Blake notices the townspeople are very hostile towards him. He survives a gunshot wound now must survive as the villagers want to chase him out of town.
The soundtrack forDead Manwas written and performed by Canadian music legend Neil Young. Young’s hits include classics like “Heart of Gold”, “Keep On Rockin' in the Free World”, “My My Hey Hey”, and more. ForDead Man, Young stuck to his country rock roots and crafted an album full of memorable guitar hooks and emotional songs. Much of the soundtrack was played on Young’s iconic guitar “Old Black”, a Gibson Les Paul that Young has played in concerts for decades.
2Requiem for a Dream
Darren Aronofsky’s 2000 movieRequiem for a Dreamstars Jared Leto as Harry Goldfarb, a drug addict who is looking for a big score. When the shipment falls through, Harry finds himself desperate for drugs and money, and he tries to get his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connolly) to become a prostitute to make ends meet. At the same time, Harry’s mother Sara (Ellen Burstyn) also suffers from an addiction and hallucinates that she’s a contestant on her favorite game show.
The movie features a score composed by Clint Mansell, an English musician who became known as the lead singer for the alternative rock band Pop Will Eat Itself. The music inRequiem for a Dreamis intense, chilling, and very unsettling. It’s part of the reason why the film is consistently considered to be one of themost intense movies of all time.
1The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Back in 2014,The Amazing Spider-Man 2continued the run for the rebooted Spider-Man franchise. Andrew Garfield once again returned as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, this time facing a new threat in the form of Electro (Jamie Foxx). As Spider-Man embraces his new powers more, he realizes that his abilities come with a responsibility to protect the people he cares about the most.
The soundtrack forThe Amazing Spider-Man 2features songs by a mash-up of classical composers and fresh new artists. To write the music, German composer Hans Zimmer teamed up with a group called The Magnificent Six, which included rapper Pharrell Williams, rock guitarist Mike Einziger from Incubus, techno DJ Junkie XL, English songwriter Johnny Marr from The Smiths, Andrew Kawczynski, and Steve Mazzo. The result was a busy score filled with uptempo beats and moody background pieces.
