|
|
|
|
Films Featuring the Theremin
Here's a list of some movies that use a theremin in one way or another.
Know of a resource not listed here? Submit a Listing.
Links: Ed Wood - Submitted by Guest, 1/16/2006
Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" wonderfully uses theremin for its BGM composed by Howard Shore, especially in the Main Titles. Lydia Kavina played theremin on the score.
It Came From Outer Space - Submitted by Jason, 7/2/2005
Aliens land on earth and take over the bodies of unsuspecting citizens of a sleepy town while they buy time to fix their craft. Theremin music throughout!
La Nina Santa (The Holy Girl) - Submitted by Jason, 3/2/2005
In Amalia's mind and body, spiritual and sexual impulses seem to mingle like molecules forming a volatile compound. The object of her own vocation, which is implied more than articulated, is Dr. Jano (Carlos Belloso), a participant in the conference. One day, in the midst of a crowd watching a demonstration of the theremin (an instrument known for its eerie, otherworldly sounds), the doctor rubs up against her, a creepy violation made more so by his morose flirtation with Helena (Mercedes Morán), Amalia's mother, who wears her loneliness like a backless dress.
Queen of Blood - Submitted by Truetone, 5/11/2005
"Queen of Blood"-66
I would like to draw you folks attention to this films hauntingly beautiful opening music and artwork. Composed by one Leonard Morand it can best be described as a "two-and-a-half-minute full orchestra nightmare de luxe", and combined wtih the eerie beauty of John Cline´s (aquarelle?) art it makes for a wonderful kick, as far as theremin related experiences go. As for you out there who oppose to the theremin being used for "spooki" effects... just be musical about it and appreciate the piece for its sheer... competence! The film features a young Dennis Hopper (pre-Easy Rider), and famous Sherlock Holmes interpreter Basil Rathbone, and is in its own right an "A-OK" B-sci-fi film with footage stolen from the soviet space-opera classic "Planet of Storms", green vampire women and all! When you have checked it out, I am sure you will come to the same conclusion I have: It just GOTTA be the good dr. Hoffman playing! Or Is It!!?
To me , it sound a bit like they´ve taken the theremin track out of "The Day the World Ended", you know the scene where the girl awakens and you only see the shadow of the monster..., and put it over the orchestra track... but I want to think that it is an original composition...
Listen to it, and enjoy!
Spellbound - Submitted by Guest, 10/16/2005
The film Spellbound with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman used the theremin in the title song.
Star Trek: the Original Series - Submitted by Guest, 7/4/2006
The main title theme after Cpt. Kirk's introduction features Theremin sounding like a woman voice. A lot of people still think it's a female singer.
The Day the Earth Stood Still - Submitted by Guest, 5/4/2005
All of Washington DC is thrown into a panic when an extraterrestrial spacecraft lands near the White House. Out steps Klaatu (Michael Rennie, in a role intended for Claude Rains), a handsome and soft-spoken interplanetary traveller, whose "bodyguard" is Gort (Lock Martin), a huge robot who spews forth laser-like death rays when danger threatens. After being wounded by an over-zealous soldier, Klaatu announces that he has a message of the gravest importance for all Mankind, which he will deliver only when all the leaders of all nations will agree to meet with him. World politics being what they are in 1951, Klaatu's demands are turned down and he is ordered to remain in the hospital where his wounds are being tended. Klaatu escapes, taking refuge in a boarding house, where he poses as one "Mr. Carpenter" (one of the film's many parallels between Klaatu and Christ). Here the benign alien gains the confidence of a lovely widow (Patricia Neal) and her son (Billy Gray), neither of whom tumble to his other-worldly origins, and seeks out the gentleman whom Billy regards as "the smartest man in the world"--an Einstein-like scientist, Dr. Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe). The next day, at precisely 12 o'clock, Klaatu arranges for the world to "stand still"--he shuts down all electrical power in the world, with the exception of essentials like hospitals and planes in flight. Directed by Robert Wise, who edited Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) for director Orson Welles before going on to direct such major 1960s musicals as West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), The Day the Earth Stood Still was based on the story Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates. Available on VHS and DVD.
The Lost Weekend - Submitted by Jason, 1/20/2006
 
One of the first films to use a theremin in the score (by Miklós Rózsa). The theremin adds emotion to an alcoholic's nightmare sequences throughout the film.
The Machinist - Submitted by Jason, 1/20/2006
The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. A theremin provides mood-setting music throughout the score.
|
|
