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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Why are some places more frightening than the monsters that live inside them? This week on Scarred for Life, Andy Bush, Dave Lawrence and Nikki Druce take a deep dive into the horror of liminal spaces, unsettling buildings and locations that are more creepy than comforting.

From the eerie office corridors of Severance and the endless yellow rooms of The Backrooms, to the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill, La Cabina, the Psycho house and Portsmouth's infamous Tricorn Centre, we explore why mazes, empty buildings, brutalist architecture, strange corridors and familiar places that suddenly feel wrong can be so deeply unsettling.

Is it the fear of getting lost? Being trapped? The feeling that you're somewhere you shouldn't be? Or does this kind of environmental horror tap into something much more primal?

Along the way, we revisit childhood memories of school trips, 1970s interiors, nicotine stained wallpaper, Rigsby's flat in Rising Damp and the strange smells that can transport us straight back to childhood.

It's a Thursday deep dive into liminal spaces, psychological horror, creepy buildings, nostalgic horror and the places that scarred us for life.

Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup

To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm

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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @MacabreLondon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Andy Bush and Dave Lawrence are joined by the Jobseeker himself - it's Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods.

Jason joins Scarred for Life to talk about the things that genuinely scared, disturbed and scarred him throughout his life.

From growing up in Grantham and the terrifying stories surrounding the local Hills and Hollows, to the government public information films that traumatised an entire generation, Jason looks back at childhood fears, the threat of AIDS, nuclear war and the strange ways we learn what danger looks like.

He also reveals the horror films that have stayed with him — including The Exorcist, Hostel, and The Wizard of Oz. Jason explains why Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West terrified him as a child, why Hostel left him sleeping with the light on well into adulthood, and why modern horror is often more frightening when it explores the darkness of the human mind.

And then there's his third scar… a truly revolting school toilet horror story involving a ceiling covered in dried greenies. Yes, really.

Along the way, Jason talks about Sleaford Mods, touring, performing, forgetting lyrics on stage, social media, modern anxiety, growing older, running, acting, his appearance in Peaky Blinders and striking up a friendship with Cillian Murphy.

Expect childhood nightmares, video nasties, horror movies, 1980s public information films, social media anxiety, working-class Britain, Sleaford Mods, and one of the most disgusting school stories we've ever heard on Scarred for Life.

Scarred for Life is the podcast about the things that scared us, scarred us and stayed with us.

Featuring Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods.

Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup

To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm

Send us a voice note on WhatsApp - 07457 404 279

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Production Company - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lock It In Studio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @MacabreLondon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.