Psycho (1960)
“It’s very perverse and the movie is perverse. They invented the genre of the horror film when they made that movie,” said Burwell of the slasher thriller. “It’s an all-string score, which you think would be more appropriate to a romance but in a way, Psycho is a romance, but it’s also beautiful.”
Forbidden Planet (1956)
“The sci-fi film Forbidden Planet has a great score…it’s all electronic and it was done before you could buy electronic instruments,” he said. “Composers built their own instruments. It’s amazing that a movie studio would be that adventurous.”
The Hateful Eight (2015)
“When I was starting out, the music Ennio Morricone had done I thought was very inspiring. If you put together a few instruments you can compose a very striking piece of music,” said Burwell. “His ability to make a rich score out of a small number of things is fascinating.” Morricone is also nominated in the same category as Burwell for best original score for The Hateful Eight.
For more on Carter Burwell, see Music To His Ears and Composing With Carter Burwell.
