I grew up watching film noir and neo-noir movies. I love the retro vibe, fashion, décor, the jazz music, and the drama, mystery, and intrigue of noir films. Neo-noir movies are a revival of 1940s and 1950s film noir crime movies. Neo-noir emerged in the 1960s and has produced some of the greatest movies ever made.
Old school film noir and contemporary neo-noir are psychological crime thriller stories told from the criminal’s point of view. The films use stylish cinematography, dark shadows, symbolism, angle shots, twisted perspectives, and stylized scenes. Noir films express isolation, alienation, doom, fatalism, and cynicism of a cold, harsh world. Stylish fashion and decor, plot twists, violent action, night clubs, vintage cars, jazz, singers, dark alleys, and lonely cityscapes at night are all elements of the noir style. Outside the mainstream, underground. The genre often crosses over to horror and science fiction. Compared to old film noir, neo-noir films are often more raw, disturbing, realistic, violent, psychological, and deal with sensitive social issues.
Noir characters are flawed anti-heroes helplessly trapped by forces beyond their control, often paranoid, and are driven toward a tragic end. Heists and schemes that go wrong, deception and betrayal, blackmail, and being hunted by the law or gangsters. They usually portray beaten down and desperate criminals who cannot escape their fate. Characters include con-men, mob bosses, hard-nosed police detectives and private eyes, femme fatale ladies who lead men to a tragic end, and innocent women who try to reform the wayward criminal hero.
Neo Noir popular movie hits – L.A. Confidential, Chinatown, Body Heat, The Thomas Crown Affair, Dirty Harry, Blood Simple, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, John Wick, Heat, Blade Runner, Casino, Goodfellas, Mulholland Drive, Drive, Taxi Driver, The Usual Suspects, Sin City, Fargo, Harper, Point Blank, Memento, Seven, Blue Velvet, Reservoir Dogs, Cape Fear, The Hustler, and others.
Neo Noir TV shows – Fargo, Twin Peaks, Boardwalk Empire, Mr. Robot, Miami Vice, Veronica Mars, True Detective, new Perry Mason, Mob City, Monsieur Spade, Justified, and others.
Neo-noir Directors – Martin Scorsese, Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Bryan Singer, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Brian De Palma, Jane Campion, Michael Mann, Sidney Lumet, Curtis Hanson, Lynne Ramsay, Rian Johnson, and others.
Chinatown
Chinatown is a masterpiece considered the best neo-noir film and ranked as one of the greatest movies ever made. The story, direction, acting, design, and score are perfect. It is a complex mystery and crime thriller with multiple plot twists. The film received 11 Oscar nominations, 3 BAFTA, and 4 Golden Globes.
The music of Chinatown is classic noir themes with a nostalgic retro feel. The score is lovely, melancholy, and dreamy with haunting trumpet solos by Uan Rasey. Rasey stated that Goldsmith told him “to play it sexy, but like it’s not good sex.”
Set in 1937 Los Angeles, Chinatown is about private detective Jake Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson, who is setup in a phony scandal to investigate a LA water commissioner who ends up dead. Gittes tries to save his reputation by working with the commissioner’s widow, Evelyn Mulray, played by Faye Dunaway. They are caught up in a complex scheme of corruption and murder, which points to Mulray’s horrible family secrets and leads to tragedy.
Details: Chinatown, 1974, Paramount, neo-noir mystery, director Roman Polanski. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, John Hillerman, Perry Lopez, and Burt Young.
Music score by Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) one of Hollywood’s leading composers with 254 soundtracks. Known for Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Patton, Poltergeist, Star Trek, The Omen, Basic Instinct, The Mummy, and others. Nominated for 18 Oscars, 6 Grammys, 9 Emmys, and 4 BAFTA.
Chinatown Love Theme /End Credits
Psycho
A masterpiece of horror and suspense by Alfred Hitchcock considered one of the best movies ever made. Taut, paranoid, mystery, murder, terror. The story is about a woman played by Janet Leigh who is on the run after stealing money. She stays at the Bates Motel owned and run by psychotic serial killer Norman Bates. The shower scene is one of the most shocking scenes in cinema.
Hitchcock insisted on a music score by Bernard Herrmann and was pleased with the tension and drama of the music. Hitchcock said “33% of the effect was due to the music, the sense of pervading doom.” The score is considered the most striking and effective in film history.
Details: Psycho, 1960, Paramount, neo-noir crime horror thriller, director Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsom.
Music by Bernard Herrmann, (1911-1975), one of the great film composers. Known for Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock movies, such as, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, and other movies.
Psycho Prelude music
Angel Heart
Angel Heart is a psychological horror thriller that delves into the dark world of voodoo, black magic, murder, violence, and betrayal. The film has an overwhelming presence of evil and ultimate doom. Set in the 1940s the movie has a retro noir feel with stylish fashion and sets.
The story involves private detective Harry Angel, played by Mickey Rourke, who is hired by Louis Cyphire to find a missing singer Johnny Favorite. Favorite is reported to have amnesia from a World War Two injury. Angel follows leads to New Orleans leaving a trail of blood and murder. Angel soon uncovers the shocking truth about his own past and his role in murder and deception. Angel turns out to be Johnny Favorite whose soul is owed by Louis Cyphire who is actually Lucifer.
The music drives a mood of dread and suspense. Composer Trevor Jones stated “Evil is the greatest of human fears. I tried to give that felling to the score.” Trevor is known for Excaliber, Time Bandits, Last of the Mohicans, Mississippi Burning, From Hell, GI Jane, I Robot, and others. Trevor has been nominated for 3 BAFTA and 2 Golden Globes.
Details: Angel Heart, 1987, Tri-Star, neo-noir psychological horror, director Alan Parker. Cast: Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro, Lisa Bonet, and Charlotte Rampling.
Harry Angel song
The Usual Suspects
A classic noir tale with multiple layers of plot twists. Rotten Tomatoes wrote “Expertly shot, gives the audience a simple plot and piles on layers of deceit, twists, and violence before pulling the rug from underneath.” Director Singer described the film as “Double Indemnity meets Rashomon, so you can look back and see all the sorts of things you didn’t realize were there the first time.”
The story involves a group of robbers and conmen forced to cover a debt by carrying out a heist for the legendary criminal mastermind Keiser Soze.
Details: The Usual Suspects, 1995, Columbia, neo-noir crime thriller, director Bryan Singer. Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Benico del Toro, Kevin Pollack, Chazz Palminteri, and Suzy Amis.
Music by John Ottman, known for X-Men series, Valkyrie, Star Trek series, Fantastic Four series, Night at the Museum, Bohemian Rhapsody, and others.
The Usual Suspects Main Theme
Ascenseur pour l’eshafaud
The beautiful jazz ballad soundtrack of the French film noir film Ascenseur pour l’eshafaud is unique. The whole soundtrack is cool jazz improvisation by Miles Davis with back up musicians. Davis watched the movie scenes and played what he saw and felt. It sets a hip and cool ambience, 1950s French avant garde. Described by critic Paul Johnson, “The loneliest trumpet you will ever hear and the model for sad core music ever since. Hear it and weep.”
The movie’s story is about two lovers who plan to kill the woman’s wealthy husband, staging the death as a suicide. The plan goes horribly awry involving complex twists leading to their ultimate demise.
Details: Ascenseur pour l’eshafaud (Elevator to the Gallows), 1958, French neo-noir crime thriller, director Louis Malle. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, and others.
Music by Miles Davis (1926-1991) a legendary jazz composer and musician. One of the most influential pioneers of jazz, bebop, cool jazz, and fusion jazz.
Nuit sur les Champs Elysees by Miles Davis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDeZnWEUA_k
Body Heat
Body Heat is one of the best erotic crime thriller movies – captivating, seductive, alluring, on the edge of being sleazy and decadent. “Jawdropping,” New York Times. “Engrossing, stylish in which sex and crime go hand-in-hand down the path to tragedy just like in the old days,” Variety.
The movie is a rework of the 1944 hit Double Indemnity. William Hurt plays a seedy attorney Ned Racine who is seduced into an affair with the ultimate femme fatale Matty Walker played by Kathleen Turner. Matty manipulates Ned into killing her wealthy husband and then things go horribly wrong for him.
The music score sets the erotic mood that carries the movie. Director Lawrence Kasdan worked with composer John Barry to write the score to be very sexy, haunting, lonely, and melancholy. Music by John Barry (1933-2100) British composer of film and TV with 5 Oscars, 2 BAFTA, and a Golden Globe. Known for Chaplin, Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves, The Cotton Club, The Lion In Winter, Zulu, Somewhere In Time, and others.
Details: Body Heat, 1981, Warner, neo-noir erotic crime thriller, director Lawrence Kasdan. Cast: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, and Mickey Rourke.
Body Heat Main Title
L.A. Confidential
A wonderful classic film noir based on James Ellroy’s novel about Los Angeles corruption and crime in the 1950s. One of the best neo-noir films, very hip, cool, and stylish. Top level actors, great story, set design, fashion, music, action, and mystery. The movie won 2 Oscars with 9 nominations, 2 BAFTA, and a Golden Globe.
An engrossing story that involves good and corrupt cops caught up in the intrigue of corruption, cover-ups, murder, heroin, rackets, prostitution, and Hollywood gossip in 1950s LA.
The classic noir music score captures the retro vibe of excitement and feel of the city. Music by Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) one of Hollywood’s leading music score composers with 254 soundtracks. Known for Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Patton, Poltergeist, Star Trek, The Omen, Basic Instinct, The Mummy, and others. Nominated for 18 Oscars, 6 Grammys, 9 Emmys, and 4 BAFTA.
Details: L.A. Confidential, 1997, Warner, neo-noir crime drama, director Curtis Hanson. Cast: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Kim Bassinger, Danny DeVito, and David Strathairn.
L.A. Confidential Suite
Silence of the Lambs 
One of the greatest and scariest movies ever made, a masterpiece of suspense and horror. The psychological crime thriller is based on the novel by Thomas Harris and has several sequels. Anthony Hopkins’ masterful portrayal of cannibal serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter is perhaps the scariest and creepiest character on film. The movie delves deep into the heart of evil and brings up our inner most fears.
The story is about FBI trainee, played by Jody Foster, deployed to talk to Hannibal Lecter in a mental institution to try to get information on the serial killer Buffalo Bill. Lecter plays cat and mouse with her. Her investigation leads her on a path of intrigue, suspense, danger, and terror.
The music creates an eerie and haunting mood of impending danger and ever present evil. Music by Howard Shore, a Canadian composer of 80 films. Awarded 3 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes, and 4 Grammys. Known for Lord of the Rings series, Twilight series, Hobbit series, Seven, Mrs. Doubtfire. The Games, The Departed, Doubt, Gangs of New York, and others.
Details: Silence of the Lambs, 1991, Orion Pictures, neo-noir psychological thriller, director Jonathan Demme. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, and Anythony Heald.
Silence of the Lambs Main Title
Taxi Driver
Considered a Martin Scorsese/ Robert DeNiro neo-noir masterpiece. Hard hitting, violent, and offbeat involving topics of mental illness, child prostitution, and vigilantism. Highly praised it received 4 Oscar nominations, 2 BAFTA, and 2 Golden Globes.
The story involves taxi driver Travis Bickle, played by Robert DeNiro, with a deteriorating mental state. He saves a young girl from child prostitution and becomes a vigilante hero.
Scorsese considered Herrmann’s jazz music score as “critical to the psychological basis of the film.” Herrmann was his “first and only choice.” Music by Bernard Herrmann, (1911-1975), one of the great film composers. Known for Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock movies, such as, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, and others.
Details: Taxi Driver, 1976, Columbia, neo-noir psychological thriller, director Martin Scorsese. Cast: Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, and Peter Boyle.
Taxi Driver Theme
Farewell My Lovely
Perhaps the best portrayal of Raymond Chandler’s fictional detective Philip Marlowe played by many actors over time. Farewell My Lovely is an excellent classic film noir; directing, acting, script, music, set design, and costumes are excellent. Critic Roger Ebert wrote, “The director takes the material and Marlowe character seriously. These opening shots are so evocative of Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe. The film never steps wrong.”
Set in 1941 Los Angeles, Marlowe is hired by a paroled bank robber Moose Malloy to find his old girlfriend Velma. Marlowe is led into a whirlwind of corruption, drugs, prostitution, murder, deceit, and blackmail in his investigation while keeping one step ahead of the police and crime syndicate.
The music score is classic film noir with an authentic pulp fiction feel – hip, cool, suspenseful, jazzy, modern, melancholy, evokes images of dark lonely streets. Music by David Shire, known for Apocalypse Now, Saturday Night Fever, All the President’s Men, The Conversation, Zodiac, and others.
Details: Farewell My Lovely, 1975, ITC, neo-noir crime thriller, director Dick Richards. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Jack O’Halloran, Sylvia Miles, and Harry Dean Stanton.
Marlowe’s Theme
Bullitt
Steve McQueen at his best hip and cool anti-hero self as a San Francisco police detective. A classic film noir murder mystery full of suspense, action, and danger. The film has the best car chase in movie history. The New York Times wrote “Terrific movie just right for Steve McQueen, fast, well-acted, written the way people talk.” Quentin Tarantino said “One of the best directed movies ever made.” The movie won an Oscar, Golden Globe, and 5 BAFTA nominations.
The music captures the retro film noir feel. Music by Lalo Schifrin, a leading film and TV composer with 225 film scores. Known for the Dirty Harry series, Mission Impossible series, Bullitt, Tango, Cool Hand Luke, Rush Hour, and others. Nominated for 6 Oscars, 22 Grammys, and 4 Emmys.
Details: Bullitt, 1968, Warner, neo-noir crime thriller, director Peter Yates. Cast: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughan, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, and Simon Oakland.
Bullitt Main Title
The Detective
A classic film noir with Frank Sinatra playing a police detective who convicts a mentally challenged man for murder who is then executed. Later he finds out the man was innocent and a scapegoat to cover up corruption.
The music is classic Sinatra in one of his many detective roles in neo-noir movies. The score is jazzy and drives the suspense. Music by Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) one of Hollywood’s leading music score composers with 254 soundtracks. Known for Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Patton, Poltergeist, Star Trek, The Omen, Basic Instinct, The Mummy, and others. Nominated for 18 Oscars, 6 Grammys, 9 Emmys, and 4 BAFTA.
Details: The Detective, 1968, 20th Century Fox, neo-noir crime drama, director Gordon Douglas. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Jacqueline Bisset, Jack Klugman, Robert Duvall, and Ralph Meeker.
The Detective Theme
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