Sound

Angelo Badalamenti

Born March 23, 1937 · New York City, New York, USA

Died December 11, 2022 · aged 85

Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer, best known for his work scoring films for director David Lynch, notably Blue Velvet, the Twin Peaks saga (1990–1992, 2017), The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive. Badalamenti received the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his "Twin Peaks Theme", and had received a Lifetime Achieveme…

Known For

Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive · 2001

Mulholland Drive

MovieThrillerDrama

Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man · 2006

MovieHorrorMystery

A sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers there's a larger mystery to solve among the island's secretive, neo-pagan community.

Secretary

Secretary · 2002

MovieRomanceDrama

A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.

Lost Highway

Lost Highway · 1997

MovieDramaThriller

A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.

Wild at Heart

Wild at Heart · 1990

MovieCrimeThriller

Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet · 1986

MovieMysteryThriller

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me · 1992

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

MovieDramaMystery

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

The Straight Story

The Straight Story · 1999

The Straight Story

Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

Filmography

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Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive · 2001

Mulholland Drive

MovieThrillerDrama

Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.

Original Music Composer

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man · 2006

MovieHorrorMystery

A sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers there's a larger mystery to solve among the island's secretive, neo-pagan community.

Original Music Composer

Secretary

Secretary · 2002

MovieRomanceDrama

A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.

Original Music Composer

Lost Highway

Lost Highway · 1997

MovieDramaThriller

A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.

Original Music Composer

Wild at Heart

Wild at Heart · 1990

MovieCrimeThriller

Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.

Original Music Composer

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet · 1986

MovieMysteryThriller

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Original Music Composer

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me · 1992

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

MovieDramaMystery

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

Original Music Composer

The Straight Story

The Straight Story · 1999

The Straight Story

Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

Original Music Composer

Before the Fall

Before the Fall · 2004

Before the Fall

In 1942, Friedrich Weimer's boxing skills get him an appointment to a National Political Academy (NaPolA) – high schools that produce Nazi elite. Over his father's objections, Friedrich enrolls. During his year in seventh column, Friedrich encounters hazing, cruelty, death, and the Nazi code. His friendship with Albrecht, the ascetic son of the area's governor, is central to this education.

Original Music Composer

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation · 1989

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

It's Christmastime, and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration. But things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen, and their two kids. Clark's continual bad luck is worsened by his obnoxious family guests, but he manages to keep going, knowing that his Christmas bonus is due soon.

Original Music Composer

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever · 2003

A group of five college graduates rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a horrifying flesh-eating virus, which attracts the unwanted attention of the homicidal locals.

Original Music Composer

The Beach

The Beach · 2000

MovieDramaAdventure

Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.

Original Music Composer

Arlington Road

Arlington Road · 1999

MovieCrimeDrama

Bedraggled college professor Michael Faraday has been vexed — and increasingly paranoid — since his wife's accidental death in a botched FBI operation. When a seemingly all-American couple set up house next door, Michael begins to suspect there’s more to them than meets the eye.

Original Music Composer

Dark Water

Dark Water · 2005

MovieHorrorMystery

Dahlia and her five-year-old daughter are ready to begin a new life together. But their new apartment — dilapidated and worn — suddenly seems to take on a life of its own. Mysterious noises, persistent leaks of dark water and other strange happenings send Dahlia on a haunting and mystifying pursuit — one that unleashes a torrent of living nightmares.

Original Music Composer

Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist

Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist · 2005

Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist

MovieHorrorDrama

Father Merrin takes a sabbatical from the Church to devote himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith.

Original Music Composer

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks · 1989

MovieMysteryDrama

An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks. (This standalone version of the series pilot was produced for the European VHS market and has an alternate, closed ending.)

Original Music Composer

The City of Lost Children

The City of Lost Children · 1995

The City of Lost Children

MovieFantasyScience Fiction

A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.

Original Music Composer

A Very Long Engagement

A Very Long Engagement · 2004

A Very Long Engagement

MovieDramaRomance

Young Frenchwoman Mathilde searches for the truth about her missing fiancé, lost during World War I, and learns many unexpected things along the way. The love of her life is gone. But she refuses to believe he's gone forever — and she needs to know for sure.

Original Music Composer

The Edge of Love

The Edge of Love · 2008

The Edge of Love

MovieDramaHistory

When the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his flirtatious wife Caitlin sweep into war-torn London, the last thing they expect is to bump into Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera. Despite her joy at seeing Dylan after so many years, Vera is swept off her feet by a dashing officer, William Killick, and finds herself torn between the open adoration of her new found beau and the wily charms of the exotic Welshman.

Original Music Composer

Holy Smoke

Holy Smoke · 1999

MovieComedyDrama

While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. Her desperate parents then hire PJ Waters, a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ quickly learns that he's met his match in the sexy, intelligent and iron-willed Ruth.

Original Music Composer

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors · 1987

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

MovieHorrorThriller

A psychiatrist, familiar with the knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger, helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.

Original Music Composer

Rabbits

Rabbits · 2002

MovieHorrorMystery

A story of a group of humanoid rabbits and their depressive, daily life. The plot includes Suzie ironing, Jane sitting on a couch, Jack walking in and out of the apartment, and the occasional solo singing number by Suzie or Jane. At one point the rabbits also make contact with their “leader”.

Original Music Composer

The Comfort of Strangers

The Comfort of Strangers · 1990

The Comfort of Strangers

An Italian diplomat's son follows and seduces English lovers in Venice.

Original Music Composer

Faraway Eyes

Faraway Eyes · 2021

MovieFantasyComedy

Michael, a struggling actor, dies right after a bad breakup. He finds himself awakening in a very bright room with a very strange lady and learns that he is in singles Purgatory, where he must find his soul mate in order to cross over to the other side. With limited time to find true love among other recently deceased single New Yorkers, Michael must navigate the new customs of a ghostly dating life... as if dating in life wasn't hard enough already.

Theme Song Performance

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks · 1990

SeriesDramaMystery

The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul.

Original Music Composer

On the Air

On the Air · 1992

SeriesComedyDrama

The year is 1957. The cast and crew of the Lester Guy Show are extremely apprehensive about their upcoming live television broadcast on the Zoblotnick Broadcasting Co. network. Lester Guy despises fellow cast member Betty Hudson for unknowingly becoming more popular than him and schemes to destroy her career. Only two of the seven episodes were written by David Lynch.

Orchestrator

Hotel Room

Hotel Room · 1993

The lives of several people spanning from 1936 to 1993 are chronicled during their overnight stay at a New York City hotel room.

Music

Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous Liaisons · 2003

Dangerous Liaisons

Updated adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' classic 18th Century tale of seduction, betrayal and revenge set in the modern 1960s world of Parisian high society. The beautiful Madame de Merteuil seeks vengeance against her ex-lover Gercourt when he becomes engaged to her young goddaughter, Cécile.

Original Music Composer

Rabbits

Rabbits · 2002

SeriesMysteryDrama

A story of a group of humanoid rabbits and their depressive, daily life. The plot includes Suzie ironing, Jane sitting on a couch, Jack walking in and out of the apartment, and the occasional solo singing number by Suzie or Jane. At one point the rabbits also make contact with their “leader”.

Music

Cinéma, de notre temps

Cinéma, de notre temps · 1989

Cinéma, de notre temps

SeriesDocumentary

"Cinema of Our Time" is a documentary series about contemporary filmmakers from around the world, created by Janine Bazin and André S. Labarthe, as a follow-up to the acclaimed initial series "Filmmakers of Our Time" (1964-1972).

Angelo Badalamenti