Film Editor Sean Woodard goes down the mean streets of Los Angeles to uncover the seedy underworld of Brian De Palma’s adaptation of the James Ellroy novel, The Black Dahlia, for April’s “Finding the Sacred Among the Profane.”

In this month’s Once Upon a Time in Film Scoring, Sean explores the role of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music in the biopic Immortal Beloved.

Film Editor Sean Woodard returns to horror for this month’s “Finding the Sacred Among the Profane” column, exploring Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre.

While much has been written on the scores for quintessential gialli such as Argento’s Deep Red (Profondo Rosso), Fulci’s film—alternately titled Seven Notes in Black and Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes—inherently ties a music theme to the plot itself. In effect, its alternate titles not only appropriately reference the narrative, but seven particular notes mentioned creates a sense of foreboding. The number of notes is incorporated into the recurring main theme. Each repetition then builds suspense as the film moves toward its inevitable conclusion.

In this month’s “Finding the Sacred Among the Profane” column, Film Editor Sean Woodard explores The Color Purple ’s religious themes.

For this month’s Once Upon a Time in Film Scoring column, Sean examines Elmer Bernstein’s theme for the underrated Charles Bronson Western, From Noon Till Three.

In this month’s “Finding the Sacred Among the Profane” column, Film Editor Sean Woodard explores the themes of hope and spiritual righteousness in Frank Darabont’s adaptation of the Stephen King classic, The Shawshank Redemption.

Sean explores one of the best-settling soundtracks of the 1980s, Top Gun, in this month’s Once Upon a Time in Film Scoring column.

Film Editor Sean Woodard discusses the moral dilemma in Orca for this month’s “Finding the Sacred Among the Profane” column.

Dewey Cox is “guilty as charged” in Sean Woodard’s latest Once Upon a Time in Film Scoring column.

Film Editor Sean Woodard explores the intersection of doubt and faith in The Exorcism of Emily Rose for this month’s “Finding the Sacred Among the Profane” column.

Sean Woodard examines Ennio Morricone’s score for Sergio Leone’s magnus opus, Once Upon a Time in America .

Film Editor Sean Woodard explores the gratuitous violence in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and equates it with torture porn in his latest Finding the Sacred Among the Profane column.

Sean Woodard examines the importance of natural sound and the limited use of music in Martin Scorsese’s Silence.

By mixing religious and demonic imagery with the esoteric theories of Fulcanelli (which allude to an alchemical connection to the building of gothic cathedrals) to achieve this atmosphere, Soavi raises this convoluted, somewhat nonsensical horror film into a visually arresting cult classic.

As Llewyn aimlessly goes about the week—dealing with many issues including an ailing father, losing the Gorfeins’ cat, and the question of whether he impregnated his friend’s wife, Jean—the folk music heard in the film mirrors his circumstances and daily depression.

Why would someone put his life—and soul—on the line to save a girl he’d never met before? This question forms the basis of faith in William Friedkin’s 1973 adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.

Richard Donner’s The Omen (1976) remains one of the seminal religious-themed horror films to have been released in the wake of Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski 1968) and The Exorcist (Friedkin 1973), cashing in on the socio-political and religious hysteria of the 1970s.

Vincent Price perhaps played his most sadistic role in Michael Reeves’ 1968 film Witchfinder General. The film is loosely based upon the real-life figure of Matthew Hopkins, who is believed to have been responsible for the death of over 300 people accused of witchcraft in the 1640s.

When people hear the phrase “stand by me,” they’ll most likely recall the classic Ben E. King song or the 1986 Rob Reiner film which shares its name. Adapted from Stephen King’s novella The Body, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay and has been cited in multiple publications as one of the best coming-of-age dramas. It is my favorite film and one of my main influences on becoming a writer.

After working on a variety of horror projects in the 1990s, Dario Argento returned to the genre that made his name with Sleepless (Non Ho Sonno) in 2001.

The onset of the COVID-19 quarantine left me with two things: too much time on my hands and a plethora of books and films to (re)discover. I found myself delving into crime fiction with James Ellroy’s “L.A. Quartet” (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L. A. Confidential, White Jazz), graphic novels (Hit: 1955, The Fade-Out), and my film noir collection on Blu-Ray. When Frida Programming Director Trevor Dillon asked us to pitch blog post ideas, I automatically came up with the title: NOIRANTINE.

[Featured Contributor] The films I have selected can be considered an interesting assortment. Ranging from genre fare to high art, I felt the best way to approach this list was to consider the lasting impact each film has had on me.