‘Something must have gone wrong with us’: David Cronenberg and Howard Shore on four decades of body horror

One is the master of gruesome horror, the other is the composer who scored his most famous films. They sit down to discuss their 46-year collaboration, and the unlikely source of their darkest, most disturbing inspiration
What would having sex in a car crash sound like, as music? What about a gynaecological exam performed by identical twins, or a man’s transmogrification into a grotesque human-insectoid hybrid? These are just some of the challenges faced, over more than 40 years and upwards of a dozen films, by the composer Howard Shore as part of his long collaboration with the director David Cronenberg. Shore, 78, may have won three Oscars for the magisterial sweep of his Lord of the Rings score, but it is his work on the 81-year-old Cronenberg’s notorious body-horror movies, from The Fly to Dead Ringers and Crash, that is most indelible. Those last two films will be screening this month as part of a wider tribute to Shore’s work at the London Soundtrack festival, where the composer will appear with his director-collaborator for an onstage conversation. Ahead of that encounter and the release of their next collaboration, The Shrouds, the pair sat down to talk about their long, bloody body of work.
You’re both from Toronto, but how did your paths first cross?
Howard Shore We had multiple friends in common, and we were introduced by [artist] Stephen Zeifman, another one of us Toronto men. But I’d already seen David around town on his motorcycle, a gorgeous Ducati. I’d see him driving around in this beautiful leather motorcycle outfit. As a kid, 15 or 16, you’d notice someone like that rolling around your neighbourhood.
-
Hamas agrees to release US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and bodies of 4 others
Hamas says it has accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual-nationals, hostages who had died in captivityABC News - 3d -
The NBA players who have regressed most in 2024-25
With the state of modern NBA contracts, a player regressing unexpectedly from one year to another can have huge consequences for a team's single-season outlook. There are various examples of that ...Yahoo Sports - 1h -
‘I never thought about Oscars’: Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg on the happiness and horror of his big win
The defiantly anti-commercial British musician had walked away from mainstream success twice by his early 20s. Will his Academy Award convince him to embrace Hollywood, celebrity, the big bucks?. ...The Guardian - 5d -
‘I’m all for strange’: Sister Midnight’s Karan Kandhari on his punk rock debut, two decades in the making
The director talks about his genre-trampling film Sister Midnight, the hilarious and gory story of a female force of nature stifled in an arranged marriage. One of the most powerful scenes in ...The Guardian - 5d -
Sister Midnight review – Mumbai-set comic horror finds the terror in arranged marriage
Radhika Apte is terrific as a woman preparing to settle down with a shiftless husband she barely knows when her world goes awry. British-Indian film-maker Karan Kandhari makes a stylish and offbeat ...The Guardian - 5d -
Nate Hobbs's new four-year contract is really a one-year deal, with three one-year options
The free-agency period entails a storm of reports regarding new contracts, with all of them painted in the light most favorable to the sources for those reports — the players' agents.Yahoo Sports - 4d -
Ontario premier says he needs 'to sit down as quickly as possible' with Trump on tariffs
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that he needs "to sit down as quickly as possible" with President Trump regarding tariffs. ‘We're seeing inflation happening already, and it's unnecessary. We ...The Hill - 6d -
TPC Sawgrass 17th hole: What to know about famous 'Island Green' at the 2025 Players Championship
Some key numbers, facts and memories about one of the most famous holes of golf in the entire worldCBS Sports - 5d -
Watch: Dutch 3,000m runner knocked unconscious in horror fall
Melissa Courtney-Bryant sprinted to silver at the European Indoor Championships after hearing one of her closest friends in athletics screaming from a horror fall that left her motionless on the ...Yahoo Sports - Mar. 9
More from The Guardian
-
David Lammy says G7 considering further moves to pressure Russia into agreeing Ukraine ceasefire – UK politics live
‘We have more cards we can play,’ foreign secretary tells MPs as he says G7 foreign ministers found ‘common ground’ when meeting last week. The Reform UK press conference is about to start. There ...The Guardian - 16m -
Carney and Macron present united front in face of Trump trade war
Canadian PM stresses importance of ‘reliable allies’ in joint press conference with French president. Europe live – latest updates Canada is the “most European of the non-European countries”, ...The Guardian - 5h -
Trump spokesperson denies deportations were illegal and says White House ‘confident’ it will win in court – live
Karoline Leavitt also describes deportations as ‘counter-terrorism operation’ as judge orders officials to explain if they defied court order. White House denies violating judge’s order with ...The Guardian - 19m -
Japan to deploy long-range missiles able to hit North Korea and China
Planned missiles on Kyushu said to be part of ‘counterstrike capabilities’, as fears grow over US security pact. Japan is planning to deploy long-range missiles on its southern island of Kyushu ...The Guardian - 6h -
Donald Trump: Iran will be held responsible for Houthi attacks
US president says consequences of any future attacks by Yemen’s Tehran-backed rebels will be ‘dire’. The US president, Donald Trump, has declared he will hold Iran directly responsible for any ...The Guardian - 1h
More in World
-
French politician jokes US should return Statue of Liberty for siding with ‘tyrants’
Raphaël Glucksmann quips that US should give back 19th-century gift from France over Trump’s approach to Ukraine. A French European parliament member has quipped that the US should return the ...The Guardian - 10m -
David Lammy says G7 considering further moves to pressure Russia into agreeing Ukraine ceasefire – UK politics live
‘We have more cards we can play,’ foreign secretary tells MPs as he says G7 foreign ministers found ‘common ground’ when meeting last week. The Reform UK press conference is about to start. There ...The Guardian - 16m -
Émilie Dequenne, Belgian Actress Who Starred in ‘Rosetta,’ Dies at 43
She won the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress award for her debut performance in 1999 and was later diagnosed with a rare adrenal gland cancer.The New York Times - 18m -
Trump spokesperson denies deportations were illegal and says White House ‘confident’ it will win in court – live
Karoline Leavitt also describes deportations as ‘counter-terrorism operation’ as judge orders officials to explain if they defied court order. White House denies violating judge’s order with ...The Guardian - 19m -
Trump threatens Iran with ‘dire’ consequences for Houthi attacks
Militants claim strike on American aircraft carrier after US president orders largest military operation of his second termFinancial Times - 35m