8. The Delicate Delinquent (1957)
One of the few movies to actually use a theremin in a comic light, The Delicate Delinquent features a scene where dippy janitor Jerry Lewis runs across one accidentally, and naturally starts flailing at it to see what it does. Surprisingly, he somehow produces a credible version of "Swanee River" and some 12-bar blues; he briefly rock 'n' rolls out to the latter before the theremin's angry owner arrives to stop the fun.
9. Ed Wood (1994)
After the '50s, the theremin largely disappeared from movie soundtracks, possibly due to overuse over a short time period, possibly because the novelty had faded, and possibly because it was extremely difficult to play, and few theremin performers were available. But the 1994 movie Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey has been credited with renewing interest in the instrument, resulting in a whole new age of theremin soundtracks. Still, director Steven M. Martin can't take credit for Tim Burton's Ed Wood, which uses theremin music to flash back to the '50s, when the titular schlockmeister was at the peak of his goofy game.
10. Batman Forever (1995)
A recurring theremin theme in Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever similarly seems to be trying to evoke the '50s by associating Jim Carrey's loonball take on Edward Nygma (a.k.a. The Riddler) with spooky mad-scientist music. Nygma's off-kilter theremin motif howls to a crescendo on a track subtitled "An Ode To Science," no doubt indicating that he's mad, mad I tell you, muah ha ha ha ha.11. Mars Attacks! (1996)
Like his Ed Wood, Burton's sloppy, endearing spoof Mars Attacks! uses the theremin as a shorthand for '50s-style sci-fi cheese. In this case, the spooky music is somewhere between a conscious cliché and a deliberately ironic choice, as it contrasts with the not particularly spooky antics of a group of invading Martians gleefully disintegrating Earthlings right and left.12. eXistenZ (1999)
David Cronenberg's eXistenZ makes far less playful use of the theremin in a film that hearkens back to Hitchcock's use of such music to indicate nightmare and psychosis. Operating inside and out of a virtual-reality game that's as unpleasant as its fleshy organic game-controllers, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law go on a typically Cronenbergian adventure, all visceral flesh and psychological upheaval. The theremin music is almost comforting by comparison.
13. Bartleby (2001)
Jonathan Parker takes a highly campy approach to Herman Melville's classic short story about a man who simply opts out of society. From the stunt casting of Crispin Glover as the eponymous oddball to the strikingly dark, strange visual design to, yes, the theremin soundtrack, Bartleby the film is appropriately as peculiar and disturbing as Bartleby the character. Parker seems to be trying too hard to sell the film on fundamental weirdness, though, possibly since the story itself isn't dynamic enough to keep viewers involved.14. The Machinist (2004)
In the same vein, director Brad Anderson doesn't have a whole lot to work with in the basic plot of The Machinist. The final twist isn't particularly twisty—it's just a confirmation of things the movie has repeatedly implied—which largely leaves the film to rest on the emaciated shoulders of Christian Bale, who lost a stunning amount of his normal bulk in order to play the harrowed protagonist of this film. Once again, the theremin music is all about the descent into nightmare and psychosis, as Bale deals with his demons and with dreamlike shifts in the reality around him. Even after 60 years in the movies, theremin music is still considered rare and weird enough that just the sound of those whining tones is meant to raise the question "Is this real, or just a horrible dream?"
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