Michael Abels lauded for score of Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’

Composer and USC Thornton alumnus Michael Abels ’84 was recently profiled on NPR for his score of Jordan Peele’s new horror movie, Us. NPR praises Abel for balancing terror with empathy, and Peele claims it is Abels’ heart that makes him a great horror scorer.

Abels and Peele first collaborated on the Oscar-winning 2017 film Get Out. “Michael’s a man of immense empathy — very soft-spoken, a very sweet person, very loving,” Peele told NPR. “I think that the best horror is created by those who are in touch with their empathetic side. And that’s him.”