Sound effects in scenes from Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs

(An example of good sound post-production)...

there were animal screams and noises built into the ambience itself downstairs there. From a little movie I had made years ago called Little Monsters I took this lunatic kind of screaming that I had recorded; I took track, processed it, slowed it down, and played it in reverse. That became one of the ambiences in the room, too. It's the room tone, but the room tone has been made from some guy screaming in pain. Whenever you're down there with Lecter there's this element--it's a low tone that rises and then comes down again. It's very organic as opposed to something you can create electronically. I don't like taking sounds that start electronically; I like sounds that start organically. It' s a lot more fun."

listen to this:

On the other hand, there are movies with fairly gratuitous sound just seemingly thrown-in. Is it just me, or have late movie releases gone over the top with a (Phil Spector-like) wall-of-sound? I long for good, multi-track ambience, foley and vocal sound tracks. Music, when it's a theme, can be most powerful used sparingly but strategically. (Remember?)

http://www.filmsound.org/synctanks/