ANNABELLE-CREATION.

 

 

Movies within the horror genre I think need music more than any other type of film. The horror movie has increased in popularity year upon year and the musical scores for films within this category have also become the objects of fascination from collectors of film music and fans of the horror genre as a whole. By this I mean if a collector buys the score to a horror movie and a sequel appears they will invariably buy the score from the sequel even if they have not seen the movie, it also goes without saying that film music collectors buy when they know what composer has scored the film, again in most cases without seeing the movie, they will buy a score because it is by a certain composer. When I heard that Benjamin Wallfisch was onboard for ANNABELLE  CREATION, I was I must say surprised because the original movie had been scored by Joseph Bishara, and I naturally assumed he would be providing the chills and starts and musical jumps for this instalment. For some reason, I associated Wallfisch with films that had a more lush or romantic soundtrack, such as BITTER HARVEST ETC. Which is of course so wrong of me, as we all know that  Wallfisch has worked on numerous movies all varying genres. CONQUEST 1453,  HAMMER OF THE GODS,  A CURE FOR LIFE and PRESSURE among them, plus he scored the TV mini series THE ENFIELD HAUNTING.  ANNABELLE  CREATION is set to be a popular sequel by the looks of things and judging by the little bit of buzz that is surrounding it. The score is a commanding one and a soundtrack that at times is fully atonal but then shifts a gear and alters direction becoming somewhat melancholy and warm with an almost childlike air about it. But, and with horror scores and films there is always a but isn’t there, BUT, underneath the safe and secure sounding interludes there is percolating a seething and ominously foreboding sound that is filled to the brim with terrifying stabs and laced with virulent and guttural sounding passages that infiltrate the work and overwhelm any signs of calm and traces of serenity. The opening track, THE CREATION is at first a low-key affair, with Barry-esque strings and woods intertwining to create a melodic and delicate sounding piece, the strings become more prominent but then the composer moves the composition into a more sinister sounding persona, with a slightly off kilter piano adding a touch of menace and apprehension to the proceedings. The cue turns darker towards the end of its duration, with the appearance of swirling strings that purvey an atmosphere of tension and anxiety bringing it to a close. Track number two, THE MULLINS FAMILY, is a brief but pleasant and effecting piece for piano, the fragile sounding piano being underlined by delicate use of the string section. Track number three, A NEW HOME is slightly less edgy and foreboding initially, with a warm yet melancholy sounding cello solo giving depth to the composition, but all the time there is a somewhat uneasy background or underlying sound which although in the background seems to prevail above the cello and alerts the listener that maybe not all is quite right.

Track number four, BEE’S ROOM is where the score really begins to get into the deep and evil sounding material, the composer effectively employing the string section to conjure up an atmosphere that is uncomfortable and chilling, but saying this mid-way through piano begins to intervene and adds a calming quality. There are no calm or subdued nuances within track number five however, ANNABELLE AWAKENED, opens with strings again, which effectively hiss and swirl in a maelstrom of sounds which are bolstered using brass stabs, electronics and muffled percussive elements. ANNABELLE THE CREATION is a score that is at times delicate and even fragile, but along the way there are many surprises musically speaking, which literally jump out at the listener and grab their attention. It is a classy horror score, with something for everyone within it, it is inventive, commanding, perplexing and above all, down-right scary, with an almost unrelenting aura of menace being dominant throughout, until track number, 21, THE HOUSE IS BLESSED when the composer adds a little bit of hope in the form of melodic strings, and also in ADOPTION with a piano solo which I would say puts one at ease, but with this score one never knows whether it’s safe to let your guard down, and this certainly applies as we go to the last cue from the score CONDUIT which is a filled with a terrifying and chaotic sound as if the evil is returning after a brief respite. One for the collection.

 

Available on WATER TOWER MUSIC USA.  and  SILVA SCREEN UK.

TRACK LISTING.

1.
Creation
3:42
2.
The Mullins Family
0:43
3.
A New Home
1:28
4.
Bee’s Room
3:01
5.
Annabelle Awakened
2:18
6.
Bunkmates
1:01
7.
Shadows and Sheets
1:25
8.
Bee’s Photo
1:21
9.
Puppets and Mischief
1:16
10.
Your Soul
2:48
11.
Avatars
1:48
12.
Demon Fishing
2:47
13.
The Possession
1:44
14.
Linda’s Suspicion
0:45
15.
Samuel’s Death
2:26
16.
Our Beloved Bee
3:51
17.
Jannabelle
2:58
18.
Transformation
1:29
19.
Demonquake
2:36
20.
Police
1:37
21.
The House is Blessed
1:42
22.
Adoption
1:08
23.
Conduit
1:44
24.
You Are My Sunshine (Charles McDonald)

 

 

 

 

BLOOD FEAST.

 

ScreamWorks Records invites its listeners to a Blood Feast, which is an  official remake of the 1963 horror by Herschell Gordon Lewis. This new version of the gory story was co-written and directed by Marcel Waltz and tells the story of Fuad Ramses (Robert Rusler), an American entrepreneur who moves to France with his family in order to open an American diner. With business going slowly, Ramses also works night shifts in a museum of ancient Egyptian culture. Tortured by visions from the Goddess Ishtar (Sadie Katz), Fuad starts to spice up his meals with unlikely ingredients….

The musical score for BLOOD FEAST, comes courtesy of German born composer, Klaus Pfreunder, who has created a harrowing and commanding work via sounds synthetic and symphonic, or at least I think there are some conventional instruments within the score as it is hard to distinguish between electronic and symphonic as the work fuses them both flawlessly. The opening cue entitled THE BEAST, (INTRO) is a piece which sets the scene perfectly for much of what is to follow and immediately grabs the listeners attention, with the composer utilising the sounds of a beating heart and over this we hear the sounds of what I can only imagine to be the beast referred to in the track title, there is a growling and shrieking effect within the opening of the cue, that is edged with sinewy sounding icy strings and jagged brass stabs, with the composer adding a woman’s scream but distorting it to great effect, the heart beat continues and becomes faster and more pronounced as the cue progress’s and develops gaining momentum and becoming more virulent and menacing. The composer fashions an uneasy and uncomfortable composition which can only be described as taught and intensely harrowing, filled with tension, darkness and foreboding. Track number two, NEW DAY is somewhat more low key, and opens with piano underlined by strings, in fact it evoked memories of Christopher Youngs wonderful opening theme for THE HAUNTED SUMMER, with delicate piano taking centre stage and given support by light and romantically laced strings, but the mood of the cue very soon alters as the piano becomes more urgent and the strings also change course becoming apprehensive, there is also a sound in the background that reminded me of BLOOD ON SATANS CLAW, this haunting and fearful cue establishes an atmosphere that is edgy and richly shadowy, but at the same time retains a mood that is tinged with a fragile but melancholy air. The music for BLOOD FEAST is probably not going to be everyone’s idea of a good score, but I liked it and loved the way in which the composer integrated Edvard Grieg’s wonderfully evil and mischievous sounding THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING from Pier Gynt, into one of the main cues, track number 9, THE FEAST. Synthetic or symphonic does not matter really, it is a score that is deliciously powerful and a work that oozes a sound that is affecting and disturbing. The score also includes a handful of songs, by artists such as, Chilli con Curtis and Nici Rox, the latter sounding very much like LORDE who have been doing well recently in the music charts. As I say maybe not for everyone, but check it out you never know you may just like it.