Composer Semih Tareen, a talented artist with an interesting background and a love affair with the horror genre, has worked before with director and writer Jeff Ferrell creates a multi-layered soundtrack for this thriller. A story surrounding a traveling serial killer, looking for love to replace his need for mass murdering, with a powerful moral code, the depiction similar to Henry: The Portrait of Serial Killer, but more richly done. Semih uses his wonderful skills of over 18-years to combine sweeping orchestral portions along with synthwave, which has become more popular in the genre, a rebirth and return to that of director and composer John Carpenter.
Herein, this 16-track release, tallying slightly over 43-minutes, gives a nod to Carpenter a few times, as he did with his killer Michael Myers, the pulsing relentless score, Tareen lets the music convey the aspect of a thinking killer, not necessary a quicken pace, rather deep resolve, noted in tracks 3, 7, 8 and 10. A key moment also reflects Escape from New York [1981] with the 14th track Sug, Sug White. Meanwhile tracks Give Me the Long Version (12) and Make Yourself at Home (13) start eerily the same, distance pondering telling, reflection of the soul and mind, but the 12th track begins transcending onto a soft bluesy melody. As for “Make Yourself” at about 2:06 the tempo changes from the previous track, sliding the scale into a darker depth, before returning to the baseline of before, never abrupt rather subtle, allowing for the transition to occur gently. Throughout the score one hears the layers that Semih adds to Dead West, a film he makes a cameo appearance therein, as well as the director too.
While sometimes a soundtrack is just a score with no actual songs becomes often forgotten, however this is not in this case, the music works as a smoothing session, yet sadly for a long-standing remembrance to the movie that might become harder over the years. His digital release contains the ability to stand on its own, especially with the 15th track of “I Just Do What’s Right” encompassing the entire movie with a 9-minute track.
Track Listing:
1 – Run with the Money 1.21
2 – Let’s Go for a Ride 3.58
3 – Motel Mirror .53
4 – Candy’s Apartment 5.29
5 – Get off the Boot 2.15
6 – Tony at the Boot 2.50
7 – Driving to the Drive-In .39
8 – Exiting the Drive-In 1.21
9 – So Long, Ben 1.39
10 – I’ll Tell You Why .24
11 – You Should Have Done It 1.56
12 – Give Me the Long Version 3.40
13 – Make Yourself at Home 4.43
14 – Sug, Sug White 1.38
15 – I Just Do What’s Right 9.14
16 – Fulfill My Destiny 1.08
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Baron’s Rating: 4/5