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06 Feb ' 17:00
Any horror-centric composer can enter a haunted house and awake the resident spooks by throwing a battery of percussion instruments and equally unsubtle samples down the steps of a dark basement. But it’s one thing to rattle the nerves, and another to truly frighten the listener. With subtlety, and melody becoming many since-deceased composers like Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith, a young musical Turk named Jeff Grace is successively scaring the hell out of us with more of a whisper than a scream, even if he might not have his predecessor’s orchestral resources. It’s a similar high-quality, low budget appeal that marks the work of frequent filmmaking collaborators Ti West and producer Larry Fessenden. Their pictures like “The Last Winter” and “House of the Devil” keep their audiences waiting a good long time before delivering the carnage, with minimal blood and effects at that. -
06 Feb ' 10:39
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04 Feb ' 09:57
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04 Feb ' 01:16
2/4/12—Ti West and Fessenden interviewed by NPR's Neda Ulaby on Weekend Edition
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01 Feb ' 23:53
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01 Feb ' 10:20
Friday Fright! Tales from Beyond the Pale: The Hole Digger!
"a fantastic story and makes my top 3 with ease."
"this is my favorite Tale. Two shovels up!"
"an amazing experience, and an open ending can make the story stick with you much longer than a nice tidy conclusion."
AICN: ScoreKeeper's Top Ten Film Scores of 2011!!!
6. THE INNKEEPERS (2011) by Jeff Grace - I love a good old fashioned ghost story! From my point-of-view as a composer, a traditional ghost story is the crown jewel of the horror genre. It's challenging enough to proficiently juggle all the various components of a typical horror narrative. Mix in the additional layers of emotion that accompany a classic ghost tale and it becomes increasingly more complex.
Jeff Grace manages to flawlessly capture the entire elemental spectrum of THE INNKEEPERS. It's intensely creepy with spasms of sheer terror wrapped in a melancholic blanket giving the film an emotional weight wrought with sadness and solicitude. He even manages to skillfully weave moments of clarity kissed with a subtle hint of wit allowing director Ti West's off-kilter humor to gel seamlessly with the other components. Not since Alejandro Amenábar's score for THE OTHERS (2001) or Fernando Velázquez's score for THE ORPHANAGE (2007) have I been as captivated, moved and bedazzled by a spectral score composed with such artisanal skill.
I've been following Grace's work for several years now and I can attest that he has not composed a mediocre score to date. His work is maturing at an alarming rate as he quietly stakes his claim as the undisputed king of independent film scores.
The score for THE INNKEEPERS will be released on CD on January 31, 2012, by Screamworks Records (SWR12001) and will be available for purchase at Screen Archives. It will also be available as a digital download via iTunes and Amazon.com
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31 Jan ' 23:07
Six Horror Movies Where the “Filler” is Superior to the Horror
Horror films are intended to scare. So, it’s unusual when some filmmakers, on purpose or by accident, get the formula backward, going light on scares but big on the aspects most of the genre’s perpetrators don’t care about: acting, character development, strong themes, etc...
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979): Just as his Bad Lieutenant semi-remake isn’t much of a thriller, Werner Herzog’s remake, of sorts, of the F.W. Murnau classic isn’t much of a horror. Instead it subsists entirely on mood, its dreamlike European setting and the sight of Klaus Kinski as a misshapen, pathetic Count Dracula.
The Changeling (1980): The ghost story at the heart of Peter Medak’s film is no great shakes, but it’s elevated immeasurably by the presence of George C. Scott, playing a man grieving the deaths of his wife and daughter. But then, Scott’s presence seemed to dramatically alter any horror, as witnessed in The Exorcist III—a sequel heavy on procedure and light on pea-soup vomit.
Wendigo (2001): Larry Fessenden has spent a career in lo-fi horror, with films that tackle animal testing (No Telling), addiction (Habit) and the environment (The Last Winter). Here, his regurgitation of a Native-American legend doesn’t exactly frighten. But it doesn’t have to: it’s got Patricia Clarkson and Jake Weber.
Signs (2002): M. Night’s closest-to-good film is actually pretty compelling before the dumbest ending ever.
The Innkeepers (2011): From Trigger Man to The House of the Devil to this haunted hotel chiller that’s secretly a great hang-out movie, Ti West has cornered the market on horror films that falter only when trying to be scary. -
30 Jan ' 13:10
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30 Jan ' 04:38
30 January — Glenn McQuaid quoted in the New York Times appreciation of Hammer Films
by SHOCK VALUE author Jason Zinoman:Glenn McQuaid, a director whose early love of Hammer inspired his 2008 film, “I Sell the Dead,”
argued in an interview that the vivid coloring in movies like “Brides of Dracula”
anticipated the flamboyantly gruesome movies of Dario Argento.
“It’s stunning,” he said, “the lush, surreal use of lilacs and red and deep purple.”... and check out recent reviews of V/H/S celebrating McQuaid and other Glass Eye Pix pals for their big-selling found footage fright flick:
“easily the scariest film in years.”
Libertas Film Magazine“leave it to a couple of the Glass Eye Pix directors, Joe Swanberg,
and a couple other indie filmmakers to prove that the gimmick can at least be fun”
Slant Magazine -
27 Jan ' 19:14
The New Paradigm for the Sundance Breakout? When Audiences Walk Out.
"The Comedy." The term "crowdpleaser" usually applies to movies with commercial potential; at this year's Sundance Film Festival,
some of the most appealing films seem to be ones that only pleased those bold enough to stick around.
When the walkouts began at during Thursday's screening of Rick Alverson's U.S. competition selection "The Comedy," the movie sprang to life.
read more at indiewire
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