Horror Highlights: GOODNIGHT DARLING, DARK SPELL, INITIATION

Watch the Short Film GOODNIGHT DARLING: "Two sisters wonder if their mother’s strange behavior is a response to a recent family loss, or if something more sinister is at work… “Goodnight Darling” is a horror film about the moment in childhood when we discover our parents aren’t the people we thought they were."

Credits: Adam Azimov, Director/Co-writer Isaac Cravit, Co-writer Pawel Pogorzelski, Editor/Composer Executive Producers: Geno Imbriale Vince Peone Cast: AnnaSophia Robb (The Carrie Diaries, Bridge to Terabithia, The Act) Vivien Lyra Blair Lauren Bowles April Lan

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DARK SPELL: "On July 6, the spine-chilling supernatural horror thriller DARK SPELL, directed by Svyatoslav Podgaevsky (Mermaid: The Lake of the Dead, Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest), will debut on major VOD and digital platforms and on DVD & Blu-ray™ from Shout! Studios and Scream Factory™. The DVD & Blu-ray™ will contain both the original Russian language audio track and an English-dubbed option. Pre-order for the physical releases are available now at ShoutFactory.com and other fine home entertainment retailers.

Movie Synopsis
Zhenya, a young wife and mother, is heartbroken after her husband leaves her. Desperate, she tampers with the forces of reality by employing sinister magic — in the form of a spell called “Black Wedding” — to bring him back into her arms. Sure enough, her husband returns to her … but his renewed love for Zhenya has become twisted into something far more obsessive and frightening. Now Zhenya has no other choice but to find a way to reverse an irreversible spell, but she soon learns that not even death will part those who have been joined by the Black Wedding."

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Interview: Composer Alexander Arntzen on the Music of Initiation: "Saban Films’ new horror film, Initiation is available now on VOD and digital. To learn more about the music of Initiation, we spoke with the film’s composer Alexander Arntzen. Below Alexander goes in depth about his creative process. 

-What was the main thing you learned from working on Initiation?

I think the main thing that I learned was that I could write the music for a feature film in a month and still produce a great soundtrack. We don’t know we can do something until we are given the opportunity to be tested. This was an amazing test and I have since scored another feature in the same amount of time. It was due to Initiation that I was able to be so confident going into other large projects with short deadlines and “deliver the goods” well and on time!

-What would you consider is your main job as a composer when scoring a film such as Initiation?

I think the main job is to create the proper atmosphere overall throughout the film. A huge part of the film is lived out through social media, so I wanted to create a score that was electronic based from the start. But due to the horror genre, it needed to be of a darker tone too. So that balance is something like combining the Scores from Scream, Saw and The Social Network all into one. I hope we achieved that!

-Did you go back and listen to scores from other popular slasher films such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer as reference points for your work on Initiation?

Although as I just mentioned I wanted to emulate the musical methods of the kind of horror films that came before us, I didn’t want to get bogged down in the specifics of what had been done already. I knew that this score and story had so many different elements that set it apart from other films in the genre that I wanted to come at it with a fresh approach and perspective from the start. You should be inspired by the past, but not constrained by it.

-The social media graphics that pop up on the screen are often times met with various sounds, was that your doing or the sound designer? Did you find yourself ever collaborating with the sound designer?

I believe for the most of the sounds of messages popping up were done entirely by the sound designer, who did an amazing job! However, I did create a unique sound that is like a tonal scrape pitch bending noise that I created when you see the ! come up in text messages and being talked about by the characters. I was thrilled talking with one of the cast members, Gattlin Griffith, after a screening this past weekend that he noticed its use in the score throughout the film. That’s all you can hope for is that the audience can tell how the sounds weave with the picture and story seamlessly in a meaningful way.

-The first kill scene, I won’t say of who, is scored very nicely! A lot of intensity and fear is created from the music. Did you focus more on these kill scenes than other parts of the film?

Thank you so much! That was a critical scene to get right early on and set the precedent for the kills to come. Compared to the more atmospheric parts of the Score, the kill scenes require a lot more musical information and energy to get right. I also recorded my own voice doing the rhythmic breathing and tuned it down a couple octaves with other distortions and effects to create something uniquely sinister about the killer. Also using the very sounds of their weapon of choice (Drill) that would get louder and louder the closer they got to the next victim. Especially with that scene, near the end the music dies down and you just hear twisted pads and a high piano octave stab which signals the end for the character before swelling up again. Even in moments of sheer terror, there is something interesting about dipping it all down again to really play with the dynamics and throw people off a bit before bringing it all back up and then “go for the kill”.

-Can you talk about the ending credits. There are many different styles of music wrapped up in this sequence. How long did it take you to score the end credits?

We originally had a shorted End Credits track, but then needed it to be longer. That’s what allowed me to really break up the music in this piece. It’s almost like a Suite of the themes and sounds of the whole Score in one piece. It starts with the more aggressive propulsive music and then fades to the more somber main theme of the film that crescendos into this massive sound of synths and then stated once more in a more simple form and ends with one final Vocal breathe to remind you that perhaps this story is not yet over. Since I had already created the main ideas while scoring the film, the End Credits only took a day or two to fully create and assemble together.

-What instrument have you found makes the scariest sounds?

I really love the sound of bowed cymbals and scraping metal. It’s the closest thing to nails on a chock-board. You want the audience to have a physical reaction to the score especially in those moments of maximum terror. Sometimes though something much softer and quiet, if done properly, can be even more scary and unnerving. Like just a subtle faint whispering sound to a picture that is becoming disturbing can really get people creeped. I was told by a comedy writer that you “don’t always need to bring sand to a beach”, meaning sometimes, just because something is funny doesn’t mean you need funny music over it. Same with horror. Just because something is scary, doesn’t mean you need to make the obvious choice and just add “scary music” to make it scarier. We’re making Art, not Math. It doesn’t always have to add up.

-What other horror subgenre would you be interested in scoring?

I think supernatural horror is always very interesting for me. It gets closer to one of my favorite genres: fantasy. To be able to create a spooky score that has otherworldly elements to it would always be a fun challenge to dive into. Perhaps using the background of the supernatural character or world they inhabit as the basis for the types of musical choices to make for the Score overall would be fun to create.

-Is there another composer that you have always admired his/her work?

I have admired so many composers work over the years. When I was younger it was of course John Williams which captured my musical imagination. Then I was drawn to Hans Zimmer & Danny Elfman which really solidified what I felt film music could contribute in non-traditional

ways. Also, the Score for Up by Michael Giacchino remains one of my all-time favorites. The marriage montage tears me up every time. It’s all about making iconic moments on screen through music and they all do that so well in their own ways. Hopefully, over time, I can do the same!

You can listen to the Initiation score here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4ep6tplHoFM1Al7csKBBnc."