Event Horizon is a 1997 sci-fi/horror movie from British director Paul W.S. Anderson. Most of his films are crap, Event Horizon and the first Resident Evil movie are the only ones I have enjoyed. The film plays up the haunted space ship idea with gory aplomb, and actually gave me sweaty nightmares after I first saw it when I was a teenager. There is some pretty disturbing imagery. It makes me wonder how much worse it would have been, had the studio not gotten cold feet and forced Anderson to cut 30 minutes and a whole lot of gore out of the theatrical release.
The music in the film was a combination of an avant-garde orchestral score from Michael Kamen and electronic dance music from British duo Orbital. Now, within the film this works quite well in my opinion, but there have been a lot of negative reviews in regards to the album. It is important to note that an album is exactly what this is. It does not really represent the music in the film in any logical fashion. The music is not presented in chronological film order or even as individual cues, as most film score fans would prefer. It is presented as four suites that do a mash-up of the two disparate styles. So I think its best to look at this release as an album, and not necessarily a score. Even though I'm not really a fan of Orbital, this album is pretty damn cool. Some have complained that the Orbital contributions take center stage, being much louder than anything else. I can understand that complaint, but honestly it should be expected. We are talking about electronic dance music here, which often is a casualty of the loudness war, but yes the album could have been mixed more equally. I say give this one a listen, you may enjoy it as much as I do. If anything at all, you'll have something freaky to play at your Halloween party next year.
The music in the film was a combination of an avant-garde orchestral score from Michael Kamen and electronic dance music from British duo Orbital. Now, within the film this works quite well in my opinion, but there have been a lot of negative reviews in regards to the album. It is important to note that an album is exactly what this is. It does not really represent the music in the film in any logical fashion. The music is not presented in chronological film order or even as individual cues, as most film score fans would prefer. It is presented as four suites that do a mash-up of the two disparate styles. So I think its best to look at this release as an album, and not necessarily a score. Even though I'm not really a fan of Orbital, this album is pretty damn cool. Some have complained that the Orbital contributions take center stage, being much louder than anything else. I can understand that complaint, but honestly it should be expected. We are talking about electronic dance music here, which often is a casualty of the loudness war, but yes the album could have been mixed more equally. I say give this one a listen, you may enjoy it as much as I do. If anything at all, you'll have something freaky to play at your Halloween party next year.
Year of Release: 1997
Label: London Records
Catalog Number: 422-828-939-2
Genres: Soundtrack, Horror, Electronic, Avant-garde
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320kbps
FLAC upgrade available upon request.
Label: London Records
Catalog Number: 422-828-939-2
Genres: Soundtrack, Horror, Electronic, Avant-garde
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 320kbps
FLAC upgrade available upon request.
Tracklist:
1. The Forward Decks (14:01)
(a) Lewis & Clark, (b) Neptune, (c) Claire, (d) First Containment, (e) Core, (f) Metal, (g) Second Containment, (h) Airlock
2. The Main Access Corridor (12:04)
(a) Singularity, (b) Ducts, (c) Turbulence, (d) Medical, (e) Gravity Drive
3. Engineering (13:24)
(a) Tomb, (b) Blood, (c) Countdown, (d) Outer Door, (e) Bio Scan
4. The Event Horizon (04:55)
(a) Weir, (b) Event Horizon
1. The Forward Decks (14:01)
(a) Lewis & Clark, (b) Neptune, (c) Claire, (d) First Containment, (e) Core, (f) Metal, (g) Second Containment, (h) Airlock
2. The Main Access Corridor (12:04)
(a) Singularity, (b) Ducts, (c) Turbulence, (d) Medical, (e) Gravity Drive
3. Engineering (13:24)
(a) Tomb, (b) Blood, (c) Countdown, (d) Outer Door, (e) Bio Scan
4. The Event Horizon (04:55)
(a) Weir, (b) Event Horizon
Download: Michael Kamen & Orbital - Event Horizon (Selections from the Soundtrack)
Download Size: 98MB
Download Size: 98MB
the movie certainly has its moments
ReplyDeletesam neill with gouged-out eyes
it seems like they were aiming for Hellraiser-in-space
(which was its own movie, IIRC)
but it only got as good as haunted-house-in-space
(still pretty good)
oh, there's that scare scene early on where you think someone grabs dude's shoulder and it turns out to be a floating glove that somehow managed to bump into him in a way that totally suggested grabbing and not aimlessness
that part always pissed me off
cheap scares are bullshit
You know, I don't think I realized Orbital were part of the soundtrack of this movie. Although enjoyable, the flick suffers from the Alien syndrome - the combination of deep space and horror that became the standard sci-fi fare after Ridley Scott changed the genre forever. It's too bad, too, because there's not that much smart science-fiction coming out in movies anymore, and as brilliant as the original Alien was, it almost ruined the whole genre for all those who love it...
ReplyDeleteOr maybe I'm just grumpy. Anyhow, thanks for the soundtrack.