ScreenSounds

Dedicated to reviews and news of music for film, TV and games

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

John Frizzell's music for Stay Alive

Malcolm in the Middle's Frankie Muniz is growing up and as proof he stars in a new horror film from William Brent Bell, in which a group of teens stumble on a new video game called "Stay Alive" and, having played it, they find themselves murdered one by one in the same method as the character they played in the game.
On the back of his tunefully enjoyable score for The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio, John Frizzell returns to the kind of scoring he has undertaken in the past for films like Ghost Ship. In other words, this score couldn't be more different, being a chilling mix of orchestra and electronics, with plenty of cold, suspenseful music and action cues often featuring an accelerating electronic motif, occasionally alone, or accompanied by some determined and at times quite frantic string writing. The few moments of respite are largely whilst sad piano and subtle strings lament the passing of another cast member.
There's no word as yet on a commercial recording for this score and, to be honest, effective though it may be on film, it's a difficult one to warm to away from the images it supports.
My thanks to Costa Communications for giving me the opportunity of sampling this music.

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