Review: Last House on the Left
Composer: John Murphy
Label: La-La Land Records
Let me preface this review by saying I have not seen this “re-imagining” of Wes Craven’s 1972 original (which, fun fact, is a “re-imagining” of Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring)). I feel this is important to state before the review because by not seeing the movie that goes with this score, I think certain musical cues are lost on me here.
This is due to John Murphy’s (28 Days Later, Sunshine) ability to create a score (and I’m a really big fan of his for this) that is both visually specific and anonymous at the same time. What I mean by this is, if you’ve never seen the movie he’s scoring, the music could be for anything, not just a movie score. It’s extremely atmospheric and moody because he keeps the orchestra fairly subdued (especially in this case as the movie is a horror movie). However, the minute you see the movie and the score together, you can’t think of anything else going together more perfectly.
Murphy really goes subdued on this one. I have to imagine it’s because the visuals that are supposed to accompany it are so visceral to the viewer that anything more obvious would completely ruin the wanted effect (i.e., the director wanting/needing you to have a gut reaction to what you’re seeing). In this case, Murphy’s score fulfills the main objective of any movie score: to make the visuals more intense, more emotional, without taking over the scene.
On the other hand, for someone who hasn’t seen this movie, the subtleties may be wasted. There were a few times where I forgot the album was playing (I actually checked iTunes to see if the disc was still playing) because everything is so unobtrusive. The “Opening Titles” track really stands out, but from then on my attention was surprisingly in and out. All and all, the chances of digging this soundtrack if you haven’t seen the movie depend highly on if you’re a fan of Murphy’s previous works.
Track Listing:
1. Opening Titles (1:40)
2. The Crossing (2:36)
3. The Pool (0:56)
4. The House (1:31)
5. The Boathouse (2:04)
6. Getting Stoned (1:07)
7. In The Woods (4:01)
8. Are You Ready To Be A Man? (2:30)
9. Killing Paige (1:02)
10. After The Assault (3:21)
11. Dead In The Water (2:15)
12. Candles (3:57)
13. Saving Mari (5:00)
14. Going To The Guest House (2:52)
15. Looking For Krug (3:28)
16. John V Krug (2:32)
17. The End (4:10)
18. Opening Titles (alt.) (1:34)
