CRAWL

Summer horror thriller from Paramount Pictures gets original score CD! Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper star, Michael Rasmussen & Shawn Rasmussen script, Alexandre Aja directs, Max Aruj & Steffen Thum score. Lean and mean, takes no prisoners! In the canon of horror thrillers centered around nature vs humankind, this is a really good one. Daughter and father struggle to connect physically and emotionally amidst a terrifying storm and resulting floods. But those are the lesser of their challenges. Up close and personal: killer crocodiles swimming all around them. As the horrors unfold, we become committed to both characters, care about them, root for them to survive - a rarity in most horror films. Tips its hat to Jaws, as do most nature vs human thrillers of the last several decades but at 87 minutes this one makes no detours, stays on course. Hang on! Aruj & Thum start off literally with a roar - or more accurately, a growl. Scary musical effect, heard in key places, brings vivid fear to story. Aggressive rhythmic figures and tone clusters underline the intense dramatics. Haunting sad-tinged melody plays for daughter and her moving attempts to connect with her father. A rich chordal motif gives focus to nature, in this case massive floods everywhere… and then never too far away, the growl. While the thrills and suspense dominate, tender-sad music for Scodelario as the daughter (she also starred in The Maze Runner films) is worthy of a spotlight. Slowly shifting minor to major chords become the heart of things. Score melds synthesizer material with strings, crisply recorded by Bernd Mazagg, Seth Waldman. Shane Rutherfoord-Jones orchestrates. Recorded at Synchron Stage Vienna. Peter Gregson plays cello, Lorne Balfe serves as Executive Music Producer. Max Aruj & Steffen Thum compose. Intrada INT series CD release.