There are plenty of horror movies that traffic in cheap scares, where the baddie jumps out of the shadows to a stab of dissonant strings. Then there are movies like Nicolas Pesce’s The Eyes of My Mother, a more refined and infinitely more disturbing vision of provincial psychopathy. The film is rendered all the more raw through grayscale cinematography, making it seem like a relic only recently unearthed from the depths of either Kim’s Video or the AFI archives. However, its brutally sadistic scenes — as well as its chilling synthesizer soundtrack — keep the film thoroughly modern. Composer Ariel Loh’s eerie synths display electronic music’s capacity to further unnerve already tense cinematic experiences, evoking Oneohtrix Point Never’s work on Good Time and the dronescapes on the revitalized Twin Peaks, or even A Nightmare on Elm Street (with a lot less cheese).
Loh’s choice to use vintage synths should surprise few even vaguely aware of the synthesizer revival in film scoring. “I used the Korg Lambda running through a Roland Chorus Echo for a lot of the string sounds,” Loh says. “The echo adds a beautifully dark sense of space that feels very isolating when applied to a single sound source. Bass sounds (such as the one on ‘Meet Charlie’) were done with a Moog Prodigy. There’s also a good splattering of Juno 60 throughout the soundtrack.”
The soundtrack to the film is out TODAY (January 16) on Waxwork Records— an imprint that specializes in gory/gorgeously packaged horror movie soundtracks of such classics as The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, Evil Dead 2, and The Thing. The Eyes of My Mother joins the roster with gorgeous packaging that features — among other entice-ables listed below — a blood splatter design and an 11” x 11” art print, capturing some (but far from all!) of the film’s creepy imagery. The 18 tracks also feature extra tunes that didn’t make the film’s final cut.
Immerse yourself in the horror with a sample trio of tracks, which TMT is proud/terrified to premiere down below. And for you horror fans, check out the trailer to Pesce’s debut feature (preferably right before bed).
The Eyes of My Mother vinyl release features:
• 180 Gram Double LP Half White, Half Crystal Clear Vinyl with Black Splatter or Blood Red Burst
• Old Style Tip On Gatefold Jacket with Satin Coating
• Liner Notes By Composer Ariel Loh
• Artwork By Nikita Kaun
• 11”x11” Art Print
The Eyes of My Mother tracklisting:
A1. Meet Charlie
A2. Almost Dead
A3. Unsettled
A4. Conversation Piece
B1. Eternal
B2. Dreaming
B3. String Loop 1
B4. Meet Kimiko
B5. Preparation
C1. Pub Rock
C2. Rising
C3. Before Someone Dies
C4. String Loop 2
D1. String Loop 3
D2. String Loop 4
D3. After Someone Dies
D4. String Loop 5
D5. Closing Theme
More about: Ariel Loh
