February 18, 2011

  • Review: The Rite (Heffes)

     The Rite ***

     

    ALEX HEFFES

    Silva Records 1356

    13 tracks – 56:11

    Also available as a digital download.

    Anthony Hopkins continues his foray into horror films with this latest “based on a true story” release directed by Mikael Håfström (1408).  The film focuses on an American priest who heads to Italy to study at an exorcism school.  Along for the macabre ride is composer Alex Heffes.  Heffes had sort of slipped from view after his superb work on The Last King of Scotland(2006) and a strong “out-of-nowhere” appearance in the excellent documentary score for 2003’s Touching the Void.  This appears to be a rare opportunity to explore the horror genre for the composer and one in which the budget is perhaps a bit larger.

    The first thing one notices about The Rite’s score is that it is going to be thematically organized.  We here the first appearance of a primary theme in “The Procedure” and then through the following tracks it continues to grow a bit more.  There are a few sound effects and sound design elements that are added into segments of the music, but Heffes tends to create his most chilling effects through his orchestral choices.  “The First Exorcism” is an excellent example of how this combination works with traditional instrumentation being interrupted by sounds and then beginning to take on aspects of those sounds themselves.  One might say that Heffes has found a perfect way to aurally create musical possession that itself needs a bit of exorcism to parallel the action on screen.  In one of the more intense tracks, “Rosaria Coughs Up the Nails,” the music shifts to haunting horror and string slides that force themselves into dense colors before pulling back to hint at more tonal thematic elements.  This lends an emotional sense to the music that sets it apart from more typical horror film writing these days.  In “Exorcism of Lucas, Part 1,” Heffes has the opportunity to begin what will be nearly 14-minutes of underscoring over two tracks that ebbs and flows building great tension appropriately with the final track, “The Farewell,” closing off the presentation perfectly.

    The primary theme recurs enough to shed some light and hopefulness to the proceedings, but even in “God’s Fingernail” it tends to flirt with a great deal of uncertainty and sorrow.  Heffes’ theme is a very good one and it helps cement the score and provide an important tonal center to offset the more aleatoric and atonal clashes.  Something else that helps is that the musical sequences as they are presented allow for Heffes to create longer stretches of musical support so that the music itself can move dramatically through a scene and support it better.  That helps as well when it translates into a listening experience helping to seal the emotional aspects of the score.   

    The Rite is another strong effort by Heffes who continues to utilize his gifts for melodic invention and rich orchestration to create scores that are powerful and support the film perfectly as well as working quite well as music apart from the film.  One of the first good scores of 2011.