Musique Fantastique

July 12, 2023

Sofia Alessandri-Hultquist (Drum & Lace) Scores Horror Thriller COBWEB

COBWEB is an upcoming American horror thriller film directed by Samuel Bodin in his directorial debut. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Woody Norman, Cleopatra Coleman and Antony Starr. In the film, horror strikes when an eight-year-old boy named Peter tries to investigate the mysterious knocking noises that are coming from inside the walls of his house. As Peter’s fear intensifies, he believes that his parents (Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr) could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trust. And for a child, what could be more frightening than that?

The music is by composer Drum & Lace, aka Sofia degli Alessandri-Hultquist (RADICAL LANDSCAPES, ROSALINE, DICKINSON, NIGHT TEETH, DEADLY ILLISIONS). The opening half of the film was inspired by Amblin-esque films, and there needed to be a sound that felt somewhat traditional but a bit turned upside down. Once we get to the second half of the film, and the story is well underway, Sofia’s music flips from a fairytale-like narrative to a darker, more sinister horror sound.

Having a toddler at home, Sofia had all this “weird kid” percussion around, much of which she sampled and used to create instruments for the horror fairytale-like quality of some cues. The instrumentation is very heavy on string ensemble and string effects, as well as synths. The strings were recorded in Macedonia with FAMES- 40 string ensemble. Synths were used throughout as percussive elements and drones. One synth, a low wavering subby analog bass, is featured prominently throughout the score in very specific scenes, and was meant to be a hypnotic and terrifying element to the score. “Before starting to compose, I had cellist Ro Rowan over to record some cello effects and whatnot to pepper throughout the cues, and also had composer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Natchez record some heavy and big saxophone swells, which you can hear all over the score as well. These were greatly manipulated and lent themselves well to the second half of the score,” said Sofia.

An original soundtrack release will be forthcoming from If This Then Records.

COBWEB is scheduled to be released in limited theaters by Lionsgate in the United States on July 21, 2023.

Watch the film’s trailer: