ReMix: Splatterhouse 3 'Call of the Mask'
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- Game: Splatterhouse 3 (Namco, 1993, GEN)
- ReMixer(s): Beckett007
- Composer(s): Milky Eiko
- Song(s):
- Posted: 2008-10-31, evaluated by djpretzel
Splattery will get you everywhere, as Mr. Rich Douglas, alias Beckett007, provides a splattered - not stirred - helping of our first arrangement from the legendary Splatterhouse series, just in time for Halloween. Chronicling the adventures of a man questioning his existence and looking for answers by hitting things with lumber and wearing inappropriate sporting gear, these games were dead simple and had some of the best, most visceral sound FX work to date, along with gothic/moody soundtracks that went straight for the jugular. In this case the artist is focusing on the third installment, which is the one filmed in 3D, where Jason Voorhees terrorizes Higgins Haven. Or not. It's for the Genesis, at any rate, but Douglas' production bumps up the original FM textures to a whole new dimension in horror. He writes:
"It's been a while since I've done a mix for OCR and wanted to find something dark to do once again, so what better than a piece of music from a game dear to my heart.. Splatterhouse 3. In the past, my remixes for Flashback (Memory Leak Suite) and Super Metroid (Mother Brain Suite) have both been done in a very cinematic fashion rather than simply remixed. I approached this one the same way and put together a main title arrangement of sorts of the menu music which utilizes two of the main motifs from the original cue. So rather than my usual medley / suite approach I stuck to one theme this time which gave me a chance to really flesh it out.
This cue represents just how well the theme could work in a Splatterhouse film... honestly when played out by a full orchestra it's pretty decent thematic material as it turns out. I felt that the motif heard at around :35 in the original was a bit too happy and fast for the context of the game, so keeping the same theme intact I slowed it down and gave it more of a dark sound backed by female vocals. The decending synth/bell line heard throughout the original has been replaced by a more haunting crescendo / decrescendo string staccato section and the main bassline theme is played by a menacing low string and horn section (the horns are slightly out of tune and constantly bending for another subtle unnerving touch). The granular synthesis textures that open and close the cue are 100% original and not from a sample library, that motif represents the mask itself. Lastly, I added in a bass swelling synth to round out the B Movie feel and to help add more flavor / depth to my string section. Overall I'm exceptionally happy with how this turned out!"
Granular synthesis ftw. Actually... I've never been able to find a musical use for it in anything *I've* worked on, but it's perfect for this setting. Assuming Uwe Boll was the one being splattered, and not in the director's chair, this would indeed make for a great cue. The string crescendo/decrescendo parts REALLY remind me of the intro to the film Clue, which I feel has an underrated and amazing soundtrack, and other portions channel The Silence of the Lambs for me, both of which - while not traditional Halloween movies per se - have spooky/disturbing elements. The integration of dark, unusual synthesis elements works primarily because the textures aren't garden-variety subtractive/additive/FM synths, which could easily have tipped the cheesiness scale in the wrong direction, but rather the slicker, harder to pin down granular shizz Rich mentioned.
There's no strong melodic motif here that you'll find yourself humming for days on end, and you can't dance to this at all (unless you're very, very odd), but it's PERFECT music to have playing looped tonight as lil chibbins come knocking for candy, as it's atmospheric, spooky, and dark.
Discussion: Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the I meant for that to sound creepy
No really, I'm scared. . . great work =)))
- Mtlbro on December 10, 2008
- Rozovian on December 10, 2008
Nice work. :-D
- OA on November 18, 2008
Very atmospheric piece that would fit perfectly for some dark and dangerous dungeon in an adventure game/RPG. Nice use of the choir sample, too.
- Martin Penwald on November 15, 2008
- DKFlamez on November 2, 2008
- hitokirisabin on November 2, 2008
- big giant circles on November 2, 2008
I can imagine that some would be your own samples. Regardless, it would be great to know!
- The Runaway Five on November 1, 2008
- Amayirot Akago on November 1, 2008
My only issue is the trombone sound. Brass is near impossible to get to sound real, and while this is well done, it's still sounding a tad too fake. One minor gripe compared to a really good track, though.
- DragonAvenger on October 31, 2008
This guy still impress me a lot. Every song posted, there is an improvement. Strings are spot on and the choirs are pretty cool. It didn't needed a lot of samples to become a great track.
- Txai on October 31, 2008
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