It’s Halloween, and to get you in that spooky mood, here are 11 A Sound Effect stories behind the sound for some of the scariest horror movies and series out there. Hope you enjoy the reads – Happy Halloween from all of us at A Sound Effect!
New ReleaseNOVA by Mattia CellottoWATCH VIDEO →Halloween:
The original Halloween is one of my favorite horror movies, and the 2018 version of Halloween (a direct sequel to the original movie) just premiered to great reviews, and is number one at the US box office right now.
This interview gets you the story on how sound supervisors Will Files and P.K. Hooker found brutal sonic inspiration in Michael Myers’ no-frills method of murder – and used that to create a soundscape that’s equally simple yet savage.
The Haunting of Hill House:
Audience reactions to Netflix’ new horror series The Haunting of Hill House have been strong, with horror legend Stephen King hailing it as close to a work of genius.
Many reviewers are particularly praising the sound design for the series – and it’s a great pleasure to present this interview on how its powerful sound was made, as told by Emmy-award winning supervising sound editor/sound designer Trevor Gates.
Hereditary:
Hereditary is being hailed as one of the best horror movies in recent years, and it sounds fantastic.
Here’s the in-depth story on how the sound team at Parabolic NY carefully controlled the tension in Hereditary with sound.
They also discuss the finer points of the sounds of gore, how you make a room tone sound evil – and a sinister sonic element heard throughout the film that you probably haven’t noticed.
The Nun
The Nun is the latest installment in The Conjuring’s horror universe, and it was a huge hit at the box office.
In this exclusive interview, supervising sound editors Bill R. Dean and Ron Eng tell the story about its scary sound – covering everything from recording bells and homemade crosses, designing demon vocals, how they used the Dolby Atmos surround field, to how the jump-scare scenes never got old (especially for one re-recording mixer).
A Quiet Place:
Sound and silence are key elements in A Quiet Place, and for sound designers Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl it was an incredibly thrilling – and challenging – project to work on. Here’s how they created the crucial sound of A Quiet Place:
Annabelle: Creation
It’s a great pleasure to share the story behind the sound for Annabelle: Creation, which went straight to the top at the US box office.
In this in-depth interview, supervising sound editor/sound designer Bill R. Dean shares how they used sound to really ramp up the fear factor in the movie – and what it took to create that sound.
You also get an exclusive video clip with Bill R. Dean, on a rather novel sound design approach for the movie (involving light bulbs, filament and synth sounds).
It Comes At Night
Psychological horror movie It Comes at Night is proving very popular with both critics and moviegoers – and below, supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Damian Volpe and re-recording mixer Robert Fernandez share the full story behind the film’s tense and unnerving sound:
Alien: Covenant
Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant is the latest installment in the legendary, genre-defining sci-fi franchise.
And this interview gets you the inside-story behind the sound for the much-awaited movie, as told by Oscar-nominated supervising sound editor/sound designer Oliver Tarney and sound designer Michael Fentum.
Here, they discuss their approach to sound design on Alien: Covenant, from building on original Alien sound concepts to creating new sounds for the Neomorph, the Covenant ship, the radio transmissions from the Prometheus, and more.
Blair Witch
The original Blair Witch Project movie made a huge splash when it premiered back in 1999, and now there’s a sequel out, simply entitled Blair Witch.
I’m very excited to be able to share the inside-story behind the sound for the new film – and without further ado, here’s the interview with Blair Witch supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Andy Hay:
Lights Out
Lights Out by David F. Sandberg has received lots of praise for its great scares – and a truly unsettling story, too. Here, Jennifer Walden speaks with Lights Out’s award-winning sound designer and supervising sound editor Bill R. Dean. He shares the team’s approach to horror sound, how they used dynamics to create some very effective scares, the surprising sources for some of the movie’s signature sounds – and much more:
The Conjuring 2
James Wan’s spine-chilling horror movie The Conjuring 2 went straight to number 1 at the box office. And here, supervising sound editor/sound designer Joe Dzuban shares the story behind the creative sound work, the value of temp mixes – and how the right talents (and tools) can take horror sound to the next level: