October 18, 2018
Gore Score: Soundtrack Released for Composer Dominik Hauser’s Directorial Debut
Swiss-born Hollywood film composer/orchestrator Dominik Hauser has stepped out of the shadows of post-production to direct and produce an edge-of-your-seat creature feature/gore fest zombie movie with DEAD SQUAD: TEMPLE OF UNDEAD, a new, fun horror film that expresses his love for the genre since being bitten by the zombie bug while innocently watching George A. Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in his youth.
The movie, written by Dominik Hauser and Nancy Thornhill, was filmed in Bali, Indonesia, and takes advantage of the region’s exotic landscape to create a unique, rain forest environment for the story, which focuses on a group of young people become lost in the jungle during a river rafting trip and stumble upon a long lost ruin that is home to a host of mysterious humanoid monsters. The film stars the towering seven-foot Australian, Conan Stevens, GAME OF THRONES’ Gregor Clegane and Bolg in THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, six-foot-eight actress Erika Ervin, notable for her role as Amazon Eve from AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW, as lead zombies, alongside Carma Sharon (A VERY ODD ENGAGEMENT), Jonathan Looper (HAPPY HUNTING), Ryan Sobolski (17 MINUTES), Bianca Zouppas (OUR BEST SELVES) and Guy Talon.
Since the early 2000s, Hauser has contributed to post-production as an orchestrator, programmer, and composer. In addition, Hauser arranged and produced a number of film score anthology albums with an eye (and ear) for authentic digital translations with some room for creative license.
When scoring this film, Hauser’s love of zombie, however, movies did not necessarily coincide with his interest in the music that accompanied many of them during the 1980s and beyond. He favored the orchestral style even if it’s necessarily accomplished via sampling digital orchestras. “DEAD SQUAD: TEMPLE OF THE UNDEAD has a few nods to the ‘80s with a couple synthy throwback cues,” Hauser said, “but then I departed from that and I tried to stay in more of a percussive, orchestral vein – which to me is the timeless design for music in movies. I wanted to score the film a little more seriously and not synthy throughout.” The score is an effectively mix of digital orchestra and a small group of live musicians.
The mp3 album, now available through Amazon, includes a digital booklet featuring detailed notes by Randall D. Larson about the making of the movie and its score.
Watch the film’s trailer:
