|
Reverb
Swipe Films | Dir - Eitan Arrussi | Prod - Frank Mannion
2K HD | 1.85:1 | Cooke Zooms | 97 mins
Cast - Eva Birthistle | Leo Gregory | Luke de Woolfson | Margo Stilley | Stephen Lord
A struggling rock musician wants to get his career back on track, so he locks himself and his band in a recording studio overnight to come up with new music. In this process the group ends up sampling an old recording with an ominous voice hidden inside the track. As more frightening events occur, the band try to unravel the truth behind the hidden plea on the record leading to a life or death battle with evil.
"A fear drenched supernatural thriller that rocks!" - Billy Chainsaw, Bizarre
"Hauntingly good horror finds a new home and it's soundproof" - David Aldridge, BBC 5 Live
"Slick Brirish horror movie" - Philip French, The Observer
"A chilling ghost story....expertly builds the tension" - Film 4 Online
"A terrific performance from Eva Birthistle!" - Total Sci-Fi
FILM 4
The devil, they say, always gets the best tunes.
According to legend, some time in the 1920s Robert Johnson acquired the guitar-playing skills that would make him king of the Delta blues and 'grandfather of rock and roll' after making a crossroads deal with the Devil. In 1967, the Beatles featured 'wickedest man in the world' Aleister Crowley on the cover of their 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album and the Rolling Stones reimagined themselves as Their Satanic Majesties. A year later Jimi Hendrix had become the Voodoo Chile, and by 1969 hippie musician Charles Manson would send his 'Family' to carry out a series of ritual murders inspired by an apocalyptic interpretation of Beatles lyrics.
From then on, any self-respecting rock or metal band earned itself countercultural credibility by dabbling in Satanic imagery, and by 1983, the states of California and Arkansas had passed separate bills intended to curb the use of lyrical 'backmasking' that "can manipulate our behaviour without our knowledge or consent and turn us into disciples of the Antichrist".
With diabolism forming such an essential part of the mythology of popular twentieth century music, you would think that the music industry, and musicians themselves, would make the perfect subject for horror movies - yet apart from an entirely forgettable run of rock-themed horrors from the 1980s (Krishna Shah's Hard Rock Zombies, Charles Martin Smith's Trick Or Treat, John Fasano's Black Roses and Luigi Cozzi's Paganinini Horror), there is surprisingly little horror out there set in the world of music. This makes Eitan Arrusi's feature debut Reverb a doubly welcome addition to the genre, both as an exploration of music's power to haunt, and as a chilling ghost story in its own right.
After being dumped by both his girlfriend Nicky (Margo Stilley) and his band in the same week, Alex (Leo Gregory) seems condemned to a life of soulless drudgery, endlessly repeating somebody else's scripted lines down a call-centre telephone. Then out of the blue he is offered the chance to have his music included on a compilation album, just so long as he can come up with a new track by Monday - and so he and his best friend Maddy (Eva Birthistle) arrange with old band member Dan (Luke De Woolfson) to be locked in for a double nightshift at Iron House, the professional recording facility where Dan now works.
|
