Lucky is a home invasion, horror, suspense, thriller film. Written and staring Brea Grant and directed by Natasha Kermani. It’s available to watch on the streaming service Shudder. Its not your normal nightmare-come-to-life scenario as the story is told through May Ryer’s (Brea Grant) dazed, confused, insomniac view point. A masked stalker repeatedly (in a time loop style) breaks into the house she shares with her husband, who seems remarkably blasé about the situation, as does everyone around May. This leaves May with no option but to take matters into her own hands.
Now a disclosure. Being a soundtrack fan and soundtrack collector I couldn’t wait to hear the score by, the Emmey Award winning, Jeremy Zuckerman, so I hope this review does not come across as a fluff piece. With the risk of spoiling the review, it really doesn’t disappoint.
“Lucky” is released as a limited edition coloured vinyl and a bandcamp download. “Lucky” is one of those intriguing scores that’s sequenced like a stand alone album. Zuckerman takes the listener into a menacing and unsettling neo-classical and electronic music soundscape with recurring themes and surprising twists.
From the opening track, appropriately titled “Opening,” Zuckerman uses snatched, panicked and impearled panting breaths, mixing them with other vocals samples over a rising single drum, instantly creating a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere. The unusual vocal sampling is one of the soundtracks recurring themes. On “The Man” with it’s scratched and plucked strings, the vocals sound like flies or someone freezing to death. On the fantastically intense “Upstairs, Downstairs” the vocals are almost mixed as an extra instrument in the orchestra. On “Not Lucky” the vocals become a spectral choir that’s pinned in place by stabbing strings that quicken the heart rate.
The intense, sharp and often disorientating string stabs are another recurring theme. Sometimes as a rhythm on songs such as “Get Used To It” Sometimes as a means of making you jump. Often as a plot thickener.
The blending of electronic sounds and a sharp string section is another theme to the score. Its possibly best appreciated on “All The Men.” Which starts with fierce paced strings, then vocals, then bass like drops. A real treat through a decent pair of headphones.
“We’re Not Safe In There” really mixes things up. Opening with the ghostly, off key, choir before transforming into a phased, buzzed synth, before morphing into a sparse hook.
Elsewhere on “Waiting” we are treated to a totally unexpected, pure mod synth number that wouldn’t sound out of place in an 80s low budget, straight to VHS, film.
The final track “Lucky” brings every element together. A delicious smorgasbord of the modern, alternative horror soundtrack.
Perhaps one of the greatest appeals of soundtracks as albums is that at no point does a song need to be structured.
The music is following and, ultimately enhancing a scene. However once the visuals are removed some scores are not descriptive and can feel a little flat. Jeremy Zuckerman’s “Lucky” score paints, inky, atmospheric, near calamitous scenes that draw you into a very agreeable unnerving and unsettling listening experience.
If you enjoy thriller or horror soundtracks then Jeremy Zuckerman’s “Lucky” is a must hear score. If you’re a neo-classical fan or experimental electronic music fan the way “Lucky” sounds like an album, in its own right, means there’s more than enough to keep you entertained, you won’t get on your good foot but you might catch something in the shadow, from the corner of your eye.
Arguably the film soundtrack of the year so far.
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