Composer Ryan Beveridge is no stranger to
scoring films that show at Sundance. From scoring
shorts that premier at the festival to last
year’s “Taboo” by director
Chris Fisher, Los Angeles-based Beveridge is
back having scored the latest horror film to
debut at Sundance, “Nightstalker.”
“Nighstalker” is a film based
on the events surrounding the Richard Ramirez ‘Nightstalker’ killings
in Los Angeles in the 80s. Described as a ‘richly
stylized psycho-horror film’, the film
follows Gabriella Martinez, a beautiful beat
cop, and her older, corrupt partner Frank Luis
as the Nighstalker killings are happening.
The film tells the tale of horrors that take
place with Martinez’s keen instincts
drawing her closer to the killer and ultimately
having to make the choice of life or death
for the Nightstalker. A straightforward, sparse
film, the music builds the bridge for the many
themes in the film as well as driving it along.
Beveridge’s score helps re-create the
atmosphere of schizophrenia and terror that
Ramirez created.
“The music took me about two and a half
weeks to do,” explains Beveridge. “It
was a real visual and audio onslaught. It was
a real change of gears for me.” With
Fisher having referenced horror films like
Jaws where the music helped carry the tension
and fear, Beveridge took a minimalist approach
to the music. “I really wanted to make
it real in nature. Minimalist, based on harmonies
but not overly-melodic themes.”
Knowing that the film was based on real-life
events, Beveridge’s score took a unique
approach, going for what he said were, “weird
and crazy sounds with an orchestral feel.” He
described it as “industrial drones” sounds
with music and cues that were not necessarily
created with the customary instruments.
“I went out to the tool store and bought
some really large wrenches and sheet metal
and used them for percussive elements,” he
said. “I wanted to get a really unique
sound for one scene so I used a bow on the
sheet metal for a weird, droning sound. For
some of the Detective Martinez scenes I used
my wife, Tricia Hanson, to play flute and then
used fuzzbox and delays on it for some of the
scenes.
“It was fun,” he said. “Wide-open
musically, not random with a lot of metal-on-metal
sounds. Big chains and wrenches.”
The music is a bit of a departure for Beveridge,
having previously done more ‘nice music
for romantic comedies,” but he said the
technological aspect of manipulating the sounds
he created to make them sound musical appealed
to him. Utilizing techno music as well as metal
and speed metal for the horror scenes, more
traditional music for Ramirez, he said the
pressure was on to make the music really help
the movie talk.
“There are a few themes that the music
had to represent. Ramirez held LA hostage during
that time and the detective Ramirez is a woman
working in a mans world. There are also some
corrupt cop scenes and sexual harassment, so
there’s a lot going on. In the scenes
with Ramirez the music needed to support the
power he held but it was a fine line between
showing power but not sympathy for him. I used
speed metal guitar, slowed it down a bit, to
represent him. It was a more tonal and textural
approach, and I was really trying to capture
the fear in the score.”
“It was truly disturbing at times when
I was creating the music. I have a bit of a
late-night lifestyle when creating music, but
when I’m pumping out music at 2 a.m.
to his film I started to get creeped out. It
was a great experience but draining at times.
It was really disturbing scoring this film
knowing that it’s based on a real guy
who did real things that caused real terror.”
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