Dawning takes place at a Northern Minnesota lake cabin where a brother and sister visit their father and step-mother. As the first night unfolds with uncomfortable small talk and tension, tragedy strikes as the beloved family dog is found mortally wounded. Almost immediately a stranger, potentially under the spell of some un-seen “presence”, appears in the cabin and tells the family that he has come to save them... but from what? The man’s arrival upsets what at best was only a tentative balance and the pretense at civility begins to crumble. Soon, their lack of trust in each other and their inability to cope with any new pressure exposes their weaknesses and what the stranger has started, whatever is waiting in the dark may finish...

Maybe not surprisingly, as this is the soundtrack to a horror film, the soundtrack to Dawning is a rather cliched affair with nothing of any real interest other than atmospheric ambient sounds. While this no doubt works well in the movie (and to be honest I had to keep checking over my shoulder as I listened to it - as our office is situated in a very haunted building and I was certainly getting the feeling I was being watched) when listened to in isolation it just sounds rather odd.

It's not the sort of music you can chill out to, have on in the background while you do something else, or... well I can't think why anyone would listen to it on its own merits. Maybe as an atmospheric background sound for a spooky themed evening, or if you're a fan of rather strange atmospheric scores. Otherwise I can't recommend this. It's certainly not a score I'll be reaching for again in the future.

That said, as atmospheric scores go, this does the job - nothing more. It's functional and that's it.

3

Darren Rea