ScreamWorks Records releases the soundtrack to horror film sequel Jeepers Creepers 3 by Andrew Morgan Smith. In the movie the Creeper terrorises a farming community, prompting the assembling of an official taskforce to seek out and destroy the organ-stealing monster once and for all… The track listing is: Field Chase and the Truck, The Scent of Fear, The Team, Gaylen and Kenny, Abandoned Vehicle, Miller, The Farm, Old Secrets, Tashtego and the Hand, Highway Chase, Showdown, Gaylen and Buddy, He Found Me, and Back Outside...

This third film in the franchise – again written and directed by Victor Salva – actually takes place between the first two, due to the creature’s unique active and dormant life cycle. I love the original film; particularly the first half wherein the nature of the beast is uncertain. The music by Bennett Salvay undoubtedly aided in the heightening of the suspense, but simultaneously secreted itself in the background. They say the best incidental film music is that which you don’t consciously notice, and that was certainly the case. The question is does Jeepers Creepers 3 smoothly survive the transition to a different composer?

After graduating from composition and music media at the University of Louisiana, Andrew Morgan Smith cut his teeth writing for SyFy movies such as Zombie Shark, A Deadly Affair, and A Sort of Homecoming. He has since moved on to TV and independent films. Potentially, Jeepers Creepers 3 is the highest profile film he has worked on. His intention is to pay tribute to what has gone before and infuse the old with the new. He wants to create a Jerry Goldsmith inspired orchestral sound, but also to include separate sound design elements and a kinetic pulse. On the face of it this sounds like a standard answer for the purposes of pleasing everyone, but it turns out to be an accurate description, more or less. In fact, Andrew Morgan Smith does himself a little bit of a disservice.

Parts of this score sound like a traditional horror movie from the 1970s or 1980s, with lots of string work punctuated by slashing, screeching discordance. That’s not necessarily a criticism. Personally, I long for a partial return to classic horror music – as long as it is used to genuinely enhance the action, rather than as cheap trick slamming of doors and knocking over of props. This is old school horror ramped-up with a modern hook. There is atmospheric pacing, with a sense of impending climax. At the time of writing I haven’t yet seen this film but just the drama and edgy tension described by this music seems to draw a broad picture of increasing set pieces which I look forward to experiencing on screen.

8

Ty Power