Sound Effects Artist Works on Italian Horror Film, Loses Sanity
Most contemporary horror films owe more to the gross-out antics of There’s Something About Mary than to the unsettling ambiance of The Shining – for decades now, we’ve been subjected to horror that merely aims for superficial, knee-jerk shocks. But Berberian Sound Studio is a fantastic, understated throwback, one of the few horror efforts in recent years to emphasize mood and atmosphere over jump cut scares and gore.
Intriguingly constructed, and filled with foreshadowing and hidden clues, the film beautifully employs sound to build suspense and layer the narrative. It also offers a fascinating look at old-school sound engineering in a pre-computerized era where schlubby looking dudes needed to stab watermelons next to a microphone to create the sounds for a trashy horror film.
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