Summer Horror A-Side / B-Side Split – Side B: Longlegs
As summer winds down, Sam is here with a double-feature of 2024 horror scores, ending with Zilgi’s score for Longlegs. In a few days, Autumn will be here, kicking off a full slew of new horror music…
If the marketing department, your true-crime obsessed best friend, or an IMDb plot synopsis might have convinced you that Longlegs is strictly a serious, serial killer procedural, Zilgi’s terrifying original score is here to remind you of its true nature: as a horn-bearing, goat-worshiping, heavy-metal-blasting, pentagram-drawing Devil movie. To that I say, all hail.
A tone-poem sent from the seventh circle, Zilgi’s discordant, atmospheric nightmare fuel is less akin to Howard Shore’s serial killer staples Se7en or Silence of the Lambs and far more aligned with the sinister works of Mark Korven (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The First Omen) and Colin Stetson (Hereditary). From skittering strings that shorthand the presence of unholy forces, to reversed audio samples and distorted choral tones, to sounds that seemingly bellow from the darkest depths (“Bible Leaves and the FBI” feels particularly reminiscent of Korven’s motif in The Lighthouse), many staples of the Satanic film soundtrack are present. It’s all very effective sound design*, if not a tad uncomfortable for a casual listen. However, in the context of the film, this soundscape is essential for maintaining the impressive sense of dread carried throughout its runtime.
Where Zilgi’s score did surprise me is in its use of fuzzed-out electric guitar. Notably on “I’ll Be Your Behemoth,” it’s like Satan himself decided to plug in for a quick jam on his roommate’s Gibson SG with the Fuzz Face cranked all the way up. When only considering the prior tracks on the album, the rock-adjacent detour might seem a little strange, but again, in the context of the film’s many references to classic rock (the movie opens with a quote from T. Rex…) it fits like a glove. A badass, leather spiked glove. Plus, this inclusion of discordant rock reminded me of the score to another hellishly good Nick Cage project, that being Jóhann Jóhannsson’s doom rock-infused Mandy—and anything that conjures Mandy is worth worshiping in my books.
Also, speaking of “I’ll Be Your Behemoth,” while it doesn’t really impact the quality of the music, holy smokes does this album have some absolutely sinister track titles. I find that many times soundtrack albums are a little lacking in creative flair with titles, but not here. Besides the aforementioned, my favorites include “Hell on Earth,” “Blood Trees,” and “Dread Algorithm.” Honestly, “Dread Algorithm” might as well be the whole bloody movie’s alternate title.
Overall, Zilgi’s music on Longlegs is everything a disciple of Mr. Downstairs could want—with a little extra in there for fans of fuzzed-out garage rock. Call me indoctrinated into the coven of Lucifer himself but I had a hell of a fun time with this score. Hail Zilgi.
*Worth noting is that Zilgi worked closely with the film’s sound designer and editor Eugenio Battaglia who contributed two tracks to the album, “Observatory” and “Resonance”.
About the Author: Hey, I’m Sam. I like violent movies with synth scores and listening to library music on the beach. My perfect idea for a date is taking a trip to 1970s Italy where I can stumble into a stylish murder mystery involving a black-gloved killer featuring music by Ennio Morricone. I live in Vancouver, B.C. and think too hard about what I write on my Letterboxd. Twitter: @mondosammi