By JASON COMERFORD Evidently, just knowing a Coppola can give you a career. But I wax sarcastic: Brian Reitzell has earned his place at the table. A childhood friend of Sofia Coppola, he broke into music as a drummer for the punk band Redd Kross and later as a collaborator with the English technopop duo Air. Over the last decade, he’s subsequently carved out a solid career for himself as a music supervisor, producer and composer, contributing to films including Lost in Translation, Friday Night Lights and Stranger Than Fiction. Reitzell’s score to 30 Days of Night, David Slade’s film of the Steve Niles/Ben Templesmith comic miniseries, belays no allegiance to the traditional orchestral approach and instead conjures up a chilly soundscape heavy on electronics and processed samples. Unlike many contemporary horror scores that use similar tactics, Reitzell’s dark mosaic of churning textures generates a convincing atmosphere of bleak tension, complementing Slade’s skillful direction and a gallery of admirably underplayed supporting performances. Most striking of all is a grinding, buzzing effect first heard on the soundtrack album in “Girl Bait,” a startling sonic needleprick that sounds like teeth chewing on live electrical wire. The film is ultimately undermined by its routinely plotted script and miscast leads, but Reitzell’s score is unquestionably one of its most successful elements.
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