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Review of The Nun (Abel Korzeniowski)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if over-the-counter laxatives have failed you, for Abel Korzeniowski does his best to unnerve you with extreme avant-garde orchestral horror techniques that are all-too-obvious but basically functional.

Avoid it... if you demand a truly balanced dichotomy in your musical battles between good and evil, the best appeals of religious horror mostly lost in this score's rush to dwell in ambient, demonic depths.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

The Nun: (Abel Korzeniowski) The absurdity of religious fear is exploited mercilessly in the franchise of films based on 2013's The Conjuring. Paranormal exploration can be quite entertaining so long as it avoids tired recapitulations of organized religion's oldest battles between good and evil; by the prequel spin-off The Nun in 2018, the concept had fully embraced the tried and tested formula, to the detriment of critical response. Not only are audiences treated to the illogical fallacies inherent in horror films to begin with, but they have to reconcile poor interpretations of religious scripture and all the ridiculous notions that exist within. Still, audiences made The Nun the top-grossing entry in the franchise to date, so demon versus nun battles with possessions, exorcisms, the supposed blood of Christ all thrown about in stereotypical Roman Catholic trappings must still appeal. In this case, a young nun is tasked with helping a clergyman investigate a suicide in a 1952 Romanian monastery that is, most conveniently for this film, fantastically creepy and revealed to be a castle built by a duke obsessed with the occult. Lovely. Why can't somebody set one of these films in the Tillamook cheese factory in Oregon instead? Or, better yet, the Houston Astrodome? Alas, viewers feast their eyes on the gothic environment in these predictable horror romps, and the soundscape is meant to scare them just the same. In steps the prototypical horror film score. Horror genre veteran Joseph Bishara had handled the music for the initial three movies in the franchise, but others have now stepped in with their involvement, including young Polish phenom Abel Korzeniowski with The Nun. The assignment is really no surprise for Korzeniowski, who has tossed aside the reputation he earned in the early 2010's as a master of romance and embraced the thriller genre wholeheartedly since. Ironically, the result of his endeavors for The Nun really doesn't differ much from what Bishara had produced for the two The Conjuring films, the entire lot of them applying largely the same ideas to the equation. With the historical religious aspect comes Korzeniowski's more refined sense of classicism, which bleeds through in a small handful of cues in The Nun. The composer declines the electronic embellishments of Bishara but continues the outright abuse of organic symphonic performances, most of which seemingly provided as-is without the aid of obvious post-production manipulation.

There is no doubt an enhanced level of intelligence in Korzeniowski's take on the same sound, but his polished sensibilities largely get lost in The Nun because he doesn't attempt to stray far from the charted course. Certainly, Bishara could have handled this assignment easily and few would have noticed a difference. The orchestra is abused mightily in this nasty, avant-garde soundscape, instruments instructed to mutilate their sounds in creative ways that have, for the most part, been attempted before. String players apply their bows to produce ghastly sounds, flutes wildly flutter about in a panic, and rarely do the brass express linear, tonal lines to join their blasts of fright. To the joy of any HVAC repair-man, they mimic every malfunctioning piece of machinery imaginable. Significant duties are assigned to the choir and a solo throat singer, sounds familiar to Bishara's entries. For a film with gothic, religious settings and associated fantasy horror, it's unfortunate that Korzeniowski does not attempt to produce a grand dichotomy in the mold of Christopher Young. The lighter elements, all dedicated to the lead heroine, are rather tepid, and her perseverance and victories are expressed in only very brief respites of tonal relief; the only full-ensemble scope of magnificence in this work comes at the end of "Deliver Us From Evil." Korzeniowski suggests rhythmic tonality denoting importance at the outset of "God Ends Here" and "'Cause I Have Faith," but these passages are fleeting. His theme for Irene is derivative of Mark Snow's later music for "The X-Files," especially in "Handmaid of God." Her idea is sparsely expressed in "Sister Irene" and "'Cause I Have Faith," but little outward manipulation of the idea, or even any evolution of its performances as the girl gains strength (or is possessed) is convincingly conveyed in the music. The theme for the franchise demon, Valak, is heard quickly in "God Ends Here" and features its best performance of total evil at the start of "Branded by the Demon." The throat singing is impressive but it's so over-the-top that it's occasionally funny. At 2:49 in "Into the Abyss," the burst of the singer sounds like a drunken man stumbling into a college sorority party, looking around, and exclaiming, "Woooow!" Likewise, some of the solo exhales mimic the sounds of homeless people under freeways exerting themselves as they throw their turds at unsuspecting, passing commuters. Altogether, the sum of The Nun is totally functional but struggles to find the sweet spot between outright horror creativity and subtle, tonal deception. There are no gray areas here. Everything in the score is too obvious, not to mention damn-near unlistenable on album outside of 5-10 minutes of solemn character contemplation. Laxatives have competition.  **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 45:19

• 1. God Ends Here (1:42) • 2. Sacrifice (2:30) • 3. Sister Irene (1:07) • 4. The Abbey of St. Carta (2:19) • 5. Hanging Nun (2:51) • 6. Valak (2:59) • 7. Lost Souls (2:17) • 8. Anything but Holy (3:23) • 9. Veiled Mirrors (1:04) • 10. Corridor of Crosses (1:33)

• 11. Perpetual Adoration (1:48) • 12. Ice House (1:22) • 13. Branded by the Demon (2:42) • 14. Burning Cross (1:01) • 15. They're All Gone (1:50) • 16. Handmaid of God (3:14) • 17. Into the Abyss (3:09) • 18. Possessed (1:42) • 19. Deliver Us From Evil (3:06) • 20. 'Cause I Have Faith (3:32)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers and notes from the director and composer about the score.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Nun are Copyright © 2018, WaterTower Music and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/2/18 (and not updated significantly since).