Synthwave Sunday: The Guest soundtrack

Given the number of Synthwave Sundays that mention film director and composer John Carpenter, it’s natural that this week’s spotlight is on an actual movie soundtrack. Inspired by Carpenter’s measured, spacious scores, this collection accompanies The Guest (2014), a nifty action-horror hybrid that joins sleeper hits It Follows and You’re Next in a field of crisply modern suspense movies with rubbed-out, pulsing scores direct from 1981.

The Guest shares a star with It Follows, Maika Monroe, whose mellow performances support all the suspense: Her movies could’ve depended on an audience’s fear of the villain(s), but they instead pivot on our protective instincts for a practical, unburdened protagonist. She could be under attack from something no more threatening than a paper clip, still we’d be possessed by concern for Monroe’s safety.

Think of The Guest and its ilk as the total inverse of a Rob Zombie film: Its narrative and soundtrack both are aware of their own artifice, yet both roll out unhysterically and systematically. Plus, The Guest preys on a viewer’s IMNisms, as Monroe’s character, too, is a fan and agent of the movie’s sounds: Love And Rockets, Annie, Front 242, Clan Of Xymox. All heavy-lidded and surprised to be feeling her own emotions, she often listens along with us — at a party, on her bed, in the passenger seat — and she even makes a mix CD for her mysterious crush! The thought of her peril is designed to stir a deep rage in your DNA. Crank it up!

https://youtu.be/Ci_uhcEnZys?list=PLyEowSbCtndDWfOUiZ25n1f8WjAUeppBz

The Guest: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is out now via J-2. Get it here.