The Informers (Soundtrack) by Christopher Young - Review

Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever. Only if you're uninformed.

Review by Vince Chang

THE INFORMERS is a 2009 film directed by Gregor Jordan. The script was written by Nicholas Jarecki and Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote the original series of short stories back in 1994. The film contains 7 of the 13 linked, short-stories found in the original book. The stories make up a broader slice-of-life snapshot of an entire week in the lives of social circle of people who represent everything from the cream of the crop to the scum of society. The plot creeps forward mostly just by showing their interactions amongst themselves, always in morally deficient ways. An entire subplot involving vampires was cut-out, presumably because a supernatural theme seemed too out of place for a live-action movie adaptation. The film was given only a limited release on April 24, 2009, in 482 select movie theaters across the nation, and maybe rightfully so, since it received scathing reviews by critics and the general public. While best known for his works in the horror-genre with credits to titles such as DRAG ME TO HELL, THE GRUDGE (the original and sequel), and THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, veteran composer CHRISTOPHER YOUNG was brought on to undergird the darker textures of the film's plot. As a memorial note, this was Brad Renfro's final film before he died on January 15, 2008 of a heroin overdose.

Electric guitar, keyboard synth and bass are the dominant forces in this entire soundtrack, with sparse percussion in the form of triangle, cowbell, and other obscure instruments. There is also prominent use of echo and stereo panning, especially in “What was, it is. What is, it's not” (Track 3). Most of the tracks are slow paced, with many Latin rhythms incorporated via percussion and electric bass. The result is a soundtrack that consists of soft rock combined with elements of samba, salsa and tango. The track titles mostly consist of explicitly sensual references (“Please me, Please, Please”), hinting at the many love scenes throughout.

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The Informers by Christopher Young

LAKESHORE RECORDS TO RELEASE ORIGINAL SCORE FOR THE INFORMERS

Soundtrack Contains Original Score By Christopher Young

(June 1, 2009- Los Angeles, CA) – Lakeshore Records will release the original score for THE INFORMERS, available digitally (iTunes and Amazon Digital) and in stores on June 9, 2009. Christopher Young (The Uninvited, Untraceable) composed the music. The label released the original soundtrack on April 28th.

Golden Globe-nominated composer Christopher Young has scored almost 100 successful features ranging across virtually every genre, all with strikingly original music. Never repeating himself, Young’s works extend from the spine-tingling Hellraiser showcasing his seminal upbringing in horror; to the new-techno sound of Swordfish and the resonant, genuine Celtic sounds of The Shipping News. With each successive Christopher Young crafted score, the composer continually stretches the bounds of his versatility.

Young has worked with some of the top filmmakers of the past ten years including Norman Jewison (The Hurricane and Bandits), Sam Raimi (The Gift, Spiderman 3, The Grudge and The Grudge 2) and Curtis Hanson (Lucky You, Wonder Boys). In addition to his busy film-composing schedule, Young is imparting his experience and knowledge to a new generation of film composers, teaching at USC since the early nineties. He is a two-term past president of The Film Music Society and the president of the Madrid Film Music Festival in Spain.

In such works as Less Than Zero and American Psycho Brett Easton Ellis brilliantly dissects contemporary American society, a culture in which too much is never enough. Now, adapting his own...In such works as Less Than Zero and American Psycho Brett Easton Ellis brilliantly dissects contemporary American society, a culture in which too much is never enough. Now, adapting his own acclaimed novel for the screen, he returns to the Los Angeles of the early 1980's with a multi-strand narrative that deftly balances a vast array of characters who represent both the top of the heap (a Hollywood dream merchant, a dissolute rock star, an aging newscaster) and the bottom (a voyeuristic doorman, an amoral ex-con).

Connecting all his intertwining strands are the quintessential Ellis protagonists -- a group of beautiful, blonde young men and women who sleep all day and party all night, doing drugs -- and one another -- with abandon, never realizing that they are dancing on the edge of a volcano. Filmed with uncommon glamour and grit by acclaimed Australian director Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly, Buffalo Soldiers), The Informers is an alternately blistering and chilling portrait of hedonism run amuck The film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder, Jon Foster and Amber Heard.

Senator Entertainment presents THE INFORMERS released in select theaters on April 24, 2009. THE INFORMERS original score album on Lakeshore Records will be available via iTunes, Amazon Digital and in stores on June 9th, 2009. THE INFORMERS original soundtrack is available digitally and in stores now.

You can also pre-order the THE INFORMERS on compact disc here.