Dead of Winter (1987)
Released by Kritzerland, 2010
21 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 65 min.
Music Composed by Richard Einhorn

I first came across this little thriller back when it first came out on video, back in the late ‘80s. Being a fan of both Mary Steenburgen and Roddy McDowall, I was all in. What I wasn’t expecting was this well-crafted thriller, that I still think is highly underrated. Now being a huge fan of soundtracks, when I see one available from a film that I liked, I tend to get it. Plus, this soundtrack was done by Richard Einhorn, who also did a few of my favorite films, such as Shock Waves (1977) and The Prowler (1981), so I thought what the hell.

There are a lot of soundtracks that I do get that are good, but never made a huge impact. This is not one of those. This score is the complete opposite of one that will burst out of the speakers into your ears. Instead, it creeps into your brain, haunting the back of your mind. Right when it starts, with these slow notes from a piano, then combining with some I believe a flute, just starts off giving you this eerie feeling. It builds a little more but never really gets loud but does bring up the intensity. I’ve always enjoyed a good piano score and Einhorn has created one that I go back to quite often when I’m writing. It’s quiet, somber, but yet still very effective in creating this wonderfully dark mood. The use of a repeating 4 note piece, slightly changed, sometimes by itself, other times with a flute or something else, but it consistently creates this wonderful engaging score.

When I’m working on something early in the morning, this is my go-to score to listen to because its quiet, as not to wake the rest of the house, but still puts in me in the right mood.