Drag Me To Hell OST – Waxwork Records

Rating:

Though I’ve been hard pressed to afford the great many offerings from Waxwork Records, I have always admired their work and dreamed of owning everything in their discography. Part of it is the beautiful artwork and images the company creates for the re-releases and, of course, the other part is my fandom of horror movies and cult classics. So maybe you can imagine me geeking out when the company sent me a few records to review. Yeah, I nerded out a bit. With that said, I’m happy to announce my first ever Waxwork review is the creepy soundtrack from the amazing horror throwback Drag Me to Hell. Hit the jump for more.

Background

Drag Me to Hell, originally released in 2009, was a return to form for acclaimed director Sam Raimi after he spent some time directing Spider-Man movies and being known as the man who created the tragic Peter Parker “cool guy” sequence. Thankfully, Sam went back to what made him famous in the first place giving us a disgustingly funny, grotesque, and terrifying movie. Tabbed for the soundtrack duties was horror movie soundtrack creator royalty Christopher Young who is responsible for a personal favorite soundtrack of mine, Hellraiser.

Prior to this new Waxwork release, DMTH had never been released on vinyl.

Quick Hits

• The interior artwork of the gypsy lady will likely haunt my dreams. I’m planning a prank on my wife with the record opened next to her side of the bed.
• The “hell-fire” coloring of the vinyl is such a Waxwork thing to do. They have an impeccable attention to detail. Before reading about the color of the record, I thought it could also pass as “gypsy lady bug vomit” coloring.
• While listening to the soundtrack and looking at the artwork, I have chills running down my spine expecting a ghost to peek around the corner and possibly kill me. The entire packaging has that perfect creepy vibe.
• Nice letter on the interior from Christopher Young who says Sam Raimi has “continually brought out the best score in me” and he is “indebted to them forever”. I couldn’t agree more.

Now Show Me

Who is This For?

Horror movie nerds like myself or anyone looking for a creepy Halloween playlist. Also perfect for anyone who appreciates well done vinyl to show off and brag about to friends.

Song Links

• “Drag Me to Hell” opener is scary as hell. Horror soundtrack classic.
• “Familiar Familars” sounds like an 80s slasher throwback.
• “Auto-De-Fe” is a closer of epic proportions. Reminds me of seeing the movie for the first time and screaming “YES” at the end. Perfect closer.

Summary

Drag Me to Hell is a movie that left me drained both physically and emotionally. The work done by Waxwork on the packaging of this soundtrack paired with the gut wrenching musical compositions made me feel those emotions all over again. Waxwork has yet again set the standard in soundtrack releases which is a model many wish they came up with. My only knock on this release is solely based on the music and not the work done by Waxwork. Honestly, I’m not sure how much I will listen to the soundtrack as it’s mostly slow burning horror movie music, but again, the packaging done by Waxwork is impeccable. I do see myself pulling this out of the shelf every October, 31st to scare the ever living shit out of neighborhood kids, or again, to brag to my horror movie buff friends.

Art work on the Drag Me to Hell release is by the very talented Midnight Marauder.

If all this sounds interesting to you or someone you love, you can purchase the new release on the Waxwork website for the low price of $35.