Bait 3D

A freak Tsunami hits a sleepy beach community throwing it into confusion and chaos. A group of survivors from the disaster find them selves trapped in an underground supermarket that has become flooded. They soon discover that they are not alone as the Tsunami has brought in some unwanted visitors who themselves are now perusing the submerged supermarket for their favourite food, human flesh. The survivors find them selves in a desperate battle with marauding great white sharks, which are not only hungry but deadly. Yep it’s a normal run of the mill day at wall-mart, well in the world of horror flicks at least. Ok the movie may not be that original in its plot etc, but the one outstanding factor about the production is the pulsating, relentless and vibrant musical score. The music which is a fusion of both symphonic and electronic is a joy to listen to and I just hazard a guess that it is far better to listen to the score away from the images it was originally intended to enhance as they would probably distract you from the qualities of this superb work. The soundtrack is the labour of two composers Joe NG and Alex Oh, who I think but cannot be sure are from Singapore. I must mention Movie Score Media who have been brave enough and had the foresight to release this soundtrack, because I am sure if it were not for this pioneering label the music for BAIT 3D would have been lost in the vaults or even in the depths of the Tsunami disaster depicted in the actual film. This label has restored many collectors faith in film music and also I think fortified and assured film music’s future when it comes to soundtrack releases. They release so many scores by composers who to be honest are virtually unknown and bring them to the attention of the film music collecting community and for this they must be applauded. The score as I have already stated is a mix of both symphonic and electronic but the two styles blend perfectly or at least are fused seamlessly by the composing duo every component of the work complimenting and augmenting each other, symphonic being bolstered and supported by synthetic elements and vice versa. What I loved about this score was that the composers did not immediately leap into John Williams Mr Shark theme mode, but instead they developed and created a score utilizing their own particular style, it would have been so easy to have become clichéd and predictable when scoring this type of movie, but instead they put their own original stamp upon the proceedings. Ok yes I have to say that there are some pretty high octane cues which must add much to the atmosphere and ambience of the film and the action that unfolds upon the screen that would not be out of place within any of the JAWS movies but this is a soundtrack that is certainly not humdrum or boring in any way. Fast and furious string flourishes depict occasions which I can only guess to be harrowing and tense and there are also a number of lighter more melodic and quieter passages which filter through via the use of solo piano as in track number five REMEMBERING RORY, which is a plaintive and delicate sounding cue performed by keyboard and underlined by unassuming strings, that do at certain points of the composition become a little more uneasy and are punctuated by an almost ominous sounding single electronic bass beat that creates a sense of impending disaster. One of the highlight cues for me has to be HAMMERHEAD, which although quite short lived does conjure up an atmosphere that is urgent and full of tense and nervous adrenaline an atmosphere that is conveyed by the composers use of percussive elements that are enhanced and underlined by insistent sounding strings. Then there is BAIT, which is a pleasant enough sounding cue, carried in the main by strings that perform a quite melancholy but at the same time light sounding introduction, this however is a mood that changes swiftly and percussion is added to the mix with more sinister sounding strings and underlying brass stabs, these are bolstered by synthetic attributes all of which combine to create a strident and forceful sounding cue. All in all BAIT 3 D must be highly recommended and it just makes me want to discover more of the music that has been penned by these two obviously talented composers and also I look forward to hearing new scores that they will produce in the future.