Send Help – Raimi’s next film

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I’ve done something of a write-up of Send Help, a score that – despite being well-received by fans, critics and the film music community – hasn’t really gotten its due for just how playful and thoughtful it is. Thrillers are, musically speaking, quite unforgiving, which makes what Elfman does here all the more special. In interviews, Raimi is always keen to point out how Elfman’s role is to help him tell the story, and that’s exactly what Elfman does here. I think Raimi really deserves to be commended for encouraging this level of detail. Raimi also said that Elfman was really specific in not wanting music in certain scenes, and the movie is so better for it. This is a score that knows when to hold back and when to be broad.
I can’t pretend to have the musical knowledge to properly articulate what I’m hearing, but I’ve had a go. Hopefully it’s of interest to some of you. Obviously, this is full of spoilers for the film.

1. Linda’s Home
We begin with something of a suite of the score’s main theme. Elfman’s thematic approach to Send Help is largely monothematic. Given that the movie will move from being a comedy to a thriller to a romcom to an adventure to a horror (and anywhere in between), Elfman’s attempt to use this theme to tie all these seemingly disparate genres together goes a long way towards making the film cohesive. And what a theme it is.
Guitars start us off (this will be key later on), giving a sense of home. The light percussion pre-empts the story’s desert island setting whilst also capturing the image of the survival books plastered around her home. We are quickly introduced to Linda’s theme on woodwinds. Linda’s theme is broken into two sections – the first section comprises six notes (which is generally repeated once immediately after) and then is followed by four notes (again, generally repeated once immediately after). The first part is generally used to play the sad, lonely sides to the character…but also the more unhinged aspects; the second part of her theme becomes almost a ‘Linda the killer’ motive by the end. The fact that both parts of theme tend to repeat themselves reflect how competent Linda is – both as a survivalist and, ultimately, as a killer.
What’s great about Elfman’s approach here in this track is how unpredictable his instrumentation is: the first part of Linda’s theme plays twice on woodwinds, then her four-note ‘killing’ motive is heard on voice before its repeated on piano. It’s lovely, it’s sad, it’s driven, but it’s hard to keep full track of because of all the instrumental shifts. The secondary part of the theme could become interchangeable with the first if you’re not actively listening. Over the course of the film, Linda’s character will be increasingly hard to pin down, and Elfman reflects that brilliantly here. By the end of the score, the solo vocal will come to represent her at her most insane, and by the end of this opening track, the entire theme will be played by the voice. On the surface, Elfman is capturing this sad, lonely but determined woman as she talks to her bird, but on deeper inspection he’s telling her entire story in two minutes.

2. Angry Linda (not on score album)
This is not a major cue by any means, but in the film, when Linda comes to suspect that she won’t get the promotion she deserves, she marches to Bradley’s office to some grungy electric guitar by Elfman. This will be key later.

3. Linda Shamed
When Linda is both denied a promotion and mocked in front of her colleagues, her theme breaks into fragments. The theme that confidently repeated itsphrases each time can’t even form once. Its stutters, reflecting how Linda tries to bring herself back together. Some gentle percussion plays near the end here, which will follow Linda throughout the score (and will be key for a subtle but significant musical moment later).

4. Underwater
Shrill strings and brass catch a Raimi jumpscare as Linda finds a dead body in the water. (Brass in general is used minimally and only to create a sense of danger.) As Linda comes above water, giant synths catch the movement of the waves as Linda’s theme again struggles to fully find itself…but not for long.

5. Alone
The sunny shore is captured by some big, blistering synths. Linda’s light percussion returns as more synths take over. Buried deep in the mix are voices, which come through more as Linda finds herself. Chances are Elfman was just trying to be weird here, but it works in terms of the story as we’ll later learn that people do actually frequent this island. When Linda finds Bradley, her theme comes back, stronger than in the previous two cues but still struggling.

6. Building Shelter
The light percussion from ‘Linda’s Home’ returns as Linda the survivalist is born. The track plays around with the first few notes of the first part of Linda’s theme, and in this guise, the hints of madness are lost. This is Linda in her prime, and her theme is rebuilding itself. Choppy strings reinforce her competency and Elfman’s clearly having fun with some lightly tropical percussion. There’s a bit of Spider-Man to this cue.

7. Waiting to Die
Modern Elfman’s love for undulated strings comes through here to reflect the repetitive montage as Bradley waits for Linda to help him. When she doesn’t return and Bradley’s mouth begins to foam, Elfman blares a nasty, frothing synth. Elfman’s approach here is to reflect the brutal nature of the weather through increasingly oppressive synths. Some sear down, reflecting the sun scorching his skin while others seem to almost blister. It’s honestly unlike anything that Elfman’s ever written before. Male voices eventually break through the sea of synth and strings. There is a two-note motif that appears in this cue, and it will appear in more of the ‘horror’ cues. Even when reflecting nastier onscreen images, Elfman’s keen to give some form to his music.

8. The Hunt
We get a lot of mysterious mickey mousing as Linda hunts a boar. Elfman’s music works wonders with the images here, capturing uneasy footsteps, allowing for silence so Raimi can do his jumpscare thing. Snarly brass and scurrying strings capture the chase, and in what’s sure to be the silliest but most fun example of a composer ‘catching’ something with their music this year, we’re treated to grunting synths as the film takes the POV of the boar. As the boar projects fluid upon fluid onto Linda, the brass keeps vomiting and snarling.

9. The Waterfall
Tinkling synths and percussion pre-empt the waterfall before we see it. Linda’ theme is finally reprised in full. Interestingly, though, the primary phrase of her theme is played subtly before the secondary phrase (what will later become her ‘killer’ theme) which plays more prominently, vocal and all. The balance between the two parts of her theme isn’t what it was. At this point in the movie, Linda finally sees herself as beautiful. Elfman catches her celebration, but the voice is just a bit more detached than before. Something is just slightly off.

10. Hiking Together
Bradley and Linda’s hike is initially scored like something you’d hear from King Kong. Precarious heights are reflected in the strings and woodwinds. As they stop for a break, panting voices are heard. This will be key later on. Linda’s threats are punctuated with brass (brass = danger). Linda’s theme takes a new guise at 1:41 as she lies to Bradley (it will return later). An eerie vocal at 2:10 is significant in that similar vocals will play when Bradley defies Linda and goes where he warns her not to go. Pan flutes see the cue come to its end, and they too will return for a key moment later. Lots of musical foreshadowing in this cue, as this will be the site of Linda’s murders.

11. Toilet Wine
The guitars from the first cue return as ‘Linda’s Home’ is now, well, the island. Again, Elfman phrases Linda’s theme in such a way as to avoid the ‘mad’ progressions that it can have. Linda is thriving, and so is her theme. It’s genuinely wholesome and in this guise sounds like the main theme from Dolittle. In an absolutely brilliant piece of scoring, the theme becomes more recognisable as Linda’s primary theme (the ‘mad’ part) when they speak about drinking. That scene will go unscored, but that is the scene in which Linda will reveal she wants to stay on the island.

12. Cuddle Cave
By this point, the connection between the two is severed by Linda’s confession. The music is no longer wholesome and not much of Linda’s theme emerges at all.

13. Getting Along
Bradley asks Linda to dinner as the score fails to gather the warmth from some of the prior cues. Woodwinds flirt with the idea of forming Linda’s theme but can’t pull through. This is also the case with the struggling piano notes, which connect right back to the ‘Linda is Shamed’ cue. Right before Bradley can betray her, Elfman musically takes us back to how he belittled her at the beginning.

14. Poison Raft
Hazy synths catch Linda’s disorientation as Bradley poisons her. These become more and more prominent until Linda collapses. Churning strings reflect the churning of her stomach. Dramatic strings score Bradley’s attempted escape, but, like Bradley himself, the strings don’t get very far, always starting and stopping. Pieces of Linda’s theme inform the brass, almost as if saying that he can’t escape from her. When Bradley is submerged, the synths, too, seem underwater. A typical Elfman cooing choir appears as Bradley hallucinates and believes he sees his fiancé.

15. Castration
Elfman’s thoughtful thematic approach largely takes a backseat here as Linda threatens to castrate Bradley for betraying her. The sound that opens the cue sounds like a saw, Elfman planting the idea in the audience’s head before Linda’s intent becomes clear. Some tribal percussion joins and some synths suggest danger, too. One of the recurring sinking sounds might as well say, “Oh shit!” Scraping strings join as things get increasingly violent and nasty. As Linda’s not actually going through with the castration, Elfman’s decision to avoid her theme and play up the tension and horror of the scene works wonders. Her theme returns in full when she reveals she hasn’t castrated him, the voice almost taunting him. As she delivers her final threat, the first phrase of her theme and the second phrase of her theme combine. Again, the balance between the two parts of her theme has changed.

16. End Credits – Part 2
The second part of the end credits is a microedit of this pivotal scene in the narrative. Linda is discovered by Bradley’s fiancé and, well, doesn’t want to go home. She takes them to where Bradley and she hiked earlier. The panting voices return as a musical reminder of where we are As Linda leads them to the precarious cliff, the sawing sound from the previous cue returns – will she actually go through with it this time? When the fiancé falls, Linda watches. As a first-time viewer, we don’t actually know what Linda does here. Does she help? Does she kill? Elfman scores it very broadly, the first phrase of Linda’s theme plays, but as it repeats (as it usually does) the secondary phrase of her theme cuts through. The ‘killer’ side has won. That secondary phrase then plays again on light percussion.

17. Sick Day
Though we don’t know it on a first viewing, Linda’s now a killer. Elfman’s music is initially vague, her theme not breaking through, reflecting how shellshocked she is by what she has done. The cooing choir that represented Bradley’s fiancé before returns, as a harp finally breaks through meandering phrases and plays the secondary part of Linda’s theme. A mournful cello follows suit. The secondary ‘killer’ phrase emerges now as Linda’s main theme.

18. Linda’s Nightmare
On first viewing, we don’t know what to make of this sequence. On a second viewing though, it’s clearly a manifestation of Linda’s guilt, as Bradley’s fiancé’s body crawls onshore and towards her. We get a lot of noise here, as the movie turns full horror for a minute. The grungy electric guitar from the beginning of the movie returns, Elfman connecting Linda’s anger with her death. The two-note motive from Bradley’s pain montage returns, too. The sound that Elfman played as Bradley was submerged and thought he saw his fiancé returns, too – a nice touch.

19. Diamond Ring
We get a little reprise of scurrying strings as Bradley finds a boar. When Bradley finds his fiance’s ring, we get a return of the choir that oppressed him earlier in the film. Some brazen synths appear, but they did not survive the final mix. Elfman goes Planet of the Apes as Bradley races to find Linda.

20. Jungle Fight

Elfman likes to catch things. Raimi clearly likes Elfman to catch things. This cue is four minutes of Elfman catching everything. Brass returns in full force (brass = danger) as Bradley chases Linda into the forest. I couldn’t begin to comment on everything Elfman scores here, but here are some of my favourite bits:

0:55 – the woodwinds scoring Bradley’s realisation that he’s found her shoes ‘which stink’
0:58 – the brazen synths that score the to-and-fro as Linda strangles Bradley from behind
1:21 – the pan flutes catching Bradley pulling out a chunk of Linda’s hair
1:34 – Elfman goes full ‘The Hunt’ from his Planet of the Apes as the two fight, the repeated sections reflecting how evenly matched the two are
1:54 – the scraping strings catching Bradley thumb as he forces it into Linda’s eye socket

Having bitten off Bradley’s thumb, Linda opens her mouth and teases him with his fiancé’s ring. The first phrase of Linda’s theme (the ‘mad’ section) returns, and Holly Sedillos goes full ‘mad’. The last note hangs as Linda swallows the ring. When she opens it to again tease him, Elfman plays the most bizarre electronic/vocal hybrid sound that plays almost like a witch wailing. Linda’s killing motive then takes over – in brass this time – as she fights Bradley again. It plays four times consecutively before she stabs him. The Planet of the Apes style scoring which played as Bradley scurred towards Linda now plays as he runs away from her, wounded.

21. Home Invasion

Suspense and mystery are the name of the game for the first minute of the cue. When Linda reveals that she’d deceived Bradley, we get a full, sinister reprise of Linda’s theme. Key, though, is that the second phrase doesn’t repeat itself, as at that point of the story, Linda was no killer. That’s not the case at 2:18, when the audience finally learns that Linda killed. Linda’s ‘killer’ theme plays three times consecutively. Linda’s innocent, tingly percussion joins the brass as she cracks a rock over an innocent man’s head.

22. Strategy and Planning

It’s important to see this cue as a sibling to ‘Linda is Shamed’. The roles have now reversed. Now she is the one with all the power, standing over him. Again, we get fragments of the theme not coming together, but the tone couldn’t be more different. There’s no hesitation, there’s no stuttering – both are trying to deceive each other. (Dylan O Brien is great here, playing Bradley as a bad, bad actor). The music sounding so sincere makes it all the more apparent that nothing sincere is happening at all. At 2:06, it sounds as though Linda’s theme could sneak through, but as Bradley rambles, the music rambles into something else.

23. Saving Yourself

Like her now-deceased boss, Linda is seen playing golf. As she talks to press, the ‘lying’ version of her theme (from Hiking Together) returns. The secondary ‘killer’ phrase follows suit, repeating in cheery, puffy tones. The use of woodwinds brings us right back to the first track of the score.

24. End Credits Part 1
Near the start of the movie, Linda tells her colleagues that her karaoke song of choice is ‘One Way or Another’ by Blondie. The movie ends with that song. Elfman follows with an electric-guitar-led version of Linda’s theme, connecting her theme to that song and also the electric guitar used elsewhere in the score. Interestingly, when played on guitar, Linda’s theme loses the inherent ‘madness’. Here, the theme sounds powerful, assured, confident…exactly how Linda ends the movie.

25. Bonus Track
It feels like this might be an alternate main title track. Who knows? The main difference here is that the secondary phrase of the film again plays before the first. It’s almost a back-to-front version of the first cue in some ways, perhaps showing how the two sides of Linda have swapped. It’s a nice coda either way. There’s some cool John Carpenter synth percussion that sounds straight from Halloween or The Fog at 1:28.

[Ryan Keaveney]

Nice write-up. I need to go back to SEND HELP soon. I listened to it non-stop for weeks, and needed a break! We need a new Elfman score soon.

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