‘Dread’: The film that inspired Trent Reznor’s approach with Nine Inch Nails
Before Nine Inch Nails came onto the scene, industrial music was far too caustic and unconventional to find its way onto mainstream charts and radio stations. It was unapologetically abrasive, driven by the strange experimental sounds of Throbbing Gristle and Swans. While Trent Reznor maintained many of the genre’s original stylings when he created NIN, he also opted to fuse them with something new, something more appealing to the masses.
Reznor didn’t just borrow from pioneering industrial artists, he also took inspiration from legendary rockers and even huge pop artists, from David Bowie to Prince. The result of his wide-ranging influences was industrial rock, a new take on the niche genre that opened it up to wider audiences. Tracks like ‘Closer’ and ‘Hurt’ appealed to the masses with their potent mix of industrial sounds and more polished rock, and Reznor became a legend of the genre.
With a sound that was both heavy and had mainstream appeal, Nine Inch Nails became prime pickings for sync placements. Their music has soundtracked everything from the kitchen chaos of The Bear to the grisly murders of Se7en, adding an extra air of dread to any scene it accompanies. Visual and violent, their sound is perfect for movie and television soundtracks.
Reznor has even taken this one step further in his work outside of Nine Inch Nails, working alongside Atticus Ross to create some of the most exhilarating film scores of the 21st century. He took home an Academy Award for his work on David Fincher’s The Social Network, a feat he replicated just one decade later with his music for the Disney film Soul.
The sound and stylings of Nine Inch Nails is undeniably cinematic, so it makes sense that their influences extend beyond other artists and into the realm of film. But there is one movie, in particular, that had a real impact on Reznor’s direction when it came to Nine Inch Nails: David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller, Dead Ringers.
During an interview with Letterboxd, Reznor and Ross both picked out a selection of their favourite films, sharing their love for the likes of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and the iconic Taxi Driver. Reznor also picked out Dead Ringers, explaining how he tried to recreate the anxiety-inducing atmosphere of the Cronenberg flick in Nine Inch Nails.
The film follows Jeremy Irons as the two main roles, twins who have each ventured into the vocation of gynecology. Like much of the industrial genre, and much of Nine Inch Nails’ discography, the film is creepy and unsettling. “The incredible sense of dread from the first frame to the end,” Reznor commented, “you’re not sure what’s going to happen, but it’s going to be bad. Love it.”
In fact, Reznor loved the atmosphere of the film so much that he looked to emulate it in the studio. The Nine Inch Nails producer acknowledged the impact of Cronenberg’s film on his work, describing it as a “big inspiration for what I try to do with Nine Inch Nails.” The goal? To “make you feel bad the whole time.” And it’s one that he has certainly achieved.
Nine Inch Nails’ music is often unsettling and uncomfortable, whether it’s due to the abrasive industrial influences of the music or the violence within their lyrics. Reznor’s ability to balance this Dead Ringers-style dread with more universally appealing elements is exactly what has made Nine Inch Nails one of the most important bands to spawn from the industrial genre.
