DJ and producer supreme Steve Lawler has added another string to his bow, stepping into the Hollywood arena with his remix of the title track of new Universal movie, The Skeleton Key.

The film, starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard and John Hurt, written by Ehren Kruger (writer of The Ring) and directed by British director Iain Softley (K-Pax, Hackers, Backbeat) is set for release in the UK on July 29 through UIP. T he Skeleton Key is a contemporary supernatural thriller set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans. The story centres on Caroline ( Hudson), a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Rowlands) ailing husband (Hurt) in their home... a foreboding and decrepit mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline begins to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret. 

Iain himself enthuses: “The music is always a very important element of a film and in The Skeleton Key, the music carries a secret coded message that lies at the centre of the film’s mystery. I wanted an underground and modern equivalent of this message and it struck me that Steve would be able to take it and run with it. Which he has – the track compliments the film perfectly. It’s dark, tribal and hypnotic.”

It will still be one for the dancefloor, Steve says, but will have an edge to it that none of his other remixes have had to date. “You can really go to town with a soundtrack because they use the best quality sound - using pro-tools and DBX -and when you listen to it, it’s full on and so much sharper. When I got the track, it was like in a hundred parts and you could hear all kinds of things – nails scraping down blackboards, screams and there’s a chilling lost tribal chant going on. I’ve really gone to town on that! It was nice to get some big tribal drums out again!”

This is a step in an auspicious direction for Lawler, with entire film scores next on the list. “I’d love to be in my own studio, using my own sounds and being really creative. House music is for the dancefloor but film music takes you on a journey. This journey is just like the film - dark.”