John De Simone · Composer · Aberdeen, Scotland

Original music
for film.

Composer of the original score for The Dark Gets In, Sean Hogan’s new feature, which premiered at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles and has its international premiere at FrightFest in London on 31 October.

Watch the teaserDiscuss a film

01 — Original score

The Dark Gets In

Written and directed by Sean Hogan · Original music by John De Simone · UK 2026 · 91 minutes

An investigation into a disappearance becomes an encounter with the uncanny.

Sean Hogan’s feature follows documentary filmmakers whose search for a missing girl draws them into something increasingly disturbing. Original score by John De Simone.

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02 — Earlier screen work

Alma Mater

Fish & Game · Film, theatre and installation · 2011

An intimate encounter with childhood and family.

Created by Fish & Game, Alma Mater brings a filmed story into a physical room for an audience of one. John’s original score is performed by Ensemble Thing.

03 — Featured music

The Dreaming Bog

A film by Robert Aitken · Featuring Embodying the Peatlands: Flow

Peatlands, memory and a changing climate.

Robert Aitken’s poetic film explores the bogs of northern Scotland and Finland, drawing on George Gunn’s poem Six Thousand Years of Sunlight.

The film features Flow, with Emily and John De Simone. Its connection to peatland research and restoration, and Aitken’s choice of the music for the film, are documented in Peatlands International.

About the film

04 — Working together

Have a film in mind?

Tell me about the story, where you are in the process, and what you’re looking for from the music. A few details about your schedule and the scope of the score are useful starting points.

Discuss a filmjohndesimone@johndesimone.co.uk