Customer Reviews

The Others: Original Motion Picture Score

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The experiment is a success!

He develops a closeness with the material, fills you with the good kind of chills... it starts out very innocently, like a children's fairy tale, and then you feel ghostly spirits walking in the door in the first track. Kindly spirits, vaguely unsettled in a Disney's Haunted Mansion way. The second track begins to peek around corners, behind the forbidden doors (also the music in the film's trailer).

There is an old heart within the frights that delights and sorrows the soul, that sees light to counteract the darkness of the film. Sounds silly, but it is a beautiful, atmospheric score that moves through the house, explores the rooms and clings to the storyline like the sheets on the old furniture. Soft, foreboding, and deserved of tinkles of ghost's feet upon the floor.

the most amazing thing about this score was that not only did amenabar compose it, but he also wrote the script and directed the film as well. kicking back to the old traditions of robert wise, amenabar uses fear and atmosphere instead of the gore and special effects seen in such movies as "house on haunted hill". The music shows it - each lingering passage, the "space between the notes" as amazon puts it, really grabs you in. And there's a contrast too, between the old-time classic horror genre score with the violins and the "stingers" or dramatic placement of music just prior to the event, and the new wave ambience of jarring, dissonant sound.

Something to be said about the "stingers", however - the thing that Amenabar does, and does so well, is placing them. First, one sees the event, in the movie, and then hears the music, which only serves to heighten the paranoia .. and further influence the music. The only reason I do not give this score five stars is because, upon listening, it gets slightly repetitive. It's not something I can just pop in the CD player and listen to for an hour - I have to be in just the right mood. It seems only congruent to the film structure, and in places feels too minimalist for pleasure listening. But if you're an enthusiast of the film, by all means, snatch it up!

Alejandro Amenábar is a one-man wonder, a Renaissance man of the film world. This Spanish director is only 29 years old and wrote, directed and scored "The Others." The soundtrack maintains an undercurrent of tension and creepiness, evident in tracks such as "They Are Everywhere." Heavily influenced by Danny Elfman and the like, but enjoyable nevertheless. Swelling crescendos of ominous strings and sudden crashes mirror the onscreen action but stand alone well. Eerie piano solos, dramatic sweeps of strings, with touches of quiet, reflective moments introduced by piano. Soft, lilting flute solos at times. Could have done with some vocalists à la "Sleepy Hollow," but still a remarkable effort. And genuinely creepy at times.

Alejandro Amenabar not only wrote and directed "The Others"; he composed the soundtrack. This is a truly impressive achievement, and his soundtrack for "The Others" is one of the better fantasy/horror soundtracks in recent memory. Sometimes when I listen to this music it raises goosebumps, and I'm not even watching the movie!

Amenabar has soaked up influences from the great fantasy film composers like Danny Elfman, Bernard Herrmann, and Jerry Goldsmith, and it shows. There is also some influence here from modern classical music (I wonder if Arnold Schoenberg is rolling in his grave, knowing that his great avant-garde classical style is known to the public mostly from horror film scores? :-)) One interesting tidbit: the ghostly "Others" of the film's title are known throughout the film as "the Invaders." Amenabar's score bears some similarity to Jerry Goldsmith's famous music for a Twilight Zone episode, also entitled "the Invaders," which concerned a woman trying to keep intruders out of her home and contained a mind-twisting surprise ending. Coincidence? Maybe...

This macabre and classically-driven soundtrack is so freakin' cool that you'll want to grab a Polaroid and take one of those post-mortem snapshots to show all your friends. They make great greeting cards.
Just go buy it already.

An eerily beautiful score to a motion picture which employs a unique approach of the occult.I feel the Musical pieces are very well orchestrated and many of the films more intense scenes are well enhanced by Mr Amenabar's Musical Score.To Fans of Film music I do recommend this one!

This is a really creepy and haunting soundtrack. I picked it up right after seeing the film which was excellent. The cd is pretty short (41 mins.) but all of the tracks are good. They alternate between soft eerie music and a few uptempo action cues. If you are a film music fan this is definitely a new composer to check out.

this is very good and very creepy music. a perfect fit for the film.

Listening to this sent chills up my spine! Alejandrowhats-his-name really knows what it takes to make sombody feel like they're being watched...like some one's creeping up behind you. A few of the songs were a bit funny, or maybe that's just me being morbid again...it's definatly the next CD i'm getting-- it'll be a great one to play on Christmas Eve for the folks!

There are a lot of violin tones, and cellos. It times the music gets really quiet, and then just pops at you. It is definitely a good score for a scary movie, adn i didn't realize that the director also wrote the score.