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I think that as long as we keep making horror films, you can guarantee that there will always be a film centered around dolls or clowns heading to a theatre near you. It's strange how the things that are supposed to bring us joy can creep us out the most! We essentially use the same characters to tell different stories and I guess it's been that way from the days of gathering around a campfire to sitting in recliners in front of movie screens. The ultimate goal is to evolve the stories with even more dramatic twists and surprising plots. Those who meet the challenge are rewarded with an immortalized tale that will stand the test of time and be treated with the reverence of horror fans everywhere. A challenge indeed. Another daunting tasks with these films is to create the score that sets the tone and atmosphere for the story. The music for horror films has certainly evolved over the years as well and composers like Joseph Bishara (Insidious films) create unique "soundscapes" that are equally terrifying on their own. Bear McCreary started early in his career with horror films like "Rest Stop" (2006) and "Wrong Turn 2" (2007) but he is probably best known for his television scores for popular series like "Battlestar Galactica", "Outlander", "Black Sails", and "The Walking Dead" (just to name a few). How he has been finding the time to even write scores for movies is pretty amazing considering all of the projects that he is involved with. Just recently he did the score for the movie "The Forest" which is another horror film dealing with the infamous Aokigahara Forest in Japan. While that film's score tended to support a beautiful yet haunted landscape, this particular score aims for a more classical creepy approach. It's almost like listening to a horror mystery that unravels a twisted story all along the way.
I haven't seen this film yet, but I have watched the movie trailers. It definitely has an interesting premise and McCreary's score seems to fit just right for my expectations of a story like this. A strange couple who treat this eerie looking doll as if it where their son who died tragically is pretty weird indeed. Part horror film and part psychological thriller, McCreary's score introduces us to this bizarre situation with a slow piano theme that is used throughout the film. Be careful, it's a catchy little number that can get stuck in your head! The theme is both sad and sets up a mysterious element that lingers throughout the score that hints at some greater secret somewhere. Most movies that involve dolls typically have these demonic forces at work and it is reflected in the score but I don't get that sense here. Tracks 2 and 3, "Meeting Brahms" and "The Crying Doll", continues this tone which can be described as eerily peaceful and relaxed. The tension begins to build towards the end of track 3 however, and we soon find ourselves with something more frightful developing in "The Attic" (track 4). McCreary's "action tracks" are brief at the beginning of the score and seem to be designed for more teaser scares rather than prolonged fits of terror. The longest track, "Out of the Mirror" (track 11), runs nearly 8 minutes and is the climatic music of the story. The score definitely builds to this point because this is where you'll find the most action packed music within the score. Percussion is used to heighten the tension with an increasing tempo, violin slides maintain a classy horror effect, and the occasional out of tune keys of a child's piano keeps the creep factor turned up. All of these elements come together nicely in a really cool rhythmic mash of sound 5 minutes into this track. The writers must be throwing everything they can here at the audience because McCreary is certainly tossing in everything as well. There is a brief reprise of this continued in the next track, "Goodnight Brahms" (track 12), which seems to indicate that Brahms doesn't want to go to sleep just yet. Everything levels off pretty quickly however and we are soon calmed with McCreary's mysterious piano theme. The theme is treated a bit more grander with a stronger supporting orchestra this time but there is also a growling underscore with lower instruments that appear to be more aggravated.
It's interesting that the doll character is named "Brahms". I wonder if it has anything to do with the composer Johannes Brahms who created the famous lullaby theme? McCreary plays around with this famous theme in "The Phone Call and the Letter" (track 7). You also hear it in the final track of the score, "Goodnight Brahms". I didn't make the connection until I heard this track (if there even is one). I tend to think of this score as being pretty "classy creepy". McCreary keeps the score pretty traditional, developing a soundtrack that has some scares but evolves more like a mystery. He's developed some thematic material within the music and he revisits it throughout which seems to connect the audience back to the story and it's characters. The score never overwhelms you with just horror noise but attempts to bring you back to something more important that is developing. Now, how successfully this works in the film is yet to be seen by me. But I am pretty impressed with the score on it's own.
The last track is a song entitled "In My Dream". It was written by Brendan McCreary who happens to be Bear McCreary's brother. The song is performed by Fyfe Monroe. Brendan McCreary is a musician, songwriter, and composer who has also worked on movies like "Wrong Turn 2", "Europa Report", and has contributed material for the Battlestar Galactica and Defiance series. The CD version of this score contains 13 tracks and runs nearly 50 minutes. The CD is produced by Lakeshore Records and they routinely tend to release only limited numbers of their physical copies. This one comes with the standard "Limited to 1000 Copies" gold sticker so if you want one...better pick it up quickly. The CD comes packaged in a digipak that has an inner sleeve that contains a 4 page insert. The insert opens up to a larger picture of Brahms sitting up in bed and the quote "Every child needs to feel loved". There are a few production credits but unfortunately no orchestra or musician listings.
Overall, I recommend this score. It has a classic sound to it, thematic material, and I find it to be very comfortable to listen to and work with in the background. I like a score that can tell a story on it's own and this one by Bear McCeary can certainly do just that.
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