The Wolfman (2010) review

The Wolfman (2010)

Composer: Danny Elfman

Number of tracks: 19

Total time: 66:05

Overview:

It seems the rule of thumb for film scores is that a bad film can deliver an amazing score. Joe Johnston's awful remake of the Universal Pictures classic The Wolfman only continues to prove that. The film was "cursed" from the beginning with production troubles: finding a good script, going through various directors, being postponed for a year, studio forced edits and finally going through two different scores.

In probably the strangest turn of events in modern film scoring, Danny Elfman was originally hired to score the film. After test screenings went poorly, Elfman's score was dropped for an electronic score by Paul Haslinger (best known for Underworld). Thankfully, Johnston was adamant that Elfman's score be used, thus it appears in the finished film. Granted, Elfman had to come back and re-score certain scenes plus additional music was inserted into the film.

Thankfully for us, Varese Sarabande released the original score by Elfman on CD for which this review is based.

Review of music:

Elfman's score is heavily influenced by the work of Wojciech Kilar for Brian De Palma's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), namely in the Eastern European flavor and string heavy melodrama. The opening two part "Wolf Suite" is a perfect example of this influence and a good sampling of the score overall. After a short opening build-up, the primary theme is introduced on violins with a cello ostinato line keeping the pace moving. The remainder of the first "Wolf Suite" is a collection of variations on the primary theme.

"Wolf Suite pt.2" focuses on the more romantic side of the score, though with a constant sense of melodramatic sorrow. The Main theme returns during the last half of the track to give a sense of returning unease. For the most part, this back and forth of melodrama and creepy horror is what this score is all about, with a liberal mixture of action material sprinkled throughout.

Speaking of action material, The Wolfman features several cues of aggressive action music based around the Main theme (Wolfman theme) and furious strings/percussion. "Gypsy Massacre" , "Bad Moon Rising" and "Country Carnage" are as furious in their orchestrations as the titles suggest. The two transformation cues open with eerie atmospherics before unleashing the full force of the orchestra with the Main theme.

On the softer side of the spectrum, there are several cues of dramatic string heavy material throughout the album. "Wake up, Lawrence", "You Must Go" and "The Antique Shop" feature the romantic music for Lawrence (Benicio Del Toro) and Gwen (Emily Blunt) which helps to break up the dark tone of the rest of the score. Still, these tracks have a certain sense of loneliness to them as the Wolfman theme stalks around the orchestra's perimeter.

Elfman lets loose with some truly impressive Gothic stylings in "The Traveling Montage" and "Finale" with the full ensemble accompanied by wordless choir. "The Funeral" features enough string heavy horror/drama to make fans of Christopher Young's stylings happy. On the flip side, "The Madhouse" and "Healing Montage" are pure experimental horror scoring with strange vocal effects and orchestral colors.

Closing thoughts:

Unless you have a complete aversion to horror scores of any type, even if they are in the grand Gothic mold, it's hard to find anything that is not recommendable about Elfman's The Wolfman. The heavy melodrama may get overpowering at times, but this is such an impressive score it's easy to get swept away in its Gothic excesses.

The film may be complete rubbish, but Danny Elfman was thankfully able to give us a very enjoyable and impressive score, the kind not heard since 1999's Sleepy Hollow. Highly Recommended.

Score:

4 out of 5