The Haunting

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Jerry Goldsmith tackling a spooky horror effort isn't the newest thing in the world, but each time he amazes me with his result. Because I believe he is capable of delivering this unique quality to the movie, and as it transcends itself onto the CD, the experience of terror and anxiety only becomes better the more you encounter it. When I listened to the score for the first time, I wasn't all for it and even the highlights of the score didn't do much for me. But then you watch the film and you realize how well Goldsmith's score works, The Haunting is for that primarily a worthy experience. Because then the strange and perhaps out of place Carousel theme made sense, finally. The highlight 'Finally Home' got this unfelt powerful edge and the bone chilling mysterious main theme got the touch of supreme class when it was combined with the cinematography of the house, HILL House. The score becomes this effective little listen with all the trademarks of Goldsmith that combine the result into a satisfying listen once and a while.

First of all, when we encounter a certain kind of horror score the question is how much dissonance we will encounter. There is one difficult track and it really isn't that dissonant but still 'Terror in Bed' makes up for it with its effective scary edge. The other moments combine the mysterious main theme, heard first in 'The Carousel' with its lighter family theme for example in 'A Place for Everything'. Jan De Bont's movie may deal around its spectacular set of special effects, that scary edge no doubt needed to be there, and several moments of this better scary stuff is witnessed in 'The Curtains', 'Curly Hair', 'The Picture Album' and so go on. But people will still wonder what makes this score unique. A highlight always makes the score partly unique and here it is 'Finally Home', not only blows it the viewer away when it is combined on screen with amazing cinematography and its dazzling special effects, but also on disc it becomes the listening pleasure for Goldsmith fans. Still he remains one of the best when he keeps bringing these moments for those special scenes.

Of course a good filmmaker can make a house look scary even with its art direction and the various placement of the camera, but Goldsmith can add that unseen edge to the foreground, and even if its now something we haven't heard before, it still does the trick for us score listeners. The Haunting was released along with 2 adventure epics and while it is the weaker one of the three, it still brings the welcome diversity. The score does its name proud, on screen it becomes the most haunting experience you can find today and while the movie surely depends on its special effects, I still mostly enjoyed it, even if enjoying it isn't the best word to describe it. Goldsmith fans will always purchase it, even if it isn't the best in the long line of movie scores but I'm sure several non Goldsmith fans will enjoy what the master brought, making it a score to try out if you're into the genre of horror films and scores.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Carousel (2.54)

2. Terror In Bed (5.34)

3. A Place For Everything (3.17)

4. The Curtains (2.37)

5. Curly Hair (3.09)

6. The Picture Album (4.48)

7. Return To The Carousel (3.09)

8. Finally Home (6.16) Excellent Track

9. Home Safe (3.16)

Total Length: 35.14

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Jerry Goldsmith ===