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Abominable (2006)
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Reviews
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    Not quite what I hoped for...
by Alex (July 25, 2006)
I guess I had my sights too high. I'd read so many good things about this score. I mean, Lalo Schifrin is composer gold! And his last horror score was "The Amityville Horror", arguably one of his best works! How could we go wrong? I guess I just expected too much. Schifrin had a 90-piece orchestra at his disposal, and he obviously made use of every instrument he could. Violins creep along sinuously, Bass broods deep and ominously, the piano is put to use occasionally, and most surpirsingly, a harp, or some variation thereof, is often used to very nice effect (like in "There Is Something Out There"). Like the film, the score feels like it was made in the 80's, with an old-fashioned asthetic that is quite appealing for the film. Electronic effects are kept to a minimum and used intelligently.
The problem with this score, frankly, is that we've heard music like this before. It's not without identity (again, "There Is Something Out There", and "Squatch Revealed" are two memorable and note-worth pieces, along with "Preston's Memories", "Animal Mutilations", and "Preston and Amanda"), but it just sounds like a bigger version of Harry Manfredini's work in "Friday the 13th", with maybe a little early John Williams thrown in, ala "Jaws". This works well for the film, but on CD, it becomes a tedious listen very quickly. At over an hour, this album feels too long and too familiar. Recommended for collectors but for anyone else...there are better horror scores out there...
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