Filmtracks: Urban Legends: Final Cut (John Ottman)

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Urban Legends: Final Cut

Composed, Orchestrated and Produced by:

John Ottman

Arranged and Conducted by:

Damon Intrabartolo

Performed by:

Munich Symphony Orchestra

Label:

Varèse Sarabande

Release Date:

September 12th, 2000

Also See:

The Usual Suspects
X2: X-Men United
Lake Placid
Snow White: Tale of Terror

Audio Clips:

2. The Tower (0:30), 148K urban_legends2_2.ra

10. I Trusted You (0:27), 136K urban_legends2_10.ra

15. Midnight Scream (0:28), 140K urban_legends2_15.ra

21. Amy's Shoot (0:30), 150K urban_legends2_21.ra

Availability:

Regular U.S. release.

Awards:

None.

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Sales Rank: 360324

Avg. Rating: 3.50

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Filmtracks Recommends:

Buy it... if you are the John Ottman junkie and want to hear an above average orchestral slasher score.

Avoid it... if all teenie slasher scores sound the same to you, and some slight Ottman variations on the slashing won't impress you.

Filmtracks Editorial Review:


Ottman

Urban Legends: Final Cut: (John Ottman) A jack of all trades, John Ottman is one of only a few artists in the history of Hollywood to have significant talents in directing, editing, and scoring of films. With his film Urban Legends: Final Cut in 2000, Ottman became the first person in modern times to accomplish all of those tasks for a single studio project. His enthusiasm for the project was never in doubt; he had already established himself as an in-demand composer and editor, and the next logical step for Ottman was to direct his own feature film (something he had done as a teenager with great, amateur zeal). The process of tackling so many duties for one project left him unavailable for other assignments in a year's span between 1999 and 2000, and thus he was unable to participate with long-time collaborator Bryan Singer for the original X-Men film. By his own word, Ottman was exhausted by the end of the Urban Legends: Final Cut experience, and while he wouldn't hesitate to jump into the director's chair again, there were lessons to be learned from the film. Despite his achievements and talents, Ottman's pseudo-sequel to the 1998 Urban Legends was a total failure with critics and audiences. It could not even attract the teen slasher audience into its mere premise, with most audiences confused, bored, or angry that any sequel (or spinoff) was attempted from this particular teen slasher idea, an idea that was mostly sapped in the first film. With a substantially new cast, new campus, and a Hitchcock involvement directly in the story, Ottman's film and score attempted to reach into the rich, boiling cauldron of slasher ideas and spin a new tale of darkness that would lurk right up Ottman's artistic alley. But with the quality of the film in serious doubt, Ottman's score would be the only redeeming element for film score enthusiasts, and in this arena, he continues to taste success.

With only a little over one day to record the score in Munich, Ottman's result is a serviceable horror score that lives up to the standards of the genre, but without breaking any new ground. The stylistic elements of the composition are saturated with Ottman's usual sound, with nearly every moment of the score spoken in his orchestrally dark and romantic voice. He utilizes several themes for Urban Legends: Final Cut, as usual, with the main character's 8-note theme featured in performances at the beginning, climax, and end of the score. It is ushered in to the score much like the elegant theme to The Usual Suspects; moments with the theme are undeniably attractive, but unfortunately the rest of the score lacks this sophisticated edge. The mass of the underscore --and there is a considerable amount of it here-- is very traditional, jumpy slasher music. Ottman seems to have wanted to put a touch of Herrmann into the music, with the Hitchcock references throughout the film, but his score is slightly too rooted in harmonious structure and modern horror cliches for that to be effective. The structure is very similar to that of Christopher Young's original Urban Legends style, or perhaps half a dozen Marco Beltrami efforts for similar films. The listenability of the lurking/crashing horror hits is dubious, but Ottman's usual light choral and creative instrumental uses keep this one from fading into obscurity. A few special twists keep the score original, too; Ottman utilizes the piano motif from Young's original score in two or three relevant cues here. He also incorporates the "Funeral March of the Marionette," which is classic Hitchcock. Finally, Ottman's "The Tower" has a magnificent, albeit short brass-slurring tribute to Jerry Goldsmith's horror/action styles at about 3:00 into the cue, with a rolling progression that hints of the climactic turmoil in Poltergeist. A generously long score album finishes with two songs by Ottman's conductor, Damon Intrabartolo. Overall, the score is an admirable job and an interesting listen, but falls short of being the truly defining moment in Ottman's career that he certainly hoped it would be. ***

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Track Listings:

Total Time: 73:23

• 1. Welcome to Alpine/Amy's Theme (1:20)
• 2. The Tower (5:04)
• 3. It's Going to be OK/Cold Night (1:19)
• 4. Meeting Trevor (3:51)
• 5. Puppy Chow (3:58)
• 6. I Know A Good Story (1:20)
• 7. Sandra's Missing (2:47)
• 8. The Scoring Stage (7:25)
• 9. The Gods of Men (1:00)
• 10. I Trusted You (4:06)
• 11. The Way It Is (1:31)
• 12. Disturbing Dailies (1:52)
• 13. Tunnel of Terror (3:33)
• 14. Daydream (1:30)
• 15. Midnight Scream (2:28)
• 16. Mile High Club (3:28)
• 17. Conjecture (1:27)
• 18. The Grate (0:42)
• 19. Hitchhiked (2:43)
• 20. Final Showdown (7:40)
• 21. Amy's Shoot (1:29)
• 22. A Soulmate/Funeral March of the Marionette (2:58)
• 23. Over It* - performed by Amanda Gonzalez (3:56)
• 24. Wrong* - performed by John Torres (3:41)

* Music and Lyrics by Damon Intrabartolo; Produced by Deborah Lurie

Notes and Quotes:

Insert includes a detailed note about the score or film.

All artwork and sound clips from Urban Legends: Final Cut are Copyright © 2000, Varèse Sarabande. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/10/03, updated 9/14/03. Review Version 4.2 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2003-2008, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved.