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The thematic centerpiece of Ottman's score for Hide and Seek is, as usual, his most creative idea for the film. A child's lullaby is penned for the Emily character (Fanning), a simple two-verse, six note piece that strikes similarities to children's rhymes and other songs you'll vaguely recall from your own youth. While bordering on cliche whenever such a "la-la" song is used in this circumstance (especially since Jerry Goldsmith's Poltergeist), Ottman pulls it off without false pretense. Part of this success in the opening cue, as well as in the thematic performances throughout, is due to Ottman's constant reminder of tension in his quiet crescendos, pulses, and other strokes of emphasis on the subtleties of notes in both the forefront and the counterpoint. A superb example of this tension in the face of innocence is developed in "Toy Shrine" and "The Playground," back-to-back album tracks that offer solo piano and string performances that shift with just the right tones of wonderment and curiosity as to pull you into a child's psychological world. The balance between plucked and struck tones in these passages is a keenly devious juggling of innocuous and suspicious sentiment. The action material is less unique to Hide and Seek, though the album is arranged so that the more intriguing rhythmic portions exist at the start. Both "What Did You Do?" and "Can You See Now?" present frantic, alternating string rhythms with uneasy harp, synthetic choir, and slowly rising chord progressions that lead up to each grisly discovery with fantastic gravity. In the latter half of the album, Ottman does resort to stock orchestra hits, less interesting string dissonance, generic ambient tones, and fewer integrations of his established theme. The album's success for you will be determined based upon your liking of the lullaby, however, and Ottman knows this. After Deborah Lurie's wordless introduction of the theme in the opening cue, her version with clever lyrics closes out a suite-like performance as a highlight in the final score cue. The last track on the album is a rock instrument and slow electronica rhythm rendition of the same theme by different adult female voice, and although it shares absolutely no characteristics with the orchestral score, it is surprisingly easy to enjoy in and of itself. Its appeal seems to exist in Ottman's ability to transfer the same melancholy attitude to a rendition of a familiar melody that is instrumentally so different. Overall, Hide and Seek is yet another Ottman score that has three or four fabulous tracks for a compilation surrounded by basically interesting but not substantially fresh horror ideas.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For John Ottman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.17 (in 35 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.05 (in 21,438 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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