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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Scream VI (Brian Tyler/Sven Faulconer)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are satisfied that this music could be worse,
Brian Tyler's base style providing competent orchestral consistency with
a handful of tonal highlights.
Avoid it... if you are annoyed that this music could be better, the new main theme derivative of another Tyler score, Marco Beltrami's ideas banished, and the album brutally long.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Scream VI: (Brian Tyler/Sven Faulconer) Does it
really matter who wears the Ghostface mask anymore? Who cares? The
slasher killings of Woodsboro and beyond have garnered so much media
attention in the stories of the Scream franchise that the current
wielder of the mask and associated knives could be your best friend. Or
it could be your elderly neighbor. Or the dork at the gym. Or even Elon
Musk. The longevity of this concept on screen requires new predators and
prey each time, with only the stylistic framing of each "kill" to define
the artistry and appeal of the films. In Scream VI, the series
takes a decided journey away from its roots, shifting the setting from
Woodsboro to New York City (endless hordes of heathens there to slash!)
and failing to include Neve Campbell's character of Sidney Prescott in
the story (woman shalt not ask for too much money!). The main four
characters of the prior film move to the big city and are stalked there
much the same, proving that idiotic minds revere Ghostface to such an
extent that imitators abound everywhere. Amazingly, many of the primary
characters manage to survive, earning them a credible chance to star in
the twelfth Scream movie someday. Despite residing fairly low on
the scale of intellectual prowess, Scream VI earned reasonably
positive responses and enough grosses to make one wonder why people like
wasting time on such schlock. While the music of Marco Beltrami defined
the sound of the first four Scream films when allowed to exist
amongst song placements, Brian Tyler stepped in to provide a score for
2022's Scream (the fifth entry annoyingly without any designation
as such) that was meant to serve as a bridge between the prior music and
his own for the next generation of kill targets. In many ways, his
approach followed how he handled the First Blood franchise,
slowly weening audiences off of Jerry Goldsmith's identities for John
Rambo until only his comparatively mundane themes prevailed. The
abandonment of Beltrami's material for this concept is a little more
understandable given the shift in main characters, but such strategic
direction leaves the franchise without any overarching musical identity.
That shift was well underway in 2022's Scream, and it is complete
in Scream VI.
The score for the prior movie by Tyler wasn't terrible, as it at least espoused some of the musical characteristics of the franchise's past. In Scream VI, all of that history is gone. A few horror techniques and one Tyler theme from 2022's Scream return, and they're joined by a dominant new identity. Helping Tyler in the endeavor and receiving main co-compositional credit is Sven Faulconer, whose career as a ghostwriter in the 2010's started alongside James Newton Howard but shifted to Lorne Balfe and other graduates of the Hans Zimmer school of controversy. Faulconer's solo work has mostly graced short films and a handful of television series since, and Scream VI represents by far his most major top-line credit for a feature film. The sound of this score is distinctly from Tyler's own history, though, blending parts of The Mummy with Those Who Wish Me Dead and a number of his other moderately effective suspense and thriller works. The Beltrami aspects are definitely gone, from the solo female voice to the main theme for Sidney that doesn't even make a cameo in cues meant to underscore conversations about Ghostface's history. For those concept enthusiasts who believe that Sidney's theme represents the entirety of the Woodsboro legacy and thus the franchise in general, Tyler and/or the filmmakers clearly disagree. If you insist upon straining, you might hear slight connections to Beltrami's style in the somber string and vocal drama midway through "Gale vs Ghostface" and the progressions late in "Revelations." Otherwise, Tyler's methods from the previous score dominate, the work mostly built on strings but with brass pronounced for horror sequences. Synthetic layers are highlighted by a slashing metallic scraping sound, and a growling bassoon-like effect is employed for the creeps throughout, adjoining the choir early in "Revenge." (This accent could be a processed low string, as that is a favorite technique of Tyler.) The choral usage is a positive development, with "Apartment Mayhem" punctuated by a good moment of gothic, Christopher Young horror magnificence. Chime tolls seem to exist regularly, perhaps to suggest a future or past kill. Expect the usual jump scare tactics and occasional manipulation, though Tyler and Faulconer do seem to make a concerted effort to avoid the trashiest of cheap electronic tricks, leaving the orchestra as the driving force. While the Beltrami themes are absent in Scream VI, Tyler's new primary character theme from 2022's Scream returns to guide the new core group of characters haunted by degenerates in masks. Don't expect this theme to receive anywhere near the compelling performance here that it enjoyed in "New Horizons" in the previous score, however, its very muted continuance a major disappointment. It is conveyed in full at 4:39 into "Scream VI Suite" on ambient keyboarding and electric guitar, a performance that mirrors its placement within the score during "The Core Four." The electric guitar interlude during this rendition is a bit out of place and doesn't figure elsewhere in the work. The character theme has difficulty shaking its lightly keyboarded incarnation here, continuing at 0:55 in "Walk It Off" and in the middle of "Sam and Danny" with some alterations to the melody. It dissolves early in "Bodega Terror," struggles to enunciate later in "It's a Franchise," its chords only really surviving, is slight in the middle of "Make Your Own Family," and revisits the dissolved version similarly in "Tara and Chad." The theme enjoys a brief moment of triumph on brass at 2:55 into "The Grand Finale" and becomes lightly dramatic on choir and strings at 2:06 into "Revenge." Sadly, this glimpse of life for the theme is short-lived, though, as it opens "Together" in the same keyboarded haze as before in the score, prior to hitting an obligatory jump scare, and it only barely guides the remainder of the cue. Whereas Tyler and Faulconer fail to extend the existing character theme in satisfying new directions, they remain extremely faithful to what they may be establishing as the new franchise theme for the suspense and killings. This fresh identity is everywhere in the score, built upon roiling, seven-note phrases that are abbreviated to four notes for emphasis when the knife comes out. Unfortunately, you could also call this idea the "Mummy" theme for Scream VI, as it is highly reminiscent of two motifs from Tyler's superior The Mummy, especially in the main suite performance. It dominates the first minutes of "Scream VI Suite" in impressive symphonic shades, an intriguing repurposing of one of Tyler's better career identities for new life. At the least, the structure of the theme functions like a rolling rhythmic figure in its full form, allowing him to generate a sense of momentum with his tone of dread. The new main theme in Scream VI is previewed in "Prologue" with an annoying electronic crescendo and drop-off. The four-note version is subtle early in "Something Red" on strings but becomes huge in terror by the cue's end. After rambling over dissonance early in "Walk It Off," the theme's full form emerges from ambient muck late in "Warmer Colder" and becomes frantic. It's mysterious from cellos in the middle of "Not Overreacting" while the four-note abbreviation of horror explodes in the middle of "Bodega Terror" on brass. The idea meanders in "Stuck in Town," gaining momentum late, and stutters early in "It's a Franchise" before consolidating in creepy resonance. This new main theme offers drama early in "Ghostface History" and "Sam is Suspect" and provides a surprisingly upbeat and accelerated ending to "The Core Four," the score's brightest moment. It punctuates the gothic, choral end to "Apartment Mayhem," is slight in "Off the Case," and shifts to light, suspenseful choir early in "The Shrine," where the idea defines the whole cue. It emulates slight Goldsmith mannerisms in "Make Your Own Family," supplies a dramatic swell at the start of "Gale's Apartment" before guiding late suspense, and informs the early action in "Gale vs Ghostface" and closes out that cue. The choral rendition of the main theme in the middle of "Kill Box" includes the chime for gravity, and there's larger than life attitude at 1:28 into "Theater Ambush" in its four-note variation. The theme stews deeply in "Revelations," building to a rousing finish, while eerie choir at the start of "Revenge" precedes the full form of the idea exploding with rage at 1:40. Concluding the score, the theme serves as a smooth interlude to the character theme in "Together," and the composers leave it on an unresolved note with a choral reminder with chime and dissonance in "Haunted." Regardless of your position on Tyler reinventing the franchise's musical identity, this new theme is arguably more memorable as a suspense and horror element than anything Beltrami provided. On the other hand, the character material is comparatively limp and fails to generate any genuine emotional connection. The serviceable score is not done many favors by a brutally long album presentation. The wise listener would take "Scream VI Suite," "Apartment Mayhem," "The Shrine," and "Revenge" as the highlights and carefully navigate the rest. Better yet, add "Scream VI Suite" to a collection of music from Tyler's The Mummy. In making this franchise his own, Tyler has charted a course directly back to his comfort zone.
TRACK LISTINGS:
All Albums:
Total Time: 95:23
NOTES & QUOTES:
There exists no official packaging for the digital album. The insert of
the CD album contains a note from composer Sven Faulconer about the score.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Scream VI are Copyright © 2023, Paramount Music, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 3/20/23 and last updated 1/31/24. |
