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Written 11/12/05
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Buy it... only if you are an enthusiast of classic blues tunes of a
truly depressing nature, and could tolerate some twangy suspense
underscore interspersed.
Avoid it... if you seek heightened intelligence in your horror
works, and the same old stereotypical strikes and banging won't
compensate for some good location design for America's deep south.
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| Shearmur |
The Skeleton Key: (Edward Shearmur) A stock
thriller released in the height of summer, The Skeleton Key takes
the notion of the haunted house and places it in the Louisiana delta
region outside of New Orleans. One of the ironies of the film is that it
seems to rain all the time in this place, and wouldn't you know... a
"hurricane of the century" would hit the real life location a few weeks
after the release of the film. The rain, unfortunately, is the only
realistic leap of logic in this rather trashy film. It's amazing how
such established groups of actors can end up in a rehash such as The
Skeleton Key, with stereotypical horror twists and camera techniques
that no longer cause the majority of the audience to even squirm
slightly in its seats. Kate Hudson's primary character is given a
skeleton (master) key to a mansion where she is the live-in nurse, and
there is inevitably a room in the attic with a rattling door and all
sorts of nasties within. Heck, there's even a gas station in this little
town setting that looks perfect for Deliverance. The only
variation on the horror theme here is the "Hoodoo" folk magic variation
on familiar incantations and herbal remedies. Director Iain Softley has
been deteriorating in his progression of projects, and he's been taking
his loyal composer, Edward Shearmur, along for the ride. From The
Wings of the Dove to K-Pax to The Skeleton Key,
Shearmur's music for Softley's films has not stayed consistent with the
otherwise slow, but sure increase in quality from the composer for other
projects. One thing that Shearmur has going for him is an intelligence
about genres of music, however, and he does his best to inject the
spirit of America's deep south into the soundtrack. Hearing a genuine
Southern twang in scores these days is relatively rare, and the album
that Shearmur has put together includes some classic, historically
regional songs.
For a film that relies heavily upon atmosphere, shock,
and superstition, Shearmur seems content to provide music that is
restrained to those simple concepts. His acoustic guitar work will
remind of John Williams'
Rosewood, though his straight horror
cues take familiar orchestra hits, wild string strikes, and considerable
drum beating to get their message across. Distant thematic wanderings in
the lower ranges of the orchestra are highlighted by the guitar, and in
"Violet's Story" and "Hoodoo Woman," Shearmur begins to establish some
dramatic appeal in the strings and guitar's performances. There are
individual electronic contributions to the score that merit a mention,
including a distant vocal wailing and seagull sound effect (so high that
it almost sounds like dolphin calls) in "Ben Escapes." But the rest of
Shearmur's music passes quite anonymously. It's always a disappointment
when you have essentially a haunted house movie and neither the house
nor the rattling thing in the attic receive any thematic development or
instrumental motif to foreshadow and surprise the listener. In fact, all
of Shearmur's thematic material in
The Skeleton Key remains
elusive at best, with its pace of movement so slow that it's difficult
to remember where the ideas started by the time they unceremoniously
evaporate at the end. The album for
The Skeleton Key was produced
by the composer and director together, and reveals another problem with
the music for this film. The difference between the historical blues
songs (sometimes with the static from the record player clearly evident)
and Shearmur's deeply resounding sound quality makes for countless
jarring transitions, as the songs and score are alternated throughout
the entire album. This sequencing problem is the nail in the coffin of
Shearmur's work, and makes the album far more interesting for fans of
old, depressing blues tunes rather than film music collectors. Fans of
Shearmur's work won't find enough quality material here to enjoy.
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- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on Album: *
- Overall: **
