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Review of Snow White: Tale of Terror (John Ottman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you appreciate John Ottman's often extreme instrumental creativity in his horror and fantasy music, regardless of how emotionally draining the music can be.

Avoid it... if the Gothic beauty that lures you to this genre in Ottman's career requires lengthy statements of straight, harmonic elegance to justify your attention.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Snow White: A Tale of Terror: (John Ottman) Few people who fondly remember the Disney version of this Brothers Grimm tale will actually recall the fact that it is nothing less than a horror story. While many elements of the story were translated into the famous cartoon, most of the juicier parts were not, and it is this wrong that is tackled in the doomed Michael Cohn live-action adaptation. The 1997 production of Snow White: A Tale of Terror is far more true to the original story, placing the wicked stepmother queen, her new lord husband, and an ever-increasingly-beautiful Snow White coming of age in a more proper 16th Century fantasy setting. Even here, though, liberties are taken with the ruffians from whom the dwarfs were originally molded for the cartoon, and some character role-shifting muddies the waters. The methods of attempted murder by the evil queen remain thankfully intact, though. Despite placing Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill in the parental roles, the film was not considered successful enough to sustain a theatrical release, and was shown instead on the Showtime cable network without practically any fanfare. This circumstance of release was a great disappointment to composer John Ottman, who only composed the score for (and did not edit) the film. One of the reasons for that disappointment was the fact that Snow White: A Tale of Terror represented one of the few times that the recording and post-production process for a score had gone really smoothly. Ottman was also likely anxious to expand upon the attention that he had brought to his career with his score for The Usual Suspects a few years earlier. The year 1997 would represent the arrival of Ottman's large-scale horror and intrigue sound, carrying over into several more years of endeavors in the genre before finally breaking into mainstream action in the 2000's. In many ways, Snow White: A Tale of Terror would be the score that set the table for the majority of "Ottmanisms" that the composer would draw from in the following efforts, with every moment of this original work oozing with trademarks that the composer was just establishing.

Whether or not the score is actually listenable for the purposes of enjoyment depends on how morbid your musical tastes are. If Ottman succeeds in only one aspect of Snow White: A Tale of Terror, it is the sheer oppression and nightmarish stylings of the music's attitude. This is a ferocious and mean score. It embodies the clever and freakish qualities of the wicked stepmother while using the unstable Gothic beauty of the orchestral group and choir to lure you in. The score never sustains a thematic performance in the kind of obvious harmony that will attract many listeners, but it enchants with its remarkable soundscape. The two primary themes are mutated with such effectiveness that even attentive ears may not notice their many fragments. Only in the opening theme and the grand closing of "What Have You Done to Me?" does Ottman satisfy the desire for elegant statements, leaving the wild instrumentation of the remainder of the score to define Snow White: A Tale of Terror better than a theme alone can accomplish. Like the whims of the queen, the score shifts mood almost randomly, utilizing a variety of plucking of strings, percussive tapings and ripping, and downright creepy singular and group vocals to constantly manipulate the story's intrigue. The unpredictable frequency and types of usage of the ensemble can be difficult to enjoy in a sustained listening, especially when they unpleasantly bubble along at a nearly inaudible levels and tease you with the next loud metallic or forceful web of tangled vocal chants. Constant changes in tempo and a staggering of keys keep you on edge outside of the opening two and closing two cues on the album, which offer the only non-threatening performances. It is a score that reminded many people at the time of the kind of brazen horror techniques that some had anticipated from Danny Elfman, though the whimsical flight and orchestral creativity Snow White: A Tale of Terror clearly, in retrospect, place the effort squarely in Ottman territory. Much of the delightful instrumentation, such as the harpsichord and acoustic guitar, would appear at roughly the same time in Ottman's outstanding Incognito. Despite being an enormously draining and tiring listening experience, Snow White: A Tale of Terror is a recommended album.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 60:43

• 1. Main Theme (3:08) • 2. Claudia Arrives (2:58) • 3. Lilly's Birth (3:07) • 4. The Apple (5:16) • 5. The Dress (0:44) • 6. Freaks of Nature (4:32) • 7. Mirror, Mirror (3:32) • 8. The Awakening (2:36) • 9. Traitor (2:29) • 10. Company for Christ (2:20) • 11. The Celebration (2:47)

• 12. Fatal Glance (2:01) • 13. The Locket (0:25) • 14. Seduction/About Will (4:46) • 15. The Spell (1:15) • 16. She Lurks (2:50) • 17. Reflections (2:00) • 18. The Outcasts (1:59) • 19. Claudia's Lair (4:09) • 20. Taking the Seed (1:51) • 21. What have You Done to Me! (2:52) • 22. Resolution (1:50)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert notes include a personal anecdote from John Ottman.

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