Soundtrack Review: My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)
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This is a review of the motion picture score My Bloody Valentine 3D by Michael Wandmacher.
“Just because it’s a horror score, doesn’t mean it has to be boring and uninspiring, which is the main problem with this score.”
Michael Wandmacher is not someone you hear much from, but for those who like horror scores, he should be a familiar name. I remember he did a great score for the movie Cry_Wolf and recently a less impressive score for Punisher: War Zone. His style can remind you of Paul Haslinger in many ways in the way he approaches and creates his music. The movie is a remake of the 1981 movie of the same name (without the 3D). On Valentine’s day 10 years ago someone kills 22 coal miners in an explosion. 10 years later and grizzly murders start happening again and Tom Hanniger who just happens to return at the same time get blamed for these murders. A typical slasher movie plot in other words. Let’s see what Michael Wandmacher can do with this.
Track List
- Buried Alive (Main Titles) (****)
- Left For Dead (***)
- Prodigal Son (****)
- Human Pincushions (**)
- Asphalt Pancake (***)
- Evidence Of Bodies (***)
- A Troubled Conversation (***)
- Cage Match (***)
- One Weird Place (***)
- House Of Ill Repute (**)
- Spoiled Chocolate (*)
- Be Mine 4ever (*)
- Dental Work (**)
- The Wind Up (***)
- Triumvirate (***)
- An Axe To Grind (***)
- First Responder (****)
Typical Slasher Score
First let me say that there is an unusual amount of music for a horror film score. Michael Wandmacher has put in 1 hour and 14 minutes of solid slasher type music. It contains 17 tracks of various length, however as solid as the slasher music is, will it work outside of the movie itself? Too many times, we watch horror movies with uninspiring music just at the right moments designed to scare the bejeezus out of you. Then there are these intelligent horror movies which actually has pretty great music on them. Last year there was quite a handful of such examples. Marco Beltrami showed us the way in The Eye and Robert Williamson & Johannes Kobilke made a good score for The Midnight Meat Train despite it’s ’slasher’ status.
Intelligent Scoring
I can just say that this score must go into the uninspiring category with music designed to shock and scare you. Michael Wandmacher worked very hard on this score however, and he had less than a month to do it so he was certainly under a lot of pressure. Sometimes we forget that the composers have very little time to compose the music and usually has to do what the director says. This is a review of the music in any case, not the general work of Wandmacher. I have No doubt the music works wonders in the movie, but it’s sadly quite unlistenable outside of it. That being said, there are a few examples in this score that shows intelligent scoring with a decent melody. Take the main titles for example called ‘Buried Alive (Main Title)‘ which judging from the beginning can fool you into believing it’s a Brian Tyler action score we are listening to. It doesn’t last however as the horror part soon creeps in with ambient noises and loud bangs and noises. Still I would consider this the best cue on the score. Another one is ‘Prodigal Son’ which is the theme for the returning Tom Hanniger, a minimalistic theme which shows some elements of humanity in this monstrous score (at least in the beginning). It builds up slowly using piano and guitar, then goes a bit heavy midway, but it’s still a cue that is quite nice to listen to. The last cue ‘First Responder’ is proof that with the right mix of ambience and thematic elements, it can sound quite nice. We re-visit the Tom Hanniger theme from ‘Prodigal Son’ and it sounds quite similar to that one.
Conclusion
Just because it’s a horror score, doesn’t mean it has to be boring and uninspiring, which is the main problem with this score. It is constantly bangs and noises mixed in with ambient, the typical slasher movie music which just doesn’t work quite as well outside of the movie. I recommend this to horror film fans who just need it in their collection, but to everyone else, steer clear!
Listen to My Bloody Valentine 3D by Michael Wandmacher below:
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Comments
Still haven’t made my mind up about that score (The Uninvited). Will be interesting to hear your take!
I just managed to get this soundtrack. I agree that overall, it’s a boring CD to listen to. However, I sometimes think it’s quite difficult to judge a horror soundtrack out of context. I’ve seen the movie a few times and I think the music is just perfect for the scenes. On its own, yeah it’s boring, but the point in the music is to move the scenes along and heighten the tension. When judging on that note, it works fantastically.
I do agree with the top choices, it is those tracks that I’ve selected to play in my soundtrack playlist. However I think it is important to remember that Ennio Morricone, one of the finest composers ever imo, has very few enjoyable single tracks to listen to. I think his music is genius in a film setting, but other than a few choice tracks, the music is boring to listen to out of context.
Just my two cents. Not a great soundtrack to listen to on its own, but in context – it’s fantastic and that’s how I always think it should be.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 12:06 am
I agree with you Maddy. It’s true that a lot of the ‘boring’ horror scores out there is made especially for the scenes of the movie. Still, I wonder if it was different, would you still feel the same after seeing the movie? It’s hard to judge. It might be unfair to judge it based on listening to the soundtrack alone, but in the end that’s what you will be listening to if you buy it. So keep that in mind when reading my reviews. In 95% of the cases it will be judged solely on listening outside of the movie.
I highly doubt that when you listen to a particular cue here you will go “aha!” and remember it fondly from a scene from the movie. Or am I wrong? It hasn’t happened to me yet with scores and movies such as this.
Maddy Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Don’t worry, dude, I’m in 100% agreeance with you really. I know the review is based on what you listen to when listening to the CD alone, not when combined with movie.
I think with most horror movies for the most part, this type of quality is standard, but I think with what Wandmacher had to deal with – lack of prep time and it’s a slasher movie, most eerie scenes require simplistic build ups and crucendos without taking over – he did a good job. I actually liked the lack of random loud bangs and clashes to cover parts designed to make you jump, there was better use of build ups to quick cut offs coinciding with the “jump” part.
I actually LOVE the theme for Tom, Prodigal Son – which is brought back for First Responder. Something about when the main theme hits just gets me excited, and better still – desperate to see the movie again! lol.
You’re right though – other than about 4 ocassions, none of the cues really meant anything to me.
Horror just doesn’t open up much scope for a composer as say a romantic or heart warming story would but at the points in this movie where a proper melodic piece could be used were utilised well.
I like a fair bit of Tyler Bates stuff too, but I was mostly unimpressed listening to the SLiTHER soundtrack compared to say 300 or Watchmen which opened up more scope for him as a composer. I guess horror doesn’t bring out the best in most composers.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 12:58 am
I spoke to Wandmacher about this and he could do nothing else than what the director told him to do. I also spoke to another composer about it, and he said the same thing. It seems to be the norm unless you are Hans Zimmer. It’s a shame that the composers can’t have their own voices heard when scoring movies.
I agree with you on Slither. Not a great score in my opinion. He does scores like 300 and Watchmen well.
There are some great thematic horror scores out there like The Uninvited and The Eye for example which proves that it doesn’t have to be random noises and horrific sounds just to scare.
I’m sure Wandmacher is in a position to choose his movies though and perhaps this wasn’t the best career move from him. By the way, he did a great horror score for Cry_Wolf.
Soundtrack Seek
“His style can remind you of Paul Haslinger in many ways in the way he approaches and creates his music.”
With such a statement, it’d be nice if you could give an example of the way in which their approaches are similar. How exactly does he remind you of Haslinger? For those unfamiliar with both composers, qualifying your thoughts on this point can go a long way for setting up “the sound” of this score.
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I would say composers like Wandmacher and Haslinger are unique for being such high profile composers. I just can’t think of any composer that has a similar style. They often use very rough, edged music, sometimes themeless, ambience is another big seller for these guys. It’s the rock of film music, not that they are rock stars or everything. While most of the other composers are doing mostly classical, electronica or a mix between the two Wandmacher and Haslinger aren’t afraid to use unorthodox instruments, that heavy guitar or overuse of thrashy percussion. Remember the last Underworld score Haslinger did? Who could make that except him? It was basically grinding stone noises when you think about it, but it worked.
The sound of My Bloody Valentine 3D are the typical slasher horror score (Lots of scary sounds, sometimes seems like random, very little focus on the melody itself and it’s incorporating those things I’ve already mentioned)
Reply
Timothy E. RAW Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Perfect response! Too often these thoughts that get down to nitty, gritty specifics in the comments after the fact, don’t make it into the reviews, which is a shame. Questions are raised and not answered in full, or points are made without examples to back them up, which you obviously can do, but for my money are not doing enough of. Giving examples of what you’re saying (which you’ve done above) is ALWAYS a good idea. Not bustin’ your balls Jorn, i simply want more thorough details in the reviews that are particular to the reviewer, not just the basics covered in reviews on other sites.
Looking forward to the next slew of horror reviews!
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Fair enough Tim, I’ll try to incorporate that in my future reviews.
Tonight Christopher Young is back in the horror genre with The Uninvited, so be sure to check that out.