Everything about Darkman is saturated with the same dense, dark, and determined styles that made Batman a classic the previous year. But like Dick Tracy, another 1990 comic-style score from Elfman, Darkman is less coherent and more heavily reliant on overbearing style over the substance of its thematic ideas. Much of this phenomenon relates to the underlying rhythmic movement of the march that Elfman utilizes for the "Main Titles" and the related waltz, which becomes more evident in "The Plot Unfolds." The title theme, dominated by a pair of nearly identical four-note phrases, offers all the fascinating desolation and hopeless suffering that we can hope for in the story, and Elfman weaves this theme into his score with dexterity, especially in the short but haunting "Julie Discovers Darkman" cue. A separate love theme struggles to assert itself in the first half of the score and is eventually overtaken by agonizingly tortured string renditions of the main theme. The suspense and action underscore is highly reminiscent of the motifs used throughout Batman, with "High Steel" combining the bubbling timpani, rapid trumpet blasts, and abundant cymbal crashes and snare rips together with rolling bass string motifs very similar to action sequences in the earlier work. While this music is entertaining at a basic level, its continued obvious use here makes Darkman perhaps the most blatant re-hash score of Elfman's career. Some of this material was destined for better expression in The Nightmare Before Christmas. The best arrangement of this music exists in the Beetlejuice redux, "Woe, The Darkman... Woe," sometimes accessed as a concert piece from the score. Two standout cues distinguish themselves from the continuous re-use: both "Rage/Peppy Science" and "Carnival From Hell" play to the carnival atmosphere in the film, with the latter cue serving as an almost intolerably sick interpretation of calliope music by Elfman, though he predictably lets the chaos of the full symphony eat away at the barrel organ until we're in full horror swing. There is a touch of Christopher Young's Hellraiser influence here as well. The score ends with one of Elfman's weaker finales, lacking in any ambitious crescendo or ultimate musical expression of futility. In retrospect, it's very easy for Darkman to slip through the cracks in Elfman's career; there's just so little original style here that the score leaves you seeking its close cousins, all of which superior. The 2020 expanded album is moderately interesting but doesn't alter the equation by nearly doubling the length. It aims for only the most ardent enthusiasts of Elfman's most tortured brooding.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download