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FILMTRACKS.COM
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Review of The Wolfman (Danny Elfman/Various)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are curious to hear an effective merging of Danny
Elfman's Sleepy Hollow and Wojciech Kilar's Bram Stoker's
Dracula, the latter a dominating influence on the Eastern European
structures and oppressive atmosphere of this score.
Avoid it... if there's only so much morbidly dramatic atmosphere of a tumultuous, primordial nature that you can handle from Elfman without the true existence of any of the composer's usual, tempering romantic interludes of relieving beauty.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Wolfman: (Danny Elfman/Various) If the
proverbial panic button were to literally exist in Hollywood, Universal
Pictures surely would have broken it in the two years they spent
pounding it while attempting to assemble a remake of the 1941 horror
classic The Wolf Man. That film was one close to the hearts of
many in the production, though a finely-tuned revision of the concept in
the CGI age caused so many disagreements over "creative differences"
that the release date of the remake was pushed from November, 2008 to
February, 2010. Directors, composer, and marketers all came and went,
along with other varieties of crew members, in Universal's attempt to
salvage a perpetually troubled production. The plot basically follows
the disintegration of the wealthy Talbot family of England as each
member either becomes a werewolf or is killed by one, leading to a
monumental and tragic clash at the end that predictably leaves most of
the principles of the story dead. The sour plot was accentuated by a
bleak cinematic landscape, with dark blues and gray dominant. One of the
reasons for the delay of The Wolfman was indecision about the
form of the beast itself, necessitating re-shoots the year following the
initial photography. Ultimately, the endless tinkering with the film,
including the shaving of some of its length, caused difficulty with a
soundtrack that had been recorded for its first incarnation. Tackled in
the midst of a stunning 2008 for Danny Elfman was The Wolfman, a
project close to his heart as well. Not only was he a fan of the
original film (and thankful that few would remember the music in it and
therefore cry foul due to his remake score's direction), but the subject
matter was naturally suited to the composer's stylistic sensibilities.
He had always been immensely respectful of the Wojciech Kilar score for
the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola (and Anthony Hopkins, coincidentally) epic
monster film Bram Stoker's Dracula, once humorously claiming that
he wished he had received that assignment until being blown away by a
Kilar score that he considered totally out of his league. He made no
secret of the influence that the music from Bram Stoker's Dracula
had on his work for The Wolfman, particularly in its Eastern
European atmosphere and the structures and performance emphasis in the
string solos of the primary theme. Despite succeeding at adapting these
traits from Kilar's music into his own work, the problems were just
beginning for Elfman's score however.
As the film evolved through its own unsavory mutations, Elfman's score no longer functioned in its pacing and cue structures. The composer is no stranger to seeing his work adapted by orchestrators or other composers on troubled projects, Spider-Man 2 lingering clearly in memory. Both the album for that project and the eventual product for The Wolfman contained Elfman's music for an earlier version of those films, though it's interesting to note that even the album presentation of The Wolfman contains additional material by Edward Shearmur and Thomas Lindgren (suggesting that there was an initial attempt to rearrange Elfman's score before it was initially dropped by Universal at the end of 2009). Fearing that Elfman's gothic score represented too much of the old-school thinking that was blamed for the lack of positive responses in test screenings of the film, Universal turned to industrial metal veteran Paul Haslinger to perhaps bring the contemporary feel of his two Underworld scores to the table. This hiring was doomed from the start, the tone of Haslinger's synthetic music obviously not a viable match for director Joe Johnston's picture (the director, incidentally, was always supportive of Elfman's music). A rumor surfaced not long before Haslinger's dismissal that veteran Elfman orchestrator and capable composer Mark McKenzie, who had worked on the original score for The Wolfman, was asked to translate Haslinger's material to an orchestral recording, but that approach was either false or abandoned. A clip purported to be from Haslinger's effort for The Wolfman showed up online in January, 2010, conveying a decently hip, but clearly inappropriate rock-like tone for the film, though this short piece was eventually revealed by Haslinger himself as a fraud. In a panic, Universal retreated to the Elfman score it already had, but the composer could not return to tailor that material to the final cut of the film because of his contractual commitment to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Thus, another veteran orchestrator and aspiring composer, Conrad Pope, rearranged at least 30 minutes of Elfman's music to fit with the new cut. Reports that less than half of Elfman's material is heard in its original recorded form in the film have not been substantiated, though it wouldn't be surprising. The entire situation is reminiscent of the problems experienced by Carmine Coppola, Shirley Walker, and others for The Black Stallion, and perhaps someday, as in the score for that popular 1979 film, listeners will eventually see a breakdown of cue sheet attribution in the presentation of the original and final versions of each piece of The Wolfman. With all of this back story in mind, what you hear on the 66-minute album from the Varèse Sarabande label will likely not match the majority of what you notice in the film. Still, the music on that CD not only ranks equal to Sleepy Hollow in its general tone and demeanor, but also in its quality as well, reinforcing 2008 as an outstanding year of production for the composer. There is nothing about the score for The Wolfman that defines it as one of Elfman's classics, however, its personality dominated by its somewhat derivative Eastern European and vaguely gypsy constructs and only one major theme of frequent (and potentially overstated) repetition. The bulk of Elfman's ideas for the concept have been condensed into a pair of suites amounting to ten minutes at the start of the product, highlighted by prominent placements for the title theme. Both the ensemble's incessant, tumultuous dwelling in the morbidly dramatic bass region and the waltz-inspired rhythms set the stage for progressions and solo string performances extremely similar to Kilar's 1992 score. The rhythmic formations join exact phrases that will together force Bram Stoker's Dracula into the forefront of your mind when hearing this music. The ensemble hits in "Wolf Suite Pt 1" and brass counterpoint in "The Funeral" will alternately remind listeners of Christopher Young's monumental horror style as well. Elfman does identify The Wolfman with enough of his own sensibilities to make it functionally unique, however, his voice existing in the choral chanting and electronic enhancement of the bass rhythm that are distinctly his own (though the choir's employment is held to an effective minimum in the larger scheme). The score's less oppressive material is summarized in "Wolf Suite Pt 2," which responds to the love interests and familial turmoil in the story with fragments of the title theme no less melodramatic. Elfman's application of the cellos to emphasize the weight of the burdens in the film is another aspect equal to Kilar's score. Unlike Kilar, however, Elfman refrained from providing the troubled romance of one part of the story with its own evocative theme; in fact, whereas the Kilar score clearly delineates powerful themes for the monsters, the love story, and the hunters, Elfman mostly relies upon the adaptation of the title theme into creative, ambient variations to address the different needs of The Wolfman. A common rhythmic slurring effect over thumping bass ostinatos evident in both suites on the album is a good tool (typically under the theme) with which to foreshadow transformations and other events. In cues like "Bad Moon Rising" and "The Finale," this technique underlines the threat of the werewolves with an almost rabid and primordial sense of frantic movement. There are weaknesses and highlights in The Wolfman that reinforce the fact that the film, and thus the score, has little truly cohesive development from start to end. It's not the type of score that will tell a story in and of itself, unlike Elfman's classics. A certain amount of stream-of-consciousness thinking prevails, though that does still allow some noteworthy individual cues to stand out. First comes "The Funeral," the middle of which taking the theme and extending it into dramatic territory that is monumentally heartbreaking, one of the few times the title theme is allowed to flow freely outside of solo-dominated performances. Listen for pleasing Chris Young and John Debney connections in this cue. Also of note is "The Traveling Montage," in which the Kilar resemblances are shattered by a more Elfman-like romantic variation on the title theme and a thumping minor-key rhythm of purely Elfman characteristics that will actually remind you of Spider-Man instead. The closing minute of "The Finale" also follows the composer's standard choral-aided crescendo formation for ending character-centered fantasy films. The two transformation cues are somewhat disappointing in how they handle the torment of the title theme, though Elfman does use a meandering pitch in the brass much like Howard Shore applies for his thrillers. There isn't much in the way of respite from the overbearingly sinister tone of the thematic performances in The Wolfman. The first half of "Wake Up, Lawrence" fails to generate much genuine depth in the connection between lead love interests, but it does at least soften the tone a bit. A solo operatic vocal in one cue and an occasional gong hit in the background of a slight violin cue are among other breaks from action. Woodwinds tend to be downplayed in either the composition or the mix. Some of the straight killing cues feature chaos that dates back to Nightbreed, and these selections don't exactly translate to listenable material. On the whole, however, The Wolfman is a strong score as presented. It requires a technical level of appreciation and will be of interest to those seeking to identify all the connections to the popular Kilar predecessor. Like Sleepy Hollow, it's easy to get the impression that The Wolfman will be a score that appeals more to die-hard Elfman fans than the mainstream. With the fate of the film initially looking grim due to poor reviews and an immediate, steep drop-off in box office performance, such narrow appeal may indeed become the case. For those only casually interested in this disaster story, seek "The Funeral" and "The Traveling Montage" outside of the summary suites. Regardless of your opinion of Elfman's product, there has to be agreement that its removal from the picture in favor of Haslinger's style ranks among the most ridiculous studio decisions of this era. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 66:05
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about
the score or film.
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