Entertainment One Music, out now

Marco Beltrami and Anna Drubich provide the spooky underscore to Andre Ovredal’s teen horror movie on this compact release of highlights.

There’s little that’s subtle in Scary Movies to Tell in the Dark – one of the movie’s main aims is to be a gateway for adolescents into the horror genre. And so it’s not that surprising that the soundtrack features familiar horror sounds to up the spook factor. Marco Beltrami is no stranger to this sort of material, but up-and-coming Russian composer Anna Drubrich gets to play with the genre in her most high profile assignment to date, and it’s a fine collaboration.

The 18 tracks over 38 minutes (reminding me of the old Varese Sarabande discs that struggled to hit the half hour mark) are predominantly stings, using different sections of the orchestra to accompany the various creatures as they are unleashed from the movie’s book of tales. Harold the scarecrow lurches along with broken banjo, the music for the ghoul that’s missing a big toe is more brassy, and the red spot that’s full of spiders is all skittering strings. The use of female vocals In Hospital Visit is very welcome, as is the lullaby aesthetic of Sarah’s Theme.

Verdict: A solid genre release that embraces the variety of the source material, integrating distinctive sounds to separate out the tales and providing some character themes that are dying to be opened up in the inevitable sequel. 7/10

Nick Joy