By Tim Wynn

MovieScore Media, out now

The wistful score for the retelling of a legend…

As with many modern paranormal-themed horror films, Wynn – who has scored many straight-to-video movies, several Command And Conquer games, and some episodes of Supernatural – naturally brings us a score with a fair number of cues that blend deep menacing tones and drones with trembling ethereal woodwind sounds to imply a shivering spine.

Fortunately, he doesn’t just provide that sort of cue, but also gives us some effective and affecting material in a range of ways.

While those regular types of horror track are there, all present and correct, it doesn’t take long for more unique and interesting things to start blending in, with the second track, “The Weeping Woman” turning out to be a nice Latin guitar track, wistful and evocative, that sounds much soulful spaghetti western as down-south paranormal. Likewise, “Isla de la Munecas” begins as that by now typical low menace and woody trembles kind of track, yet evolves very nicely into a haunting minimalist character piece that works well.

There are also a number of tracks that have the rapid headlong  beats of chases and races against the clock, and the tension of attempted rushes to rescue, but the highlights come with both the Latin guitar tracks and the surprisingly beautiful emotional tracks hidden under titles “La Llorona Is Real,” “She’s In The Walls,” and “You Can Still Save Him,” all of which are much more tracks of character and emotional tragedy than one would expect from the titles, which imply more scary and threatening sounds. That’s greatly refreshing and certainly makes one hope that the movie follows that kind of line too.

As an album, this isn’t an annoying mix of drones and screeches that you might expect from a score in the paranormal genre, and that’s a great thing. It’s a frequently wistful and relaxing, thoughtful score, with lovely Latin touches, interspersed with the moodier tones and average pacy chase music.

Verdict: As a listening experience overall, it’s one to cherry-pick through, rather than one to listen through as a single piece, but there are several awesome pieces to pick, and it’s well worth catching up with and doing so. 7/10

David A McIntee