A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

The 4th Floor is a virtually-unknown 2000 movie directed by Josh Klausner and starring Juliette Lewis and William Hurt, concerning a woman who is terrorised in her apartment block by one of her new neighbours - but which one is it?  It will surely end up being remembered for only one thing, that being that it was the first relatively high-profile assignment for then-unknown composer Brian Tyler, who has of course gone on to bigger things in a very short space of time.  It was also the first of his scores to get a reasonable release, coming on the GNP/Crescendo label (I wonder what ever happened to them?)

Jason Comerford's liner notes include the particularly prescient prediction that The 4th Floor is "a harbinger of greater things to come".  There are certainly distinct similarities with Darkness Falls, the score that really launched Tyler in terms of the film music fanbase.  It is a mixture of suspense and action music in the classical horror movie style, featuring some particularly nice touches.  Sure, the duduk has become horribly overused these days, but just a few years ago it would certainly have had the mysterious quality that would give a score like this one a great boost in helping the film's creepiness, and Tyler uses the instrument to good effect.  Also effective are the ethereal female vocals (another device that's become horribly overused in the years since) which float over various cues.  

What most people will take from the score, however, is the terrific action music.  Tyler writes uncompromisingly modern music when the need arises - he's one of the few composers willing to do so - and it's great to hear a break from the usual styles.  It's a similar approach to Elliot Goldenthal's, though you would never confuse one man's music with the other's.  "Attack the Locksmith" (a commonly-heard cry), "Portcullis II" and "Blood on Hands" are particularly fine.  The latter is immediately followed by a couple of unusual diversions, with the light jazz of "Jane and Collins" and jaunty baroque stylings of "Belle" seeming to come out of nowhere.  Normal service is immediately resumed, however, with the stylish suspense piece "Movers".

The 4th Floor is certainly not as impressive as Tyler's more recent efforts, but nevertheless contains a lot of quality material and is certainly recommended to those who have discovered his music from Darkness Falls onwards (which is probably most people).

Tracks

1. Main Titles (2:10)
2. Jane (1:09)
3. Window Watching (1:24)
4. Attack the Locksmith (1:15)
5. The Inside of my Mind (2:55)
6. Portcullis I (:20)
7. Portcullis II (3:02)
8. The 1st Window (:52)
9. Eyehole (1:05)
10. Alice's Dungeon (2:14)
11. Thought Process (:52)
12. Blood on Hands (2:15)
13. Jane and Collins (1:22)
14. Belle (:45)
15. Movers (1:16)
16. The Park (1:01)
17. The Buzzer (1:28)
18. Collins's Theme (1:06)
19. Artist in the Window (:30)
20. Climactic Battle (1:50)
21. End Titles (5:18)