A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

The talented Christopher Gordon hit many film music fans' radars with his critically-acclaimed score for On the Beach, and then hit the mainstream radar with Peter Weir's Master and Commander (though in common with most of Weir's films, the music in the film is an eclectic hodge-podge).  His latest work is Salem's Lot, a TNT cable movie adaptation of Steven King's popular story about vampires terrorising a small town in Maine.  It stars Rob Lowe, who must have the worst set of advisers in the world - he dropped out of The West Wing, the best thing ever to happen to him after a string of shitty movies and tv shows - in order to return to doing a string of shitty movies and tv shows!?  How odd.  It also features Donald Sutherland and, wouldn't you know, James Cromwell.  Of course, Salem's Lot had been made into a tv movie before, and I'm not sure anyone will be entirely clear as to why it needed to be made again; and Rob Lowe is a few steps down the ladder from James Mason.

Gordon's score is rather impressive.  For whatever reason, additional music is provided by Lisa Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy.  The latter two wrote the uninspiring, generic "Salem's Lot Aria", which opens the album, but fortunately the real music begins in the second cue, "Thanksgiving", just by Gordon.  His music actually tries to be interesting, which is not something that could be said about too many modern-day horror movie scores.  Certainly, there are some tracks which seem curiously redundant and add little to the experience (which, at over an hour, is just too long) but there are also some terrific moments elsewhere - from the jagged choral assault of "Thanksgiving" to the mournful beauty of "Eva's Story".  "Mark's Escape" is a terrific track with some dramatic piano writing leading to a suspenseful orchestral and choral climax.  Of course, in virtually any horror score there are moments of warmth, and a nice contrast is made following "Mark's Escape" in "Approaching the Mansion", which (at least to begin with) is really quite attractive.  "Mutans evae nomen" is a lovely piece of vaguely liturgical choral music, a definite highlight.

Interesting horror music is quite hard to find these days, but Gordon - while not exactly shying away from the clichés - does provide some interesting material, particularly when he lets rip with the orchestra.  Perhaps these moments are disappointingly few, but when they do arrive they certainly have some impact.  "In the Cellar" is a great piece of horror music, keeping the listener on the edge of his seat throughout; and "The Mansion Burns" a great, truly thrilling piece of action.  Certainly, some of the material could have been dropped (especially the disappointing music by Gerrard and Cassidy, but also one or two of Gordon's pieces) to make for a better album, but this is still pretty impressive stuff.  Worth a punt, especially for fans of the rising talents of Christopher Gordon. 

Tracks

1. Salem's Lot Aria (6:25)
2. Thanksgiving (3:19)
3. Jerusalem's Lot (2:48)
4. In the Woods (2:25)
5. Straker (2:49)
6. Dud and Barlow (2:58)
7. Eva's Story (3:54)
8. Mike Ryerson (8:28)
9. Bloody Pirates (3:04)
10. Mark's Escape (3:11)
11. Approaching the Mansion (2:31)
12. In the Cellar (4:34)
13. Converting the Priest (5:31)
14. Barlow (2:31)
15. Mutans evae nomen / The Mansion Burns (4:03)
16. Free in Spirit (2:25)
17. Salem's Lot Theme (2:10)