Visit the Movie Wave Store | Movie Wave Home | Reviews by Title | Reviews by Composer | Contact me SKINWALKERS Impressive horror / thriller music from newcomer Lockington A review by JAMES SOUTHALL Music composed by ANDREW LOCKINGTON Rating * * * 1/2

Performed by UNNAMED ORCHESTRA conducted by NICHOLAS DODD Orchestration NICHOLAS DODD Engineered by RON SEARLES Music Editor KEVIN BANKS Produced by ANDREW LOCKINGTON Album running time 55:22 Released by MOVIESCORE MEDIA Catalog number MMS-07008 Album cover copyright (c) 2006 Skinwalkers DCP Inc; review copyright (c) 2007 James Southall

A monster movie which attracted neither favourable reviews nor large audiences, Skinwalkers seemingly came and went from cinemas with few people particularly noticing, but its soundtrack has been made available by MovieScore Media and features an antriguing score by Canadian composer Andrew Lockington, who has been around as an orchestrator (mostly for Mychael Danna) for quite a while but hasn't done too many scores of his own.  Perhaps that will change - there certainly seems reason to hope that it will. It's an eclectic score: a large orchestra blends with electronics and some ethnic instruments (mostly percussion, it seems) and Lockington uses a variety of styles.  Less satisfying is the more synth-dominated modern material, which is highly effective at being creepy, but not particularly noteworthy as far as those things go.  Far more satisfying is the orchestral material, some of which is fantastic. It takes a while to arrive, but when it really does - when a fantastic theme bursts out of nowhere towards the end of "Feeding" - it is worth the wait.  Not long round the corner is the wonderful "Hospital Battle", an excellent piece of exciting action music in which Lockington pulls out all the stops.  A good piece which combines the orchestra and electronics in an almost David Arnold-like way (though it's far more complex than anything Arnold would do) is "Can't Go Back".  Lockington maintains a consistent sound despite the shifts in style - but, almost inevitably, scores which are so eclectic can struggle to maintain momentum, and for all the genuine quality in some sections, there is often a low-key piece of seemingly little consequence just around the corner. Despite that, this is a satisfying and impressive release - Lockington's music is at times extremely complex and interesting, reminding me in some ways of Elliot Goldenthal at his most eclectic, and there is much to admire here.  This is another good release from MovieScore Media, whose albums are now available as CDs as well as downloads - Mikael Carlsson continues to showcase music which would almost certainly never be heard otherwise, and he deserves praise for doing so.  This one is certainly worth taking a chance on. Tracks Forest Presence (1:26) Cabin Meeting (4:00) Raising Timothy (2:49) Huguenot (2:37) Varek Arrives (1:50) Gunfight (3:45) Legend (4:10) Feeding (2:41) Lake (3:04) Hospital Battle (5:49) Red Moon (4:11) Can't Go Back (1:55) Cat Returns (1:35) Jonas's Trap (2:34) Midnight (5:28) Transofmation (2:09) Epilogue (1:45) Destitutorial Braintoy (3:32)