Search - Danny Elfman :: The Wolfman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Gothic Elfman

Jon Broxton | Thousand Oaks, CA | 03/01/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The story of the creation of the score for The Wolfman is a long and arduous one. Danny Elfman was attached to the project pretty much from its inception, and wrote a fully orchestral, Gothic horror score at the request of the film's director, Joe Johnston. Originally scheduled to be released in November 2008, the film suffered numerous problems in post production, and was pushed back and back in the calendar; eventually, so much re-editing was done that Elfman's score no longer fit the timings of the movie, meaning that much of it had to be re-written. However, a scheduling conflict with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland meant that Elfman could not undertake any re-writes, and with time running out the original score was rejected. Austrian composer Paul Haslinger was brought in to replace Elfman, but following its recording his primarily electronic score was deemed `wrong' for the picture, and Elfman's original score was restored. However, Elfman himself was still unable to re-work his music to fit the new film, so several other composers and orchestrators - including Conrad Pope and Edward Shearmur - were brought in to re-track the music, write additional cues, and basically finish off the project before its February 2010 release. It's a mess of quite horrific proportions, and one can only hope that debacles like these are avoided in the future.



The film itself is a remake of the classic 1941 horror film of the same name, and stars Benicio Del Toro as Shakespearean actor Robert Talbot who, after returning home to Victorian London for the funeral of his brother, is attacked and bitten by a mysterious wolf-like creature. Before long, Robert finds himself turning into a wolf-creature himself, afflicted with a lycanthropic curse. The film stars Anthony Hopkins as Robert's father Sir John Talbot, Emily Blunt as his dead brother's fiancé Gwen, and Hugo Weaving as the Scotland Yard inspector investigating the grisly deaths that lie in Robert's wake. The film boasts handsome cinematography, sumptuous Victorian Gothic production design, and of course Elfman's score, which despite its torrid past, is still wonderfully atmospheric and enjoyable.



The first thing experienced listeners will recognize about the score for The Wolfman is its blatant similarity to Wojciech Kilar's 1992 score for the film Bram Stoker's Dracula (there are also a few vague similarities to James Newton Howard's King Kong score, but these are merely coincidental). In interviews Elfman admitted that he was inspired by the Pole's music, and was attempting to recapture the sense of romantic classicism and lush horror that Francis Ford Coppola's film contained. In every sense, he has succeeded; The Wolfman is a wonderfully expressive, deliciously dark score that captures the period setting, the moody atmosphere, and the combination of horror and romance inherent in the story. Written for a full orchestra with heavy emphasis on bold, emphatic strings, Elfman's score is a delight from start to finish, reveling in cue after cue of creepy glory.



The opening two cues, comprising a 10-minute "Wolf Suite", act as effective summaries of the score as a whole. The clear Kilar similarities come by way of the string phrasing and the chord progressions, and although the origin of the sound is immediately apparent (listen to the first cue of the Kilar album to compare the two), Elfman dresses it up and changes it enough for it to be properly considered a homage, and not a case of a director being too in love with his temp-track. The bold four-note Wolfman motif anchors both pieces, jumping from violins to cellos, and as the cues progress they gradually grow in size and scope, adding in a brass counterpoint, a heavy percussion element, a subtle synth pulse, and even a choir, adding to the grandeur of the piece as it builds to a grand conclusion.



Once the score itself begins, the Wolfman motif continues its prominent presence, appearing in one form or another in virtually every cue thereafter. In cues such as the opening "Prologue" it has a call-and-response echo with the brass section, which gives the motif a more threatening demeanor, while in cues such as "Dear Mr. Talbot" it is performed mainly by strings, with the solo violin element alluding to the traditional fiddle music performed by the mysterious gypsy folk who appear prominently in the film. The interplay between different parts of the string section is one of the score's defining characteristics; deep cello chords and ground basses add depth and weight to the score, while the more elegant violin performances bring a hint of exotic moodiness. The grand performance of the theme in "The Funeral" is as emotional as one would expect, while the chorally-enhanced versions during "The Healing Montage" and the sumptuous "Traveling Montage" are both beautiful and chiling.



As one might expect, dissonance and action music also plays a fairly major part in the score, and in cues such as "Gypsy Massacre", "Country Carnage" and the "Finale" Elfman lets fly with his orchestra, picking up the pace, giving his string section a vigorous workout, increasing the percussion section, and peppering his music with powerful, menacing statements of the Wolfman motif. The two transformation cues, "First Transformation" and "Reflection/Second Transformation", generate a real cacophony of noise and energy which is tremendously effective at capturing the pain, confusion and terror suffered by Lawrence during his lunar nightmares. Later, "The Madhouse" has a grinding, buzzing bass note under the rest of the orchestra with gives the cue a twisted, unsettling feel, and which later plays in ghostly juxtaposition against a solo female vocalist and skittering deconstructed instrumental performances of the main theme, jangling the nerves of the listener.



The budding romance between Lawrence and Gwen is hinted at through a couple of lovely romantic interludes, notably "Wake up, Lawrence", "You Must Go" and "The Antique Shop", in which Elfman introduces a calmer set of orchestrations - solo piano, soft oboes, more lush strings - to temper the hairy onslaught from the rest of the score. Even here, though, the ominous specter of the film's hirsute anti-hero is never far away, with Elfman continuing to teasingly introduce more performances of the Wolfman motif, insinuating that poor Lawrence's fate will be sealed despite the intervention of a corset-clad beauty.



Although the film itself has suffered the indignity of appalling reviews, and may be dead on arrival in the waters of the box office, Danny Elfman's score will likely be remembered as one of the best things about the entire project. How much of the music heard on this CD actually remains in the film is unclear - following the massive re-writes and heavy editing, in terms of percentages there is apparently more Conrad Pope music than Danny Elfman music in the final cut - but what is certain is that this soundtrack album is a gem. Once you understand, and can look beyond, the Wojciech Kilar allusions, The Wolfman turns into an enjoyably over-the-top Gothic delight, with a strong and prominent theme, and a welcome classical feel. One could say that, as a score, The Wolfman has `teeth' where the film itself does not, but that might be taking things a little too far."

Beautiful Dark Melodies from Danny Elfman

Compay | New Orleans, LA | 02/24/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Wolfman soundtrack is a beautiful 19-song score that represents some of Danny Elfman's darkest and most foreboding work to date. If you're a fan of Wojciech Kilar and his work on Dracula or the Ninth Gate scores, you're going to love this soundtrack as well. From the very first song, Wolf Suite Part 1, you're treated to Elfman at his absolute best. While the score is departure from Danny's more ethereal sound, I love it for being unapologetically dark and powerful.



Several of the tracks, such as Gypsy Massacre and Country Carnage, are frantic additions to an otherwise even-paced score. Most of the soundtrack is free from a female choir, save for songs like The Healing Montage, a welcome throwback to Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. One interesting twist is the hint of Gypsy fiddle that makes its way into songs like Prologue, which fits in beautifully with the film.



Interestingly enough, Danny Elfman's original score for the movie was rejected by Universal partly because it was considered too dark. Since he had already started on scoring Alice in Wonderland, he couldn't redo this one, and Paul Haslinger was hired to create a new score from scratch. Universal eventually realized that the new score wasn't ideal for the film, and went back to Elfman's work at the last minute. So for Elfman fans, we almost didn't get to enjoy this one. This isn't my favorite Danny Elfman score by a stretch, but it's still a dark and wonderful score."

James Horner, get out of Danny Elfman's body!

Jean-rené Leroux | 03/06/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"For a talented composer like Danny Elfman, this score must have been an esay one. As you know, the score for "Alice In Wonderland" was almost due. So Mr. Elfman didn't have all the time in the world to be finicky about "The Wolfman". Instead, he chose to keep his best effort for his friend Tim Burton, which must be stressing in its own way. Here, he decided to pay hommage to Wojciech Kilar's melodies for Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. It's basically the same notes but with an "Elfman twist", a groovy, quirky variation à-la-Mars Attack. I think i've also noted a bit of the sound of "Red Dragon" and "Sleepy Hollow" too. I don't think Danny Elfman wanted to pay hommage to James Newton-Howard, though. But you definitely recognize the main theme for "King Kong". The Peter Jackson's version.



Is this one of the reasons Mr. Elfman was replaced? I know we keep reading that it was simply a question of timing, that the composer didn't have time to adjust his score to the forever-changing editing of the movie but one has to wonder. If i'm directing a movie and i put my heart into it, surely i want my composer to do the same and come up with something fresh. Okay, it's an hommage to Wojciech Kilar but... well, is it really? Sounds to me that Danny Elfman made a "James Horner" out of himself by copying somebody else's work instead. He didn't have the time. He was keeping his strenght for Tim Burton's Alice. He just went lazy on "The Wolfman".



It is still a fun score to listen to. Track number one, sixteen, seventeen and nineteen are the best one, i think, with the first one being the one to put on a Danny Elfman compilation.



But it's still a let down. I mean, when you hear that Danny Elfman will score "The Wolfman", you immediately find that it's a given, a perfect fit. You can't help but look foward to it. So to get a replica of Dracula and, sometimes, King Kong is disappointing even if it sounds good.



But i swear, if i would have never heard Wojciech Kilar's score or James Newton-Howard's theme for "King Kong", i would have thought that Danny Elfman was an absolute king. Those of you who never heard or saw those two films (Dracula & King Kong) will of course think that the music for "The Wolfman" is truly unique and original. But for the lovers of Danny Elfman, it's a sad lack of effort even if it remains a guilty pleasure.

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