: (John Debney) The nightmare beganearly for nearly everyone involved with the disastrous production of the2011 thriller
. Despite the respectable history ofdirector and producer Jim Sheridan, the film was deemed in advance to beso awful that the studio, Morgan Creek, decided to take over the finalediting of the project. The story tells of a publisher (Daniel Craig)and his family who move into a Connecticut dream house only to discoverthat the previous occupants had been murdered there. As the publisherdigs into the history of the home, he makes a not-so-unexpecteddiscovery about himself and, with the help of a sympathetic neighbor,tries to unravel the remaining mystery before they are both targeted inanother round of attacks. The plot came under scrutiny early and often,its revelation of the major twist in the middle rather than the endfailing reflect the better of M. Night Shyamalan's tendencies. Matterswere made worse when the initial trailers for the film exposed the twistand basically ruined the entire picture for prospective audiences. Thedirector, Craig, and actress Rachel Weisz were so disheartened with thefinal cut of the film that they refused to participate in presspromotion of
. After declining the show the movie tocritics, Morgan Creek was eventually blasted by those who did witnessits horrors, the critical and popular responses so overwhelminglynegative that there was little hope that the production would recoup its$50 million budget theatrically. Standing above this unfortunate fray iscomposer John Debney, who at least did his best to take the assignmentseriously enough to provide an impressive orchestral score. Debney hasproven to be a reliable source of music for these kinds of ghostlythrillers, his score for
wasbutchered by the studio's frantic last minute attempts to make the filmpresentable, but Debney's contribution does feature a cohesive flow ofdevelopment that is, at least on album, a worthy souvenir from thisotherwise messy situation. His score is dominated by the organic tonesof an orchestra, failing to succumb to electronic temptations in a genreotherwise defined by flat and mundane synthetic music. With a vibrantLondon recording, memorable primary theme, and a few truly outstandingcues of dramatically melodic magnificence, his achievement for
is among the biggest surprises of 2011.
In many ways, Debney emulates the format that horrormaster Christopher Young utilizes to such great success in the genre,introducing emotionally involving melodic ideas and expressing them withalluring beauty before allowing them to dissolve as necessary for thescary sequences in the film. This technique is also employed by JohnOttman, and
Hide and Seek could be considered something of alesser sister score to
Dream House. Debney explores the score'sprimary and secondary thematic ideas extensively in the first ten andfinal ten minutes of the work, conveying all of these melodies with anoutstanding balance of wholesome beauty and unsettling intrigue. Themain theme is a series of rising pairs of notes, usually in threephrases and heard immediately at the outset of the opening cue, "DreamHouse." Debney uses a solemn female solo voice to express this theme atthe very beginning and end of the score (as well as a short passage atthe conclusion of "Peter Searches"), a nice bookending touch. Other soloexpressions of the idea include a xylophone and piano courting eachother later in "Dream House," a cello of extremely effective lamentearly and late in "Little Girls Die," a slightly obscured oboe at theend of "Night Fever," and mid-range brass early in "Peter Saved Ann."The cello and oboe performances return fatefully in "Redemption."Performances of this idea by the full ensemble include a remarkable,timpani-pounding sequence at 1:40 into "Little Girls Die" but thendisappear before beginning to develop at the start of "Peter Ward'sStory" and eventually boiling to immense proportions by the end of thescore. Despite the memorable character of the main melody's descendingpairs (which Debney can and does reference frequently because of theirsimple structure), the main theme's highlighting portion may be itsinterlude, a more lyrical passage repeated twice at times (and first at0:37 into "Dream House") during the longer performances of the identity.Several secondary themes of tender intent follow in "Dream House,"establishing the safe and friendly suburban atmosphere that isunderstandably removed from the score (at least in full performances)until the final pair of cues at the resolution. Some listeners may findsimilarities in progression between this material and Howard Shore'sconclusion to
Silence of the Lambs, though the character here ismore outwardly melodramatic. The descending pairs do steal the show inthe end, however, Debney often using them in stuttering statements, asat the start of "Footprints in the Snow," to build suspense.
Outside of the melodic material in
Dream House,Debney stays rather conservative, avoiding obvious electronic slashingtechniques but using common symphonic methods of creating dissonantatmospheres. The high strings in particular play the role of spoiler inthis score, their tense and uneasy quivering in atonal formations afrequent method of suspense. The dissonant passages in the score arerepresented by "Footprints in the Snow," "Intruders," "Peter Ward'sRoom," "Peter Ward's Story," and parts of "Murder Flashback" and "PeterSaves Ann." Otherwise, Debney is content to stew in the environment ofslightly troubled ambient groaning, the ensemble sometimes tonallypleasing in these otherwise non-descript conversational sequences.Relatively few jarring stingers are to be encountered in
DreamHouse, and there is likewise an absence of much full-blooded actionmaterial. The latter ruckus is largely confined to a grand, forty secondoutburst early in "Murder Flashback" and the majority of "Peter SavesAnn," the former cue's short eruption matching some of the best materialYoung and Ottman have ever provided the genre (the incessant violinnotes on key over rhythmic trombone blasts are extremely entertaining).The best variations on nearly every idea Debney conjures for
DreamHouse come in the six-minute "Dream House End Credits," a rousinglypowerful collection of melodramatic tonality that provides all of thescore's themes in their most evocative form. In true Young fashion,Debney adds another phrase to the primary theme's three pairs, adescending trio of notes that is matched by menacingly ascending basselements. The deep brass, bass string, and chime-banging magnificence ofthese performances bracket extended, whimsical performances of theinterlude (first by violins together, then cello alone, and finally by arolling grand piano in extremely elegant tones). Flute performances ofthe family's secondary themes in that summary suite are equallyalluring, and with the solo female voice closing it out, "Dream HouseEnd Credits" is among the top single achievements by a composer in 2011.Overall, the score contains twenty minutes of five-star melodic tragedyon either end of adequate but rather tepid three-star ambience andfragmented motific references. The choral element is tastefully withheldfor only the most poignant moments, and the score is never in your face.The melodramatic, nearly religious shift to the major key for the finalnotes of "Redemption" is the kind of touch that gives this score alasting attractiveness. Ultimately, those who fondly recall Debney's
Dragonfly will find much to like in
Dream House, and ifonly the suspense material on the interior of the 2011 score had beenmore unique, it would be an unlikely five-star triumph.
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