Search - John Ottman :: Eight Legged Freaks

Continuing one of the most unusual careers in Hollywood, film editor-cum-scorer John Ottman (The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil) tackles this CGI-powered take on the giant mutant insect film cycle of the '50s with a massive orchestral score that's a nervous, tongue-in-cheek delight. Eschewing much of the blaring brass and shrieking strings that virtually drowned the originals in musical kitsch, Ottman serves up a bright score that occasionally tweaks the genre's origins while goosing it with some much-need humorous tension. It's the sort of deft, comic-action romp that Elfman conjured up in his early collaborations with Tim Burton, with subtle string effects mimicking the encroaching spider-freaks and brief blasts of ceremonial pomp echoing the forces of would-be security. There's some action Sturm und Drang to be sure, but Ottman throws so many curves and genre twists into his arrangements that the music takes on an almost Charles Ivesian sense of surprise and dynamics. They say drama is easy; it's comedy that's hard--Ottman bounds between both here with deceptive ease. --Jerry McCulley