While it obviously references such classics of the genre as Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho and Lalo Schifrin’s The Amityville Horror, Elliot Goldenthal’s first-ever Hollywood score for Stephen King’s Pet Sematary displays the avant-garde verve we’ve come to expect from his subsequent work in the classical, theater, and film (e.g. his Academy Award-winning score for Frida) worlds. Employing the wordless vocals of a boy’s choir, a small orchestral ensemble, and electronics, Goldenthal creates an increasingly unsettling atmosphere, highlighted by “The Return Game II (Louis and Gage),” which is like the music to the shower scene in Psycho on steroids.
While it obviously references such classics of the genre as Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho and Lalo Schifrin’s The Amityville Horror, Elliot Goldenthal’s first-ever Hollywood score for Stephen King’s Pet Sematary displays the avant-garde verve we’ve come to expect from his subsequent work in the classical, theater, and film (e.g. his Academy Award-winning score for Frida) worlds. Employing the wordless vocals of a boy’s choir, a small orchestral ensemble, and electronics, Goldenthal creates an increasingly unsettling atmosphere, highlighted by “The Return Game II (Louis and Gage),” which is like the music to the shower scene in Psycho on steroids.