31 Days 31 Scores
October 16th
“Father, the antichrist has always been described as a male… does it have to be?”
Welcome Back to “31 Days 31 Scores. As we reach the midway point of the month I bring you the 1991 score to the made for TV movie Omen IV: The Awakening by Jonathan Sheffer. Probably one of the hardest things to do for a composer is to try and follow a huge film franchise with a big name composer. Sheffer had the unenviable task of following Jerry Goldsmith. What shows here unfortunately is the smaller orchestra and the obvious smaller budget for this TV Movie. The “Main Title” has a very light approach with music sounding almost cartoonish in spots, very different from the Goldsmith scores. “Baby (Love)” again starts light and tries to ramp up the creep with some female choir. Sheffer has an almost playful approach with his cues “Jo & Delia” and “Psychic Fair”. Things suddenly get serious with “Jo’s Death” an “Ave Satani” style choir makes its appearance. The cue “Information” does have the downbeat feeling that this score needed but suddenly half way through the score switches to a Jazz number and the tone seems wrong and out of context. I’m sure it works in the context of the movie but seems out of place here. “Equus” actually returns to the creepy here with a nice but short and effective string line. A playful woodwind and brass line weaves its way through “Delia Is Watching” and part of “Lunch Boxing” which includes a statement of “There’ll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight”. “The Clowns” creates a kind of creepy cue with out of tune brass. “Felicity” gives us the uneasy feeling that this score needs and with low brass and a dream like approach with choir and woodwinds, it is an effective cue. Sheffer’s approach was different and I can see what he was going for giving the little girl a playfully evil theme. It’s unfortunate that in parts it sounds more a cartoon score. The last 3 cues “Felicity”, “Karen’s Baby” and “The End” do finally hit the tone that I expected from a score that follows the Omen saga. The rest of the score, unfortunately, seems a little too light for the Omen. The score was released on the Varese Sarabande label and can be found with a deliberate search.
Join me tomorrow for more 31 Days 31 scores where we see “A new chapter of evil”