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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

The supernatural crime thriller Gothika, somewhat surprisingly the first starring vehicle for Halle Berry, is an everyday tale of a criminal psychologist who awakes in her own mental institution to find that she has been accused of murdering her husband three days earlier - an event about which she has no memory.  For the music, director Mathieu Kassovitz turned to John Ottman, whose dark and rather unsettling score is easily one of his best.

The most appealing cue is the beautiful "Miranda's Theme", with synth choir joining the Hollywood Studio Symphony for an attractive and somewhat moving piece of music that seems full of not only beauty but also a degree of mystery.  Elsewhere, it is the slightly dissonant and disturbing material that grabs the attention the most.  "Road Block / First Contact" uses sampled voices in a way they've been used many times before in "scary scores", but it's still unsettling when you hear screeching voices and the device is as effective here as it's been in other scores before.  There are also various other pieces that verge on being attractive but then seem to creep up on you and end up being chilling rather than warming, pieces like "Remembering Rachael" and "An Affair?"  

What surprises and impresses me most about Gothika is that it presents, for the most part, a fresh and original approach to a film like this.  It doesn't do what has tarnished my enjoyment of many previous Ottman scores, because it actually goes places you don't expect it to.  While the orchestration is still on the bland side - another Ottman trait - it is slightly more fleshed-out than usual, which lends a slightly more muscular and impressive air to the music, especially when it gets to be on the bigger side, which it does do occasionally.  For the most part, however, it is "psychological horror" music, but not just aimless meandering like most modern scores for similar films are, it seems to have something to say, something to add to the film other than a layer of wallpaper, and it makes for a surprisingly listenable and engaging album.

Tracks

1. Prologue (2:09)
2. Miranda's Theme (1:47)
3. Remembering Rachael (2:25)
4. Final Escape (6:22)
5. Road Block / First Contact (2:37)
6. An Affair? (3:02)
7. First Escape (4:20)
8. One of Us / The Shower (4:01)
9. Willow Creek (3:38)
10. Recollections (3:17)
11. The House / Dream (4:00)
12. I'm the Mirror / Not Alone (2:24)
13. Revelation (4:44)
14. You're Next (2:42)
15. I See Dead Kids (1:50)