Sony Music and Madison Gate Records release Danny Elfman's score for Goosebumps. In the movie, based on the childrens' book series by R.L. Stine, teenager Zach Cooper, upset about moving from a big city to a small town, finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah, living right next door, and makes a quick friend in Champ. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach’s comes when he learns that Hannah’s mysterious dad is in fact R.L. Stine. As Zach starts learning about the strange family next door, he soon discovers that Stine holds a dangerous secret: the creatures that his stories made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books...

Danny Elfman is given the keys to the sweetshop here, with his rich and varied score for Goosebumps. Given the movie's subject matter, it's pretty much a licence to run wild and that's just what Elfman does - delivering the sort of teen action adventure score that was popular in the '80s/'90s from composers like James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith.

The score contains 29 tracks (1 hr, 04 min, 09 sec) and not only was I reminded of Horner and Goldsmith at their peak, but also there are elements of some of Elfman's previous scores - most notably Batman, Beetlejuice ('Ferris Wheel') and Mars Attacks ('Floating Poodle (Bonus Track)').

This is a wonderfully rich soundtrack with plenty of substance for those who like bold, brash and memorable themes. Elfman pulls out all the stops and it's obvious he had a blast doing it.

9

Darren Rea