The Wolfman
Composed by Danny Elfman
Additional music from Conrad Pope, T.J. Lindgren, and Edward Shearmur
Sound Clips: Wolf Suite, Part 1 | Gypsy Massacre
Running Time: 66:18
About the Soundtrack: Oh, how The Wolfman howls.  The score for this troubled project took many twists and turns before it arrived to audiences and it went through quite a few composers' hands during its journey.  From Danny Elfman to Paul Haslinger, from Haslinger to Conrad Pope, T.J. Lindgren, and Ed Shearmur, this was a baton that knew no musical finish line.  This is what happens when damage control seeps in on a project.  The film underwent editing issues late in the game and came out barely salvageable as a viable piece of entertainment.  The score, on the other hand?  Well that turned out just fine, thank you very much!  It checks in at 19 tracks and 68 minutes of running time.

What You Need to Know: For as much as Danny Elfman's musical voice doesn't work for me, the fact that I enjoyed The Wolfman so much might be due to the collaboration that went into it.  Now granted, the way in which it went down is not the type of collaborative effort a production welcomes, but in the end, there's a fantastic score to be had here! 
 
This opens up a can of worms --  is Elfman's music best served in collaboration mode?  It might.  A solid co-collaborator might be able to reduce that feeling of familiarity that is echoed in Elfman's music and could bring out the best in his material.  After all, such a set up might have made a project like Wanted an epic soundtrack if Elfman's catchy theme was taken and embedded deeper into the underscore by a co-writer.  Did anyone notice how well 9 turned out with Deborah Lurie?  You see, there's a certain sense of movement and energy that exists within The Wolfman that made it feel like Elfman's work was touched on and improved by other top line composers and it's a trend that I wish could continue. 
 
This score starts off strong (with Elfman's main theme) and is developed in a manner that makes it thrive as a storytelling vehicle of its own.  Indeed, through all the hard work and sharp turns it took to round this score out, the end product exists as a fabulous bit of musical storytelling.  Had there not been the likes of Pope, Shearmur, and the unheralded Lindgren attached to the final product, than The Wolfman might have turned out to be another Sleepy Hollow; a good score that is easily dismissed.
 
Well, I'm not writing off The Wolfman any time soon.  It has a dark charm and a rather welcome, classic horror mood about it.  Think of the iconic, legendary horror movies from the early days of cinema and imagine an updated style of score attached to it. There in a nutshell, or casket, is where you will find The Wolfman.  An uneven movie with a truly worthwhile score.
 
Final Score: A team effort!  The composers who stepped up to deliver the goods on The Wolfman did a terrific job in damage control and actually created a score that is quite a bit above average.  Don't let the bite of a bad movie deter you from listening to this.