By most accounts The Wicker Man is an ill-advised remake of the classic 1973 British horror film written by Anthony Shaffer. Coincidentally, Silva Screen, the label behind this remake, has also issued that original soundtrack for the first time. On that account, this remake has nothing to fear, for Angelo Badalamenti’s new score eschews most of the clichés of the horror film genre. He proceeds by stealth, setting an eerie atmosphere rather than launching an all-out assault on our senses. The Overture is typical of his approach, opening with a lyrical theme on clarinet over harp and strings, into which he adds the whining tone of the theremin and a female vocal line representing the missing girl at the heart of the story. Eventually an eerie trombone figure ruffles the calm and leads into track two, “Cycling into a nightmare”, which begins as a deranged waltz with six beats in a bar. Here, as throughout the score, Badalamenti is adept at keeping up the suspense via change of metre and instrumental colour. In track 11, “Trapped in water”, the climax of the story, he reintroduces the theme of the solo female voice as a remote chorus. Then at 3'16" an interjection from the horn startles the unsuspecting listener. If you missed the film when it was on release then do try this CD. It represents the composer at his most inventive.