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Soundtrack Review: The Roommate (2011)

Reviewer: JØrn Tillnes

The Roommate Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the film score The Roommate by John Frizzell.

"Frizzell does a great job confining this solely into thriller territory"

The Roommate is a psychological thriller about a deranged college freshman who becomes obsesses with her new roommate. This obsession based thriller haven't exactly been praised with the utmost of superlatives, but as most thrillers, it works until a point. The score is written by John Frizzell who has written numerous horror and thriller scores in the past.

Track List

1. The Necklace	*****
2. Sara Forgives	****
3. Ear Piercing	*****
4. Rebecca is Watching	****
5. The Shower	***
6. Pursuit in the Stacks	***
7. The Phone Call	***
8. Thanksgiving	****
9. Professor Roberts	***
10. Self Inflicted	***
11. Sara's Room	****
12. Medication	***
13. Sarah Finds the Pills	***
14. Zyprexa	***
15. The Tattoo	***
16. Stephen Confronts Rebecca	***
17. The Drawings	***
18. Transformation	****
19. Lamb to Slaughter	***
20. Irene's Apartment	****

It's certainly good to have John Frizzell back. This time he takes a stab at a thriller called The Roommate. Last year he ended up scoring the horror movie The Legion and that didn't go to well. I want him to do more subtle but emotional driven scores like Henry Poole is Here that really shows what Frizzell can do.

It starts of with a similar tone to Henry Poole is Here, with a subtle and good theme, 'The Necklace' is easily the best track on the whole album. 'Sara Forgives' continues in the same style, although like with 'Ear Piearcing' quickly moves into an area that I would hope we didn't have to go.

The Nature

I understand the nature of the movie and it has to be creepy. A subtle melody driven score might not have worked here, but it worked before like with Beltrami for The Eye which is an even scarier movie.

It soon runs out of steam and sets itself in thriller land where many scores have gone and never returned. The style is mostly mood-driven which works in the movie but isn't usually a great listen. For me it works great while writing scary fiction or reading a scary book as background music. For most, this is nothing more than musical wallpaper.

Conclusion

I didn't expect miracles here, and Frizzell does a great job confining this solely into thriller territory. As I said before, it works great for me as background music while doing other things, but it is not one of those scores to blast in your ears just for a fun listen. I'm not sure who will enjoy this, but Frizzell needs to get back to the drama or even comedy as he showed amazing skills in Beavis and Butthead Do America. It's tempting to say: Give this one a miss, but it's certainly not unlistenable in any way or form. Why don't you listen to the samples and give it a try?

->Buy the CD on Amazon<-

->Buy the MP3 Album on Amazon<-

->Buy the Album on iTunes<-

Listen to The Roommate soundtrack by John Frizzell below:

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