American horror got much needed infusion of creepiness with The Ring, a remake of the Japanese film Ringu. Despite the legacy of authors like H.P. Lovecraft, American horror movies always seem to avoid soul-cringing, subtle horror in favor of the easy gross out or Monster-of-the-Week gorefest.

While these can be good, more often than not it's just another excuse to spill some fact blood and rack up an ever-more ghoulish body count. The Ring, and the Japanese imports that followed it, skews more cerebral, trying to crawl under your skin and rattle you from the inside, rather than just throwing another ghoul onto the big screen.

Complementing the movie's exceedingly creepy on-screen visuals was that staple of horror movies, the soundtrack. While none of its tracks stood out in the same way as Psycho, Jaws or Halloween, the music fit the mood well. Fans of the movie and its sound can re-immerse themselves in it with The Ring/The Ring 2 soundtrack, released by Decca Records.

Created by Hans Zimmer (The Last Samurai, Black Hawk Down, and Gladiator), Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman, the soundtrack consists of 12 tracks, eight from the movies, and four "inspired by" the films.

The Sound of Modern Horror

"The Well" starts off softly creepy before growing more ominous with a deep base about a minute and a half in. It falls back to softly creepy then transitions to fast-tempoed strings, ratcheting up the tension only to drop off again, letting you catch your mental breath. A nice, long, 11:24 minute track, this could make a good background music for any Cthulhu scene that starts off quiet, and then explodes into either a fight or a chase. That said, you’d need to script it well in order to use it effectively, particularly that initial transition.

"Before You Die You See The Ring" is a more consistently subdued and ominous track, great for those creepy haunted house or graveyard explorations.

"This Is Going to Hurt" starts off violin/string heavy before turning into a faster-paced, bass-driven chase piece. It’s short, so you could easily have this fired up to run after one of the mellower pieces, when the players finally find the thing they shouldn’t have been looking for.

"Burning Tree" is a so-so track. It’s there, but the styles too all over the place to really pin down. "Not Your Mommy" should scare the crap out of people the first time you play it, since it starts with a strong percussion before collapsing into a more subdued sound.

The biggest drawback to the soundtrack is the fact that it combines tracks from the two films, but gives no indication of which came from which movie. An astute listener might be able to figure it out, but I couldn't. Similarly, the soundtrack has four remixed tracks, but they're not indicated in anyway (they're the last four tracks on the CD).

Awkward Inspiration

The Ring/The Ring 2 purists may find these "inspired by" songs to be, well, less than inspired, preferring to hear actual movie tracks that were in the movies. I agree with them, to a certain extent. While I’ll generally prefer real music to "inspired by" music, if a track fits the feel of the movies, then I won’t bitch too much.

On this soundtrack "She Never Sleeps" is nicely creepy, with lots of those long, drawn-out movements that suddenly speed up at the end, instantly bringing to mind the horrors of The Ring slinking around where they shouldn’t.

"Let The Dead Get In", is an easy listening track, and one I’m surprised it found a spot on this soundtrack; it's totally at odds with the sound and mood of the rest of the album.

"Seven Days" starts off with a nicely stormy opening before devolving into what I guess could be described as a fast horror dance rhythm that crashes back into creepiness from time to time. It's an uneven offering, and not in a good way.

The final track, "Television" is an intense track that throws in powerful guitar riffs over the base Ring sound. While I can see why purists would hate this, I’m not such a creature, and I can easily see using this as a sort of "warm up" track for a modern horror RPG session; it’s intense enough to get the blood flowing, yet still retains enough of a horror tinge remind people of what lies ahead.

Final Analysis

What ultimately undermines The Ring/The Ring 2 soundtrack is that it only samples a fraction of what the movies had to offer. It blurs the line between the two films by failing to identify each tracks origins, and it trades out actual movie music for "inspired by" alterations. That said, there are plenty of useful bits here for a modern horror RPG campaign, and if you want to recreate the creepy feel of the movies, this soundtrack offers a place to start. Is it great? No. Is it usable? Yes.

Details

• The Ring/The Ring 2
• By Hans Zimmer, Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman
• Decca Records
• Rating 6/10
• Buy it from Amazon.com