Ah, the soundtrack reviewer dichotomy; love Edward Shearmur, hate rubbish horror scores. So, when the two come together, what to think? Well, firstly, there isn't that much overt horror in The Skeleton Key and the music is as much about the deep south setting as about musical chills. The twanging guitar of the Opening Titles immediately reveals the place, while the eerie strings reveal the mood. I then struggle to find much else to say about the score. It bounces from the deep south sound, which in itself, is a touch creepy, conjuring up swamps and hicks in equal measure, to some action, such as Ben Escapes and Saving Ben (presumably not Gentle Ben, the well known swamp dwelling bear) and finally some tribal percussion to conjure up hoodoo (magical healing, apparently), notably in Conjure of Sacrifice.

Curiously, most reviewers have found the mixture of blues tracks within Shearmur's score to be effective, but not really being a fan of the "my dog's dead, my wife's left me, I'm an alcoholic, but I still love God" school of song writing, I can't say that they did much for me. Some enhance the dense and rather oppressive mood, but an equal number (Do Watcha Wanna, for example) are quite upbeat leaven the atmosphere. Shearmur's music is generally well wrought, only clanking away unpleasantly during a couple of brief passages, but is really a touch unmemorable. The number of positive write ups for The Skeleton Key is a genuine surprise. For my money, a passable genre entry, but from a composer with so many much more engaging and finer scores in his catalogue, somewhat disappointing.

Rating ~

1. Death Letter (4:39)
   Performed by Johnny Farmer & Organized Noise
2. Opening Titles (3:00)
3. Come On In My Kitchen (2:49)
   Performed by Robert Johnston
4. Barefoot Dancing (3:42)
   Performed by Blackbud
5. Ben Escapes (3:12)
6. Do Watcha Wanna (3:24)
   Performed by Rebirth Brass Band
7. Highway Blues (3:11)
   Performed by Mississippi Fred McDowell
8. Violet's Story (2:28)
9. Hoodoo Woman (2:45)
10. God Moves on the Water (2:59)
    Performed by Blind Willie Johnson
11. The Goldrush (4:18)
    Performed by Joe Washbourn
12. Saving Ben (4:41)
13. Iko Iko (2:04)
    Performed by The Dixie Cups
14. The Conjure Room (5:53)
15. Conjure of Sacrifice (2:40)
16. Thank You Child (2:04)

Total Time ~ 52:48