For this story about a group of young journalists who investigate a cult said to practice human sacrifice, the composer goes into ominous "under-your-skin" territory in a way akin to his effective music for The Girl Next Door. The eerie score also features some gothic pipe organ music and, as a special treat for our album, the composer has made a special variation arrangement of this thematic material...

Ryan Shore's score for The Shrine is pretty much what you'd expect from a run-of-the-mill horror movie. I think it's pretty much impossible to create an eerie soundtrack for a horror movie of this type that will work as a standalone album. So we have the usual atmospheric sounds and "jump" cues, which no doubt serve the movie well, but sound rather dull when listened to in isolation.

I've reviewed two of Shore's scores in the past (Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher and Other Short Film Scores; Shadows) both of which were fantastic albums. However, the music to The Shrine doesn't show him at his best. While I'm sure it's a wonderful accompaniment to the film - adding atmosphere where it's most needed - it just sounds rather boring when listened to on its own merits.

There are 13 tracks here, coming in at just over 40 minutes of music. It's functional, and nothing more.

5

Darren Rea