The original score for Doctor Jekyll has been released, with music by composer Blair Mowat. Dr. Nina Jekyll made herself a fortune in the pharmaceutical industry, rubbing shoulders with the elite and becoming a household name. But her success came at a cost, and after scandal forced her out of the spotlight, she now lives in seclusion with her demons. In need of an assistant, Jekyll hires Rob - an ex-con straight out of rehab, trying to get back on his feet. However, it soon becomes clear that there are evil forces at play, and Rob's wits are tested in a game of cat and mouse with a mysterious and manipulative entity...

If gothic, horror/suspense scores are your thing then you'll get a real kick out of Blair Mowat's score for Doctor Jekyll. I was reminded, quite a few times, of Danny Elfman's gothic scores. In fact this carried the flavour of his work on Batman Returns, most notably in the track 'A Grande Estate'.

There's a good balance between sweet, melancholic themes (as can be witnessed in 'Nina and Rob'), and the more eerie gothic pieces. This, for me, makes this an album that works incredibly well as a stand alone collection of intriguing themes.

Discussing the music, composer Blair Mowat says: "It was a true privilege to compose the score for the first in this new line of Hammer Horror films, under the new ownership of John Gore. The brand has such a rich musical history and I've always been a fan of their classic scores, in particular James Bernard's work. Fans may even notice that the main theme rhythmically spells out the title 'Doctor Jekyll', just as many of those films did in the past. Our director, Joe Stephenson, was looking for a bold, gothic, and dramatic score mixing traditional Hammer tropes with a modern sensibility. Much like Jekyll and Hyde, this a score of two parts, recorded with two different orchestras - the Budapest Art Orchestra and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra. This helped to emphasize the split personality of the score switching from sparse haunting horror to the operatic gothic explosions we hear towards the end of the film. A 30-person choir helped achieve a sense of scale when we needed it and Jekyll's textural effects are performed on a variety of rare old string instruments such as the Viola Da Gamba and Stroh Violin, evoking the sense of an ancient evil."

I loved the way that the score balances the differing sides to the main character's personality, reflecting the humane and demonic sides to Dr. Nina Jekyll and Rachel Hyde.

If this is the direction that future Hammer production scores will be using as a benchmark, then I think it's safe to say that soundtrack lovers are in for a bright future from the studio.

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Darren Rea