"The Brood" By Howard Shore

A young Howard Shore's score for David Cronenberg's "The Brood" is thrilling if a little by the numbers; it's difficult to get the full breadth of it because it is, for some reason, in mono. But it knows when to come to the fore and it knows when to sit in the background, and it pays homage to earlier horror films like "Psycho" and "The Omen". Shore, of course, went on to score almost every Cronenberg film, as well as every film made in Hollywood between 2004 and 2013.

As a film "The Brood" has its moments but never fulfills its potential. There is something that really works about about mutant child murderers in snowsuits but it never feels especially scary. There is very little explanation of how the film's strange environment came to be, the result is a film that's supposed to be heavy but feels very light. Robert A. Silverman's performance is notable for being hilarious, perhaps unintentionally so; it's hard to say. However it is worth a look if you're a fan of horror, particularly of classic 70's horror.