After first making his mark in the genre via Wes Craven's blockbuster Scream, composer
Marco Beltrami returns to horror with the score to 1997's Mimic, a far more complex and mature effort notable for its uncommon textural mastery. Eschewing the bombast and conventional scare tactics that characterized his Scream efforts,
Beltrami favors dark, eccentric melodies and effects rooted in the avant-garde -- themes like "Manny Searches for His Son" boast a heartbreaking humanism far removed from the cartoonish terror of your average horror score, but there are also more conventionally visceral moments as well, among them the brassy "Chased by a Bug." An underrated gem. ~ Jason Ankeny