Impeccably timed to appeal to those preparing the soundtrack to their Hallowe’en parties, Silva have released a fairly comprehensive (‘definitive’ is a tad grand) 60-track four-disc set of themes, covering the A-Z of horror – well, Alien to Zodiac anyway. Instead of a random eclectic pot pourri of gruesome tunes, some thought has clearly gone into the way that the tracks are presented. As such, the most recent releases (Drag Me To Hell, Twilight) appear first, with all ensuing themes tracking back in time chronologically to James Bernard’s score for the previously silent Nosferatu (1922).

With recent original recordings to high profile movies like The Duchess, Rambo and District 9 under their belts, the City of Prague Philharmonic can no longer credibly be seen as the poor man’s choice, and their cover versions here are crisp recordings of polished performances. The various conductors – primarily Nic Raine, James Fitzpatrick and Paul Batmen – elicit confident performances from their orchestra, and to the casual listener many of the tracks will be indistinguishable from the vaguely-remembered originals. Saying that, hardcore fans will cite examples where these orchestrations vary from the original recordings, where the conductor has highlighted a certain part of the orchestra, or the sound mix has given different prominence to brass, strings or whatever. These are all valid criticisms, but probably a moot point for the target audience.

Reading like a shopping list of film score composers, we get (in descending order!) five apiece from Jerry Goldsmith, John Carpenter and James Bernard, four from John Williams, three from Christopher Young, two from Morricone, John Murphy and James Newton Howard and one each from a range that is Bartok to Waxman. What’s nice is that for every obvious choice like The Omen suite and Goldsmith’s Alien, there’s also recordings of little-heard (or hard to find) scores like Phantasm and Predator. Perhaps a definitive collection would also have included The Amityville Horror, Psycho and Jaws, but kudos for including Billy Goldenberg’s Duel and John Morris’ Young Frankenstein. For a full track listing, visit Silva’s site.

This is a fun confection, and at over four hours’ length is great value for money. I have no doubt that purists will want to stick with the originals, and buy the original full-length soundtracks. But for those looking for an entry point into the genre, or something with which they can play ‘Guess the theme tune’ on October 31^st, this is a safe and reliable purchase.