The Ring/ The Ring Two
Rooted in Hideo Nakata's cult Japanese thriller, 2002's box office successThe Ringand its '05 sequel updated the horror genre via a timely, technology-based gambit. But this anthology of soundtrack cues from the popular contemporary horror franchise succeeds by largely avoiding the rhythmic stem-winding, synth-sound washes and metallic thunder that characterize all too many modern horror scores. Instead, veteran Hans Zimmer, aided and abetted by protégés Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman, conjures a compelling, less-is-more aura of shadowy suspense and mounting tension. The music fuses the brooding Bernard Herrmann ofPsychoandMarniewith the hypnotic, goth-prog conceits of Italian frightmastersGoblin. But that evocative, minimalist sound gives way to a more contemporary—and clichéd—stew of thrash-guitar and booming electronics in the collection's final quarter.--Jerry McCulley