When Good Ghouls go Bad

Although When Good Ghouls Go Bad sounds like a piece of tabloid television journalism, but looks to be a kid's version of The Frighteners starring Christopher 'Why are you doing this film exactly?' Lloyd. Christopher Gordon was last impressing film music fans with his superb On the Beach for the excellent Hallmark mini series. This being a straight to video kids movie, it would seem to be a step backward in the quality stakes, although on the basis of the evidence here, I hope that Gordon will get plenty more calls for some betters films.
First off, this doesn't ever approach the quality of On the Beach - I suppose it's comparing apples and oranges, but Gordon does seem markedly less inspired by the subject matter, although that's hardly a surprise. The album starts with the quirky It's Mean, Mean, Mean sung by a close harmony female chorus and then by what sounds like a digitally altered male group. It doesn't have anything in common with the rest of the score, but is good fun all the same. The score proper starts off in promising style with Walker Walks and Falls in Walker Falls with writing that doesn't sound as though it would be out of place in a Harry Potter movie - that's not to imply any particular similarity, just a similar and well place spooky mood. Unfortunately, a little temp tracking seems to have moved in on Art Class with ideas that suggest Horner's Casper and Elfman's Beetlejuice.

One surprising element are the injections of more pastoral material with Uncle Fred, but most notably the lush A Pile of Pumpkins, although the latter makes an impressive transformation as the strings turn from gentle to quite dissonant and the music twists towards darkness. Unfortunately the middle section of the album sags somewhat, the music becoming more incidental, a little directionless and the lack of any outstanding thematic material becomes more apparent. One can't help but feel the more generous than usual running time was unwarranted on this occasion. Even the lengthy finale cue doesn't really turn into anything much and one can't help wondering where the Dance of the Ghouls disappeared as it merely sounds like a pleasantly sentimental finale cue.

Not without its moments, When Good Ghouls Go Bad doesn't quite convince all the way through. At its best it's slightly spooky and entertaining, Gordon clearly had quite a bit of fun writing the score. However, the quiet moments tend to bumble along and render themselves instantly forgettable. A little pruning would likely have increased the enjoyment value of the album considerably. I would assert that Gordon has a promising future if only he can get attached to some higher quality television or off beat movie assignments.