The Man Who Collected Food (2010) *** 1/2

 

DANIEL ALCHEH

Screamworks 11004

21 tracks - 41:21

 

Film score fans may be hearing more from Israeli-born composer Daniel Alcheh, whose score for The Man Who Collected Food is one of the surprises of the year. The film is, as one might expect, about a man who is a serious collector of foodstuffs. He struggles to keep all these things in mint condition even while he needs to eat. Of course, he can’t eat his collection, and so he turns to his next best source of protein: people! The film has been gaining critical attention in various horror festivals. The CD release is set to coincide with the upcoming DVD release in the U.S.

 

What will strike most listeners is the strong baroque and classical undercurrent in this score. The “Theme” is a well-constructed Vivaldi-styled pastiche opening (think The Four Seasons) with tremendous forward thrust and energy. This style will become a prominent component of The Man Who Collected Food and drives tracks such as “La Caccia” and “Sneaking in & Anamnesis.”

 

The score’s other main component is a more traditionally conceived horror noir sound as introduced in the “Opening Credits.” Alcheh also throws in some jazz saxophone ideas (more noir) here and there. “First Food Convention” shifts into a more lighthearted mode that one might hear in something like John Williams’ score for The Terminal. These aspects of mostly tonal writing set an interesting mood for the weird horror-comedy as it unfolds.

 

It’s worth noting that this score largely avoids both contemporary design elements and large swaths of dissonance, instead drawing its horror and tension from unsettling melodic contours or from the motion of the supporting music, which only occasionally crescendos to a harsh stinger. Towards the end of the album, some more traditional horror elements do begin to appear, but they don’t undermine the score’s general construction.

 

The album sequencing of The Man Who Collected Food makes for an enjoyable experience that leaves quite an impression. Alcheh is a composer worth paying attention to; this is the best of the bunch in Screamworks’ first round of horror releases. —Steven A. Kennedy