MRH : Theological thrillers have a long legacy of giving composers great opportunities to exploit musical styles, and I wonder what is it about the genre that's so attractive to composers?

JF : I was trying to think to myself when did the first one start being made? I'm trying to think as far back as I can, and it seems like they didn't really come about until the sixties, unless I'm wrong. Can you think of any before then?

MRH : I guess the problem for me is that The Omen and The Exorcist are the two that really stand out. Exorcist is really just a pastiche of material and doesn't really have a formal score running through it, but Omen was the one that sort of codified everything within the genre; because it did that, it established a template that everyone feels obligated to work towards, which isn't really fair because a lot of the later filmic imitations were scored by all kinds of different composers. Even Ennio Morricone scored a few, and his stuff is really out there, such as Holocaust 2000 (aka The Chosen), plus Bruno Nicolai's The AntiChrist (L'Anticristo).

JF : I think the biggest thing that comes to mind when you're dealing with a theological thriller is that you're dealing with theology, and you've got a couple millennia of music history to pull on, and I think that's what you're focusing on: you have Gregorian chants, you have the concept of chant, you have the Mass; you have all these types of Western religious music to pull on, and that's probably why there tends to be a common thread in many of these theological thrillers – we're pulling on the same liturgical music.

MRH : And I guess they've allowed composers to dip into some eccentric, if not dissonant concepts, even in straightforward horror films.

JF : They're probably using voices with that, too.

MRH : I guess one key aspect is the use of large chorales, and to use such a component requires great skill, if not finesse.

JF : It's complicated. In thinking about ‘What is a theological thriller?' Is 2001: A Space Odyssey a theological thriller? It's a lot about theology, and a lot of great uses of voices in the music in that film. It's a broad area.

MRH : In terms of your own skill, I particularly liked a cue ["Costigan Blues"] where you repeated a particular rhythmic pattern and subsequently bring in large chunks of the orchestra and chorus to further the tension – something you also employed in Alien Resurrection in two specific places. It's admittedly my favourite part of that score, and the primal cue appeared in its longest configuration during the end credits.

JF : I do know what cue you're talking about, and it is a further exploration of some ideas that go way back, and probably an idea that I'll keep pursuing, as I really like the build; it's hard to put into words as to what it is.

MRH : I think it's the concept of using brass to introduce something with a great deal of weight, and the rhythmic pattern that gives it an ominous momentum, ultimately slamming the audience hard with an aural payoff.

JF : I'm always going back and listening to the master, John Williams… It's challenging to use brass in contemporary scores, especially higher trumpets. It's easier to be kind of growling on the bottom, but to sound modern with brass [is much harder]. That may be why you're hearing less brass in some scores these days. That's something that I don't want to give up on… because I love their power.