I love Re-Animator. The original is one of my favorite movies, and both sequels are solid. The first time I saw it, one of the things that really jumped out at me was the score. I was disappointed to later learn that the film's score bears more than a passing resemblance to Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho. I had already seen Psycho when I saw Re-Animator, but it had been many years and I didn't remember the score.

In interviews, composer Richard Band's attitude toward being called out on the major similarities seems to be basically "Duh. That's the joke, don't you get it?" Is it really? I have to admit, I don't get it. I might understand if the movie had a lot of similarities to Psycho, like if it was a spoof or something, but they are absolutely nothing alike. So how is that a joke?

I guess I might be able to forgive him if he was some great composer. But I have seen at least 45 movies that Richard Band has scored, and the only one that is in any way memorable is the one that's a rip-off. It seems to me that the only reason he even has a career is because his brother produces every movie he works on.

Do you think Re-Animator's score is justifiable?