We here at Killer Reviews always like to joke about the Hollywood knuckleheads pulling the strings. You know who we're talking about. The guys in the suits up on the 30th floor who research popular trends and study demographics and figure out how they can work this stuff into films. You know....reach a larger audience. Make more ka-ching. These are the guys who propose that a giant doughnut should be rolling down the street in 2012. These are also the guys who think Will Smith should punch an alien in the face and say "Welcome to Earth Motherfucker." Why you ask? Because it'll be HILARIOUS! They're not the guys who add a scene in order to evolve the character of Hannibal Lector, nor are they the ones who think a simple handheld camcorder film about ghosts can be successful. Nope...these are the guys in the final hour of production who say...."We should make Clash of the Titans 3-D." I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during the creative meeting for an upcoming movie called Rocky IV. Looking back now, that meeting must have been priceless.

The Rocky movies were a success. Damn successful in fact. But something was happening. The franchise was evolving from respectable, Oscar award winning film making to popcorn, "put people in the seats" type stuff. Seeing First Blood morph into Rambo the killing machine, I guess you can't really blame the progression. Stallone was just that "in demand" as an action star so the progression away from serious plot lines and hard core acting seemed obvious. With the third Rocky movie, it was clear more money could be made with Stallone the action star and other audiences could be reached through guest appearances by wrestlers like Mr. T and Hulk "Thunderlips" Hogan, not to mention the potential for a soundtrack after Survivor's mega-hit "Eye of the Tiger." After watching Rocky IV about 100 times now, it seems clear to me that it's creative staff was more than likely 1) struggling for ideas on a new plot line and 2) bursting with ideas on pop culture, soundtrack potential to work into the film. I imagine the meeting must have gone something like this.


Knucklehead 1 - We gotta have a hit soundtrack. Let's have "Eye of the Tiger" in the film again so we can hit gold a second time around.
Knucklehead 2 - Great idea! And let's have John Cafferty as well. Eddie and the Cruisers was huge and let's see what James Brown is up to. I think he just got out of jail.

Director - Well I was thinking about the plot line and I was thinking maybe Apollo could die?

Knucklehead 1 - What? No. We can't have Apollo die...the fans love him. How about the plot is that Adrian doesn't want Rocky to fight and Paulie drinks too much?

Director - That might be a little redundant. I think we should be bold and kill off Apollo. Killing off Apollo would create so much drama.

Knucklehead 1 - Oh I see...I never thought of it that way. Well how about if Rocky's next opponent kills Apollo?
Knucklehead 2 - Yeah...and we can make him Russian because the USA is afraid the Russians are gonna start a nuclear war. It'll be like USA vs. Russia.
Director - Well that seems extreme, but....

Knucklehead 2 - Nah! Nothing's extreme...it's the 80's man. Also..I was thinking...this upcoming movie Short Circuit is making waves...maybe we should work in a robot somehow?
Knucklehead 1 - Holy shit!! Johnny 5 in Rocky. What a great idea. The kids will love it. It should be Paulie's servant and play music. It could be another way to get a song on the soundtrack.
Director - Oh my God...


Sadly, this is probably how most of these meetings go and most fans of Rocky IV would probably admit that only Hollywood Knuckleheads could concoct such a film as ludicrous as Rocky IV. At the same time, I think most people would also agree that somehow, (possibly through the genius of Stallone's directing) Rocky IV actually works. Somehow...some way...all this craziness works. It works in a big way and this brings me to my five points as to why Rocky IV is the greatest movie of all time!!!!


1) Metal Money Makers - With the rise of computers and arcade games, the 80's was a time of electronic obsession. We even had this crazy idea that robots would eventually do all our work and we could stay at home and collect paychecks. How's that working out for us? Clearly that plan didn't amount to shit, but it did bring us some pretty kick ass 80's movies like Terminator, Robocop, D.A.R.Y.L., Short Circuit and Transformers. So the Hollywood knuckleheads asked the question "If the kiddies like R.O.B. the Robot, why should we not cash in?" Enter Paulie's birthday present: a "female" cyborg servant who even looks like R.O.B. the Robot and who brings him beer, dinner and plays music for him. It's an idea that may be as dumb an idea as the character of Meathead in Meatballs 2, (relax..I love Meathead too) but that's the beauty of Rocky IV. They were just going for it. They were pulling out all the stops. Reason number one why Rocky IV is the greatest movie of all time.




2) The Godfather Arrives - With the success of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger, the creative knuckleheads must have been frothing at the mouth for the soundtrack release. For Rocky IV, they recruited an arsenal of music heavyweights in Survivor, John Cafferty, Kenny Loggins, Glady's Knight and Robert Tepper. In honor of the film's anti-Soviet plot line, they dressed up Apollo Creed head to toe in the stars and stripes and even got the godfather of Soul, James Brown to write Living in America and perform all four minutes and forty three seconds of it on camera. It's a lavish scene with Vegas dancers, fire, explosions, flags, horn lines...a serious production. Ferris Bueller singing Twist and Shout in downtown Chicago, Elizabeth Shue bouncing on a bed to Then He Kissed Me and Tom Cruise parading around in his underwear to Old Time Rock N Roll were pretty blatant attempts to garner soundtrack enthusiasm, but James Brown's Living in America scene is a shining example of 80's over indulgence at it's best. A "spare no expense" philosophy. Second reason why Rocky IV is the greatest movie of all time.




3) The evolution of Paulie and Adrian - Though the Rocky franchise has clearly found success over the years, was there anybody who didn't think the characters of Adrian and Paulie were major buzz kills in an otherwise bad ass series? For the first three films, it seemed like Rocky's writers always struggled over what Adrian should be. She started as this brutal on the eyes, non-speaking introvert early on who evolved into a nagging wet blanket who never believed in her man as the series progressed. Her brother Paulie was a whiny, drunken, pathetic mess like that friend who would always get drunk and talk about how nobody liked him and look for sympathy from anybody who would take the bait. Eventually, one of the knuckleheads got wise and said "Enough with these two. People are tired of this storyline. Can we just say that Rocky's millions afforded them A.A. and counseling and let them be normal people in part four? As a result, Adrian emerges in part four as a confident, dare I say "sexy number" who's not constantly kicking us all in the balls every time we cheer for Rocky. At the same time, Paulie's character got reduced to miniscule; only granting him enough screen time for scattered one liners; similar to the way Peter Jackson castrated the character of Gimli. The only difference is Gimli got hosed, Rocky got better. The near omitting of these two characters meant the bullshit was gone and there was more room for what Rocky fans really care about...FIGHTS and MONTAGES!!!!




4) Montages...Oh how I love me them montages - Not only a staple in 80's movies, montages were always accompanied by music and soundtracks were big business in the 80's; with Top Gun, Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain making it into the top 20 selling albums of the decade. Though there are countless 80's montages, the Rocky franchise arguably may have done them the best. I mean seriously...what is a Rocky movie without a training montage? For Rocky IV, the creative Knuckleheads decided it imperative that Rocky fans should receive no less than two montages. Fortunately we got three. The first incredible montage comes as Rocky gets in his Lamborghini Jalpa to blow off a little steam to Robert Tepper's No Easy Way Out; all the while, craftily getting viewers up to speed through clips from earlier films in the franchise. The second incredibly super montage comes as Rocky is training in the snows of Mother Russia. Bill Conti's familiar Rocky theme has been dispatched and replaced by Vince DiCola's ballsy instrumental with the un-ballsy title of "training montage." It's impossible to not get pumped to DiCola's music while Rocky is doing crunches in the barn rafters, running up mountains and chopping down trees. The falling trees are even cut back to back with flashback clips of Apollo falling to the matte. How symbolic. I told you people, it's the best movie of all time. The third incredibly super duper montage is the mother of all Rocky training montages. None of this "Rocky needs to get the eye of the tiger back" bullshit or "Rocky is too ""Civilized"" to fight Clubber" nonsense. Nope. In Rocky IV, Rocky has the eye of the tiger the second Apollo's melon hits the matte and he's pissed. So pissed that he's outrunning the KGB up a mountain through four feet of snow. This third montage also plays opposite Drago's training and is underscored by another kick ass DiCola instrumental; this time appropriately titled "WAR." Three montages. Three epic moments literally taking up half of the movie. Three of the best montages of all time! Reason number four people.





5) One man against millions - Red Dawn may have started Hollywood's obsession with the Soviet threat in the 80's, but seeing the money it took in, the creative knuckleheads behind Rocky IV wanted in and they wanted to take it to the next level. Dolph Lundgren's entrance as the towering menace Drago starts innocently enough with a demonstration of his super human strength, but it would eventually be decided that they shouldn't do the Russian stereotype any favors and they should turn him into a steroid pumping murderer by movie's end. Drago wasn't doing himself any favors either 20 minutes in by standing over Apollo's corpse and stating "If he dies, he dies." Probably one of the most hilariously entertaining and nationally defaming moments in 80's movie history. Overall, the knuckleheads decide to use Rocky's bout as a symbol for the USA/Soviet arms race. A one man ideal of peace for the world to follow. Rocky Balboa. Mumbling...drooling...Rocky Balboa is the American spokesman for world peace. It's the most hilariously entertaining idea in the Rocky franchise, but with his ending speech and resulting Russian standing ovation, it's clear even the Russians agree we could all get along. I mean hell, the Russian Premiere changed his mind and clapped for Rocky. People...Rocky single handedly prevented World War III. Now how can't you agree Rocky IV is the greatest movie of all time?

JAWS - John Williams (1975)

Available at Screen Archives

PSYCHO! It's perhaps the only piece of film music ingrained into the minds of pop culture the likes of JAWS. Whether or not you've ever snuck up on your girlfriend in the shower with a knife and imitated the high pitch shrieks is debatable. What's not debatable is at some point or another, you've definitely been in the ocean, a pool or a bath tub, used your hand to emulate a dorsal fin and sang the "da-duh, da-duh" theme from JAWS. Everybody has. It's branded into our minds. It's in the opening of 'Airplane!.' It was in 'One Crazy Summer.'

The sports radio show I listen to uses it to kick off their "winer line." The impact JAWS has had on pop culture (not to mention what it did to people's love of the water) can't be measured and yet seems as though it's just another walk in the park for Spielberg and Williams. Looking back on this director/composer tandem is stunning and seems otherworldly. With blockbusters like E.T., Superman, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Close Encounters and Superman to their credit, these Hollywood Titans are responsible for a good portion of the most successful films of the past 40 years. They gave us our fondest childhood moments, created our favorite childhood toys and composed some of our favorite themes of all time. But like all things great, they had to start somewhere and that starting point was JAWS. Well...technically 'Sugarland Express,' but we'll get to that. *

Throughout the 1960's, John Williams was a session musician and orchestrator in the Hollywood scene. Going by the name "Johnny Williams," he would orchestrate for Hollywood heavyweights Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Newman and play piano in the orchestra on scores for Jerry Goldsmith, Henry Mancini and Elmer Bernstein. He was a budding composer in his own right however and began scoring t.v. episodes for 'Lost in Space' and most of his film work to that time consisted of jazz scores for romantic comedies.

His work garnered him a couple Oscar bids, but it wasn't until 1973 that he won his first Oscar for his score adaptation to 'Fiddler on the Roof.' What followed was a string of disaster films including 'The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno' and 'Earthquake.' By 1974, John Williams was officially a rising star and a promising director by the name of Steven Spielberg was also turning heads. A devout soundtrack collector himself, Spielberg had always been a fan of Williams' work and approached him to score his directorial debut 'The Sugarland Express,' which would mark the beginning of a 38 year collaboration that is still going today. Though it was only their second collaboration, some still consider JAWS to be their benchmark work as it shattered all box office records to that time and almost 40 years later, still holds up.*

Williams said when he approached the score to JAWS, that he thought of the shark and what it was. It was mindless, relentless and came from the depths. To achieve mindless, he kept his theme to two notes on the piano. To pull off the relentless bit, he had the two note ostinato repeat over and over. Lurking in the depths just meant that it was played low on the piano. The concept seems comically simple, but it's hard to find another theme with such impact. Admittedly, Spielberg and Williams didn't know if the theme would work with audiences.

In fact, Spielberg actually laughed the first time he heard it and thought Williams was joking. The theme would not only strike fear in the moviegoer, but most importantly it transcended the visual medium and became an actual character in the film on par with Quint, Brody and Hooper. The pain and strife it took to film JAWS has been well documented and due to the mechanical shark never working, this meant the filmmakers would have to find alternate ways to represent the shark. They enlisted a group of filmmakers to record live shots of Great White's off the coast of Australia that they could cut into the film; they used the yellow barrels to signify the shark's presence and John Williams' two note pattern. The audience couldn't see the shark, but the "da-duh, da-duh" let them know it was there.



Besides JAWS' obvious main theme, the score is magnificent all around. Williams makes use of the entire orchestra with thundering trombones and timpani during shark attacks, while adventurous trumpets and strings soar over scenes of the three main hunters going after the shark. He even employs a harpsichord over a classically influenced montage of beach goers and a day in Amity Island. Sweeping glissandos on harp are present as the shark passes the boat for the first time, during the estuary shark attack and in the shark's final moments when it explodes and sinks to the depths. Lurking, suspenseful, adventurous, elegant...JAWS' score has something for everybody, which is probably why it landed Williams' his second Academy Award.

Williams would go on to win his third two years later for his score to 'Star Wars: A New Hope,' launching him into the stratosphere of film composers, but the string of hits that started with JAWS also meant a comeback for the symphonic score. Throughout most of the 60's and 70's, orchestral scores had been replaced by jazz and funk scores. Williams would bring back the big orchestra of Golden Hollywood and make it a mainstay for decades to come.



The score to JAWS has seemingly been released about a thousand times between LP and CD. LP records of the score still hold their value because it's just a cool piece to have in any horror collection. Most notable CD releases are from MCA, Varese Sarabande and most recently DECCA records' Anniversary Collector's Edition (289 467 045-2). It contains 20 tracks, 12 which had never been released before and the artwork is gorgeous.

Most releases don't have much for liner notes however, making information on this score a bit tough to come by. Sadly also is that the tracks are out of film order. Why can't these larger companies get it right??? You can pick it up off eBay if you're too lazy to look around for about $12-$15 used. To pick up a copy, hit eBay or check out Screen Archives. (5/5 B.C.)

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Lord of Illusions (Simon Boswell - 1995)

Available at Perseverance Records

Considering I wasn't a die hard 'Hellraiser' fan like my KR brethren, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy 'Lord of Illusions.' Learning also that is was shot with a film noir style, my second thought was that I definitely wouldn't enjoy it. Surprisingly however, I enjoyed this movie....for the most part. A different kind of story line you don't see every day mixed with Famke Jannsen made for just the right amount of entertainment.

For Clive Barker's thriller, a curious combination of supernatural horror with film noir meant that a certain style of music had to be used for the film. Having used Danny Elfman (Batman, Beetlejuice) and Christopher Young (Freddy's Revenge, Hellraiser, The Fly II) on past films; Barker approached Young about composing the score, but Young's hectic schedule prevented it. Illusions' producer JoAnne Sellar recommended genre composer Simon Boswell (Demons 2, Shallow Grave), which prompted a meeting in Los Angeles. After listening to a couple demos, Barker knew Boswell was right for the job so Boswell moved to L.A. for the duration of post production.

Instead of seeing a final film and scoring to that, Boswell wrote the Illusions score to an unfinished cut of the film; knowing it would have several changes ahead. Music editor Paul Rabjohns then took elements of Boswell's score and cut them together to fit the action in the final cut later on. The freedom with which the composer worked, meant that he also had freedom to write some very unusual cues for the orchestra. On some cues, Boswell would give sections of the orchestra parts that were playable at first, but impossible to play eventually and that would force the orchestra to improvise. Boswell hoped to achieve musical chaos with these cues and bring a unique sound to the film.

The score itself seems to have two very distinct feels. One feel is the dark, gothic nature of the score usually found during the seances, resurrections and supernatural scenes with Nix. For these segments, Boswell takes a somewhat subdued approach and goes for atmosphere over mirroring the actors' actions. Chants and vibrato calls from male voices create a voo-doo like feel while long string passages mixed with gothic male vocals against heartbeat timpani ala Elfman's 'Batman' set an heir of mystery over these scenes.

Barker's long winded scenes translate to some long winded passages and these portions of the score are very appropriate and effective for the film, but can be bit of a snoozer on their own in my opinion. Still, Boswell manages to get some very unique, rich sounds from the orchestra. The second half of the score addresses the action sequences and noir aspects of the film and this is where Boswell shines. Harry's theme consists of a bluesy saxophone solo over unusual chords to create a mysteriously romantic theme; the highlight of the score in my opinion. Boswell would later present this theme with different orchestration in the love scene. This is the theme Boswell presented to Barker, which ultimately landed him the gig and the inspiration shows in the piece. Overall, a hauntingly gothic score with rich sounds, just a tad uninspired sounding.



As far as owning this score, Mute Records originally released the score, but Perseverance Records recently came out with a definitive version. Perseverance has impressed me all along, but this set may be the most impressive yet. Released last year, it's a two disc, 51 track set that features Boswell's complete score as well as demos and bonus tracks totaling close to 2 1/2 hours of music. Definitive is putting it lightly. The sound quality is crystal clear and the tracks are in film order. Thank God! The booklet is 20 pages long with informative liner notes, photos and illustrated design concepts from the film.

The design of the booklet is splendid with stunning colors and imagery created by a designer who thankfully understands resolutions so the images aren't blurry...a sad oversight in many soundtrack booklets. I feel like I say this every time, but kudos to Perseverance once again. These guys understand soundtrack collecting and you have to respect and admire the heart they put into everything they put out. To pick up Illusions and more scores like 'The Exorcist II: The Heretic, Animals United' and 'Dr. Phibes Rises Again,' go to Perseverance Records. (3/5 B.C.)

So if any of you have ever had a house warming party, you know that your guests usually fly off to Wal-Mart the day before the party and pick you up whatever looks housewarmingly; i.e.....a pots and pans set, a knife set, a coffee maker and whatever else they can find. Though the gesture is always nice, the problem here is that Wal-Mart's products are usually of shit quality. Here lies the problem which leads us to B.C.'s picking adventure #2.

Now I love KaylaCap's mom to death, but one of her presents was a set of plastic cooking utensils: spatulas, ladles, strainers, stirring spoons, measuring cups, etc; half of which I never use because...well...I'm 34 and have been living on my own since I was 18. I have measuring cups by this point. So after almost two years of losing my mind with a drawer full of this shit, fumbling through 35 measuring cups and a plastic potato masher that wasn't sturdy enough to mash potatoes, I finally said "Fuck this" and brought it all to my favorite local hangout....Goodwill.

Now many of you know that I love to pick, but I've also been using picking as a way to raise funds to support my soundtrack and Star Wars obsession. For instance, on one of my recent picks, I found a We Are The World CD from 1985 for $3. I figured it was a huge piece of 80's history (not to mention an incredible song) and had to be worth something to somebody and sold it the other day on eBay for $25. That $20 difference will go towards the Explorers soundtrack next week if Santa didn't already get it for me.

I've also gotta tell you, since I started heavily picking over the past year, I've hit tons of pawn shops and thrift stores, though none of them have turned out as much loot as the Goodwill a mile down the road. So after I drop off the 25 spatulas, I set out to find my next great treasure. My first stop is always the CDs and that's when I start to froth up. Edging closer, I can see the stack has expanded and they have new discs. My dingaling tingles. Stopping in, I can see a bunch of Van Halen, Slaughter, Firehouse and W.A.S.P CDs. A Jovi CD appears out of nowhere. I swear I just heard Eddie's "Wah Wah" on Yankee Rose laugh at me. This is a masculine, greased up, hair-metal wet dream. Only I'm here for gay soundtracks. So the only thing I take out of this is Craig Armstrong's score to Ray. Boring! But it was only $2.

So I turn to the left and see the DVDs and right away, Gremlins catches my eye at $4. I have it my hand, thinking this is a no-brainer, but some distant voice from the future tells me to hold off and buy it on bluray, immediately after the voice tells me to buy a bluray player. So I hold off. BTW...I will have a blueray player soon. So next, I see The Wraith with Charlie Sheen for $2. Now, I don't know my DVDs like CDs, but I've learned along the way that you should pretty much pick up things that came out of the 80's. (Example: We Are the World CDs). Butch and I look for movies like Tuff Turf and Meatballs II on eBay and they're like $30 each. So at $2, The Wraith seems like something I should at least take a chance on. So I pick it up and rounded out the DVD section with a 2 disc Special Edition set of Blade Runner at $3. I figure I can either try to sell them on-line if they're worth more than that or give them to Butch to put in the KR store; though I'm pretty leery of that these days. The last time I did that, I gave him the sealed Silent Night Deadly night set we all know about. I still shake when I think about how many soundtracks I could have bought with that money.

Next stop is always toys, but I find NOTHING! No vintage toys or board games to speak of. Cleared out for Christmas I guess.

Next stop is always books. Now I've started a hard cover Stephen King collection since I started picking and before this pick, was up to 8 books, all totaling me about $15. Over my picks, I've found Christine, The Dead Zone, It, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, The Dark Half, Lisey's Story and Different Seasons. In this last pick, I was able to add Tommyknockers, Hearts in Atlantis and Rose Madder; all for around $9. Probably more like $8 with my Goodwill card. Yeah, I did just say that...a Goodwill card. On a side note, it's pretty crazy to think I picked these up for $3 each when they used to be $25 books.

So I ended the pick by going home to KaylaCap and the face. I call it "The Face." It's the face she makes every time I come in the door with another bag full of shit.

Until next time....

Gremlins: Jerry Goldsmith (1984)

Available At Film Score Monthly

It's sometimes said that a film composer is only as good as the movie he's scoring. If this is true, it makes sense why some consider Jerry Goldsmith to be the greatest film composer to have ever lived. Put this into perspective for a second; at the time Goldsmith was composing the score to Joe Dante's 1984 black comedy Gremlins, he was coming off scores to Alien, the Omen trilogy, Outland, Poltergeist, First Blood, Psycho II and Twilight Zone: The Movie. He would follow up Gremlins that year with Super Girl and Runaway; *rounding out the following year with First Blood Part II, Explorers and Legend.

Needless to say, Goldsmith was getting some interesting subject matter thrown his way and fortunately for the world, some Hollywood visionaries took a risk on Gremlins and happened to have Goldsmith's number in their contact list as well. Gremlins is obviously known today as Chris Columbus' big break into Hollywood screen writing, but at the time, he was essentially a nobody. Conceived in his mouse infested Manhattan apartment while at film school, the concept was pitched to a slew of unimpressed Hollywood execs and finally picked up by one Stephen Spielberg who marveled at how marketable and original the concept was.

Gremlins would be the perfect springboard for his new production company...Amblin Entertainment. However Spielberg wasn't looking to direct so he signed on Joe Dante who was coming off Piranha and The Howling. The original concept for Gremlins was a straight out horror film, but evolved into a unique mix of cute cuddliness and comedy suggested by Spielberg and shocking violence Columbus had originally intended. This complicated mix of tones required a skilled composer. Dante had previously worked with Goldsmith on 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie; Spielberg had worked with him on 1982's Poltergeist and both directors enjoyed those experiences so the composer was eagerly signed on.

The score for Gremlins is simply film scoring at it's finest. It aids the film so effectively, yet is so pleasing to the listener on it's own. A familiar early 80's Jerry Goldsmith mix of live orchestra and keyboards, it has everything a fan of film music could ask for. It's has a beautiful haunting theme that doubles as Gizmo's theme as well as the love theme for Billy and Kate. It's has the fun hearted, quirky sections against the picturesque, suburban setting of Kingston Falls.

It has the frumpy circus piece to accompany Mrs. Deagle and the legendary "Gremlin Rag" heard during all the gremlin mayhem. Of course, plenty of action cues as the film progresses. As usual, Goldsmith managed to incorporate new sounds and concepts in the Gremlins score. Gizmo's theme is first heard being sung by Gizmo himself in the Chinatown shop. To achieve Gizmo's singing voice, Goldsmith passed up on several professional singers and finally recruited a 13 year old girl from his synagogue to sing the notes of the theme.

A vibrato was added to her voice, while her breaths were removed and replaced by a purring effect specially created for the Mogwai. This theme is featured several times in multiple variations throughout the score. Goldsmith also came up with a "restless groan" sound for the gremlins that sounds almost like a cat in heat. It combines with keyboard created bubbling effects to always emphasize how unsettling the gremlins are.



Probably most prominent and recognizable in the score is the "Gremlins Rag." When Goldsmith played his ragtime piece for Dante for the first time on piano and proposed it to accompany the gremlin debauchery, Dante admittedly didn't know what to think and had his doubts. Eventually the rag would play out on keyboards with voices mixed in.

The craziness of it fit the Gremlins to perfection and was just one successful gamble of many for the film. The rest of the film incorporated pop tunes by various artists including Peter Gabriel to play during the bar scenes where Kate worked her night job. Beautifully crafted from beginning to end with lovable themes to aid in the nostalgia, Gremlins is a treasure at the height of Goldsmith's most creative years.



Originally the score for Gremlins was released on Vinyl in 1984 and featured a few pops tunes and a pathetic 16 minutes of Goldsmith's score. Forever this score lay dormant and soundtrack collectors wanted it bad; spending $50 to $70 for bootlegs on eBay. That's when Lukas Kendal came to the rescue. Much like Butch started Killer Reviews, Kendal started Film Score Monthly magazine in the mid 90's out of his college dorm room, grew it into a publication with a website and eventually it flowered into a full fledged record label.

An absolute labor of love, Kendal has spent the majority of his life digging through cardboard boxes in Hollywood's warehouses to come out with CD releases for the rest of us and nobody does it better than FSM. So when I saw that FSM had teamed up with Retrograde Records to release a two disc set for Gremlins, I bought it opening night. Off the bat, I'm going to say this is the best CD release I have in my collection. I can't seem to stop listening to it.

Disc one features Max Steiner's Fanfare that accompanies the Warner Brothers Logo, followed by 25 tracks containing Goldsmith's complete score to Gremlins in film order for the first time, ending with nine bonus tracks that include alternate versions of some cues down to the 13 year old girl's "Gizmo" rough cuts and Gizmo's trumpet he plays under the tree. Disc 2 is the entire original LP that was released in 1984.

The artwork is gorgeous and the booklet itself contains 28 pages on the making of the film, details of Goldsmith's score, how the music was recorded and a track by track breakdown for both discs; proving Lukas Kendal just gets it. He asks what a film score fan would want most and delivers. The track by track breakdown just helps you pinpoint mood changes in the score and makes the listening process so much more rewarding. An absolute grand slam on FSM's part. Even better for collector's is that this release isn't a limited edition so it's not out of print and selling for $100 on eBay right now. Going rate is $25.

A small price to pay for close to two hours of music, 28 pages of liner notes and pure 80's awesomeness! Film Score Monthly mostly caters to the classics, but KR fans can find plenty of titles in their wheelhouse like Ice Pirates, Prophecy, Poltergeist, Logan's Run and an 8 CD box set containing all the Superman scores. Like I said, nobody does it better. (5/5 B.C.)



Prophecy - Leonard Rosenman (1979)

Available at Film Score Monthly

Prophecy was a movie I'd never seen growing up. However, Film Score Monthly had a CD release of the score and I try to gobble up anything these guys put out; plus I had picked up the VHS during one of my picking adventures last Summer so the stars were aligned for me to look into this classic Rosenman score. Shocking to me at first viewing was that this wasn't really a full fledged horror movie, but more of a monster movie/action drama kind of thing. Set in the woods of Maine, Prophecy follows a researcher and his wife Adriene from the Rocky movies, who is sent by the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate a dispute between a band of Native Americans and a local paper mill.

The mill claims the Native Americans are responsible for several mysterious deaths in the area, while the tribe's leader claims pollution from the paper mill is poisoning his people. In the end, we find out the paper mill is indeed spreading mercury through the water systems, causing birth defects and mutations. One mutation happens to be a giant bear the locals refer to as Katahdin who is actually responsible for the mysterious deaths in the area. Interesting tidbit for KR fans...the two actors who worked the bear costume were Tom McLoughlin who directed Friday the 13th part 6: Jason Lives and Kevin Peter Hall who would play Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons and the original Predator. Moving on...



Hoping to kickstart monster movies at Paramount Pictures, chief operating advisor Michael Eisner hired director John Frankenheimer (Black Sunday) and screenwriter David Seltzer (The Omen) to bring the story to life. Unlike most directors, Frankenheimer routinely bounced between composers for his films, but for Prophecy, he recruited Leonard Rosenman. Rosenman had scored two of the Planet of the Apes movies and was recently coming off the score to the animated Lord of the Rings.

The score for Prophecy certainly isn't your low drones and creepy atmospheric textures you would typically hear in a horror score. It mixes soaring nature themes with horrifically menacing horn cues against frantic action cues. Somewhat unusual as well is that there isn't much repetition of a single theme. Completely undeniable is that it is an earful with no rest for the weary. It opens with frantic horns and barely ever has a lull throughout. With wild action cues and mucho dissonance, Prophecy's score on first listen may not seem extremely pleasing to the ear and more like a bunch of musical chaos. However, with some further listens, you'll find it's not chaos at all, but insanely well crafted passages.

This score is a delight for a lover of rhythms. At all times, Trumpets and french horns are working in syncopation with trombones and tubas. Trumpets are frantically echoing each other with wild triplets. Brass and strings are stacking on top of each other in pyramid tones. Obviously effective in the movie, Prophecy's score is best enjoyed by just putting on a pair of headphones, blocking out all distractions and listening closely to everything the orchestra is doing. The results will have you asking: a) with nothing repeating, how did Rosenman write so much music and b) how the hell did the orchestra sight read some of this stuff?



A very unique addition to the score is the blaster beam. Invented by Craig Huxley, the blaster beam makes it's first appearance as Katahdin makes his first appearance. Constructed of metal and bronze strings, it can be played with a mallet to achieve all kinds of effects. When it first appears in the score, it knocks the listener on their ass it's so violent sounding. A very clever addition to the score, the beam would later see action in the scores to Meteor and Star Trek the Motion Picture.



The only release I know of the Prophecy score is through our good friends at Film Score Monthly (FSM Vol. 13, No. 1). Released in 2010, it's still in print but limited to 3,000 copies so make a move soon. Like all FSM releases, the sound quality is incredible. The score is complete, 20 tracks with a running time of just under 43 minutes.

The booklet is 16 pages worth of liner notes detailing the making of the film, Rosenman's score and a rewarding track by track breakdown of the score. An awesome addition to your monster movie soundtrack collection. To pick up some other FSM scores, go to filmscoremonthly.com. They have a ton of great scores like Robinson Crusoe on Mars, The Search for Spock, The Wrath of Khan, Outland and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. (4.5/5 B.C.)

The Deadly Spawn - Michael Perilstein/Ken Walker (1983)

Available at Perseverance Records

Ahhh...the 80's. A glorious time when a band like Motley Crue could self produce their first album for nothing and have it take off. A time when low budget success films like 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Paranormal Activity' weren't a phenomenon, but a pretty common occurrence. A time when Ted Bohus and John Dods could make a shoestring budget movie like 'The Deadly Spawn' and make a killing. Apparently conceived by Bohus while he was reading a National Geographic article about prehistoric seed pods from the Arctic that had been brought back, thawed and grown, The Deadly Spawn tells the story of a meteorite carrying alien mutant spawn that crashes into Earth; releasing a Queen spawn. The Queen Spawn then spawns into mini spawn and they spawn into other spawn and they just munch on the local town folk.

With a budget reportedly around $20,000, the actors and crew worked for free, some of the special effects were pulled off with cardboard cut-outs and filming was exclusive to weekends over a grueling three year stint. Backed by grass roots marketing, good connections and a poster by famed artist Tim Hildebrandt who painted the original 'Star Wars: A New Hope' poster, the film opened in 50 theaters in 1983 opposite Sam Raimi's 'The Evil Dead' and grossed $320,000 in it's opening weekend. A cult-classic for many, yet scorned by others, the lovable campiness of The Deadly Spawn also serves as an endearing snapshot into what film making was like before the complications of Unions, Producers, Stunt Doubles and CGI. It's undeniably a testament to what can be achieved when a group of young, enthusiastic film makers have a vision; despite a peanut budget.



What's so interesting about the musical score, is that none of the production team had ever met Michael Perilstein before or after filming to spot the music queues. Perilstein (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Winterbeast) was an established musician who was brought on board and told over the phone what the scenes would entail and he wrote the music based off his notes. The lack of budget completely negated any idea of a full orchestra so Perilstein composed several pieces on keyboard and submitted them to Bohus and Dods to use where they saw fit. The result was an eclectic mix of 80's electronica, elevator jazz and more dramatic themes that stood on their own, but didn't fully fit the feel of the film. This meant only portions of the music would make their way into the final cut of the film and were reserved for the opening titles, end credits and a few transitional scenes. To round out the film, Ken Walker was brought on to score the action sequences. The result is a nice mix of pleasing themes from Perilstein and ominous, dissonant action cues from Walker.



Unfortunately, a lot of these older cult-horror scores are becoming extinct. Fortunately, Perseverance Records recognizes this and their company slogan..."A Small Label with a Big Mission," says it all. That's why they're responsible for the only CD release of Spawn's score: The Deadly Spawn: The Special Deadly Deluxe Edition (PRD 005). The beauty of this release is that it's all of Michael Perilstein's music from the film as well as submissions that didn't make it into the film and these additional compositions are where you really get to appreciate Perilstein's work. Since it was composed on it's own instead of to picture as well as the simple awesome fact that it was composed on a keyboard circa 1982, the result is a series of short, catchy compositions that sound like they could have been the music to any old school Super Nintendo game. I hadn't seen the movie before listening to the music and my first thought was "My God, this could have been the music to Metroid and that queue could have been in Castlevania or this track could easily have been the music in the Dungeons of Zelda." Even if you haven't seen this movie, I'm confident you will love this music if you are one who remotely enjoys old school video games. Adding to it's listenability, each track is an entirely different composition with a different music style like an 80's version of the Nutcracker Suite. It's truly one of the most enjoyable listens I have in my collection. The track clarity is crystal clear, the packaging is gorgeous with an an enjoyable interview with Dods and the quirky track titles just prove that everything about The Deadly Spawn from film to music to CD release was fun.

The only thing I was a little bummed to find out was the booklet was pieced together by Perilstein himself. A cool idea, but instead of liner notes and information on the film, an obviously very quirky and fun hearted Perilstein inserted a mock spoof on horoscopes and a composer "biography" that was more like a description of an acid trip that only served to confuse me. I feel guilty picking on an artist's vision and respect the aim to get away from the cookie cutter "liner notes" found in every CD release, but for soundtrack collectors, liner notes are our equivalent of special features and and not to be tampered with. I wanted to learn more about the score and know something about the elusive and apparently guarded Perilstein. I can't find any information on this guy! I mean at the time of the CD release, even the film producers had still never met him. To each his own. I'm sure some people loved the change of pace, it just wasn't for me. Overall, The Deadly Spawn is a rewarding listen and a very cool piece of 80's nostalgia to have in your soundtrack collection. For other scores like Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Lord of Illusions and Red Sonja, check out Perseverance Records. (3.5/5)

So some couldn't give a shit, but some others enjoy hearing my tales of climbing over boxes in hornet infested barns at flea markets just to find a vintage Star Wars puzzle, rare slasher VHS or out of print CD. So with the advice of Butcher, I decided it's time to get a blog going to report on my adventures.

So KaylaCap's birthday is Friday and I've been racking my brain to figure out what to get her and in the end, we decided budgets are small this year so we decided on a $30 spending limit. With that, she bought me the Clash of the Titans soundtrack. SCORE!!!!! With a bit more money in my pockets these days, I decided to be that dick who spends over the limit and makes the other person feel like shit. So I took her out to dinner and also decided to take her on a shopping spree to anywhere she wanted with a $50 limit.

She was psyched so we planned her shopping spree to take place this afternoon. Now I consider my self a logical person so my plan is to do her spree, but also knock off all the gift certificates we've received over the past year: Toys R' Us, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret and Kohls are all on the agenda, but the one I'm most excited about is the $9 Newbury Comics gift certificate Butcher gave me for watching those 3 year old demon bastards last week. Some may say I'm slimy for combining my picking with her birthday shopping spree and to that, I'd say you're probably right. But like I said...I believe in knocking off two birds with one stone so I call it good logistical planning : )



Anyhoo, on to the pick. We do all her stuff and we get to Newbury Comics. I'm not sure how many KR users even know about Newbury Comics, but it's a great place to find used DVDs, Games, CDs and soundtracks for $2 to $6 since nobody besides me cares about them. It's mostly garbage on the soundtrack front, but you're usually good to find one gem hidden in the mix.

So I'm about 10 minutes into my pick and I'm pretty disappointed as I'm digging through the soundtracks. The A section always starts with "Across the Universe," then you have to get through 40 copies of "Glee" and then 30 copies of "High School Musical," followed by 10 copies of 'Twilight' with the occasional Varese Sarabande issue of 'Sin City' or 'Ghost' mixed in to give me hope. So as I'm digging away, out of the blue pops up that one find you're looking for. I come across a 1980 recording of John Williams score to Empire Strikes Back on the Polydor label. Ding! Ding! Ding!





Obviously there are better and more complete recordings of the score, but this is a CD from 1980 with all the painted Empire artwork on the back of the case. Who cares if you like soundtracks, this would just be a cool find for a Star Wars collector in general. So this disc costs $6. I have $3 left. With that and nothing else looking good, I dropped the rest on Danny Elfman's score to the original Batman. It's a disc I've been waiting to buy since I knew I could get it on the cheap and after Butch's gift certificate...only cost me $3 out of pocket. So that was the take for Newbury Comics. I made plenty of mental notes however on CDs I can clean up the next time they do their "Buy one used CD, get the second for $1" sale.



Next, we stopped at Savers which is basically the same thing as a Goodwill or Salvation army, but the CDs were CLEARED OUT. I remembered I had already raped these guys months ago, but I though they would have replenished their stock by now. No bueno! It sucked. I couldn't find anything except 10 different Saigon Kick albums. Some dude clearly got married, had a kid and his wife decided his Saigon Kick CDs had to go. So sad...

With that said...a pretty uneventful pick. We headed home and now we're setting up Christmas decorations, listening to Elvis Christmas records and watching Rudolph while kicking back on wine. Life is fucking stellar.

The Amityville Horror - Lalo Schifrin (1979)

Available at AlephRecords.com

The story behind 'The Amityville Horror' is a controversial one indeed. George and Kathy Lutz's account of their horrific stay at 112 Ocean Ave for 28 days remained a source of speculation the likes of the Kennedy assassination until their dying days. However there is one undeniable truth to all this in that even five years after the DeFeo murders, people were mesmerized by this story and 37 years later, this story is STILL a fascination for people. Simply put, people can't get enough 'Amityville' like it's a bag of pistachios. So when Jay Anson's 1977 novel had sold 4 million copies, naturally Hollywood came calling. With Stuart Rosenberg signed on to direct, Margot Kidder, James Brolin and Rod Steiger to act and a wave of 'Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity' "This actually happened" advertising, The Amityville Horror was one of the most anticipated films released in the Summer of 1979. Having worked together in the past on "Voyage of the Damned" and "Cool Hand Luke," Rosenberg knew Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin was the right man to score the music for his film.

Having composed the scores for the Dirty Harry films and most notably, the immediately recognizable Mission Impossible theme, Schifrin was no stranger to cinema; but he was somewhat of a newcomer to scoring horror movies. In the end, Schifrin's groundbreaking score would play such an important role in the film that it would eventually land him an Oscar Nomination as well as alter the direction of the film. Originally the opening of the movie would be the Lutzes buying the house intermingled with credits. Knowing the Lutzes had children, Schifrin came up with a lullaby on piano with children's voices above. The innocence of the lullaby would be met with low groans from the strings to always keep the viewer reminded that something wasn't right. The opening two notes of the lullaby would serve as the bulk of the score and repeat over and over throughout the film to emphasize the relentless evil in the house and that led to the idea that the house would be it's own character in the film. With this idea in mind, Rosenberg recut the intro to be a single shot of the house and it's glowing pumpkin eyes with a red overlay. Schifrin's unsettling score would wash over it, resulting in one of the most eerily famous opening shots in horror history.



Despite a rather slow burn on the film side, the score is always moving. The lower strings are essentially shredding "Jimmy Page" style the whole movie while the two note theme is shrilling away on top. These bits are very prominent in the windshield scene, the walk through the park and the closing of the film; really helping to move the film along. Very Bernard Herrmannesque in it's "heavy on the strings" nature, the score even has a nod to Herrmann when Kidder peers out the window and sees the glowing eyes. At Kathy's horror, the strings shriek in sequential order, nodding to the shower scene in 'Psycho,' much like Donaggio's score to 'Carrie' did in 1976. Don't be misled however, all this talk of shredding strings and shrill cries doesn't mean this scores falls into the dissonant noise and boring drone found in most horror scores. Amity's score is always a pleasure to listen to on it's own.

Absolutely essential to the success of the score is the waterphone. A peculiar looking instrument, the waterphone is a metal receptacle that's filled with water and played by a violin bow. It produces eerie high pitched tones that could cut through the noise on D-Day. Seriously! When Butch and I played this CD at Rock N Shock, you couldn't even hear the music from a distance. You just heard the waterphone relentlessly cutting through every sound in the room. Annoying enough to kill a person, it works to perfection in the score; always adding an unsettling feeling and would be a common instrument found in horror scores of the 70's. As stated earlier, Schifrin's score would garner him an Oscar Nomination as well as solidify his scoring of 'Amityville II: The Possession' three years later.



So I know what you're thinking...how do I get this awesome music to possess my house? I wanted this score in my collection forever and fortunately, Lalo Schifrin was smart enough to start his own record label: Aleph Records. Founded in 1997, Aleph has Schifrin's music from his concert works to his film scores including the scores to the 'Dirty Harry Films, Caveman, The Hellstrom Chronicle, The Osterman Weekend' and the comic book music to 'Spooks.' Aleph's release (Aleph 026) of 'Amityville' is the only release of the score outside of Vinyl, consists of 17 tracks and is conducted by Schifrin himself over the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 2002, the result is a crystal clear representation of the score. It features a 4 fold, double sided booklet with liner notes by film music author/teacher/lecturer/Jedi-Knight Jon Burlingame. My only complaint about this disc is that the tracks are out of order from the film. I know..pretty picky, but that's a pretty common request of film score collectors. Topped off with pictures from the film and recording credits in the booklet, this release is really a personal jewel of my collection and could be yours for $12.99. That's nothing to pay for this awesomeness. To snag this relic and check out some more of Schifrin's CDs, go to http://schifrin.com/main.htm and click "Visit the Store." If you don't, I advise you to make like a tree and GET OUT!!!!!!!!!! (5/5 B.C.)

Jason and the Argonauts - Simon Boswell (2000)

Available at Perseverance Records

Considering I don't watch a ton of Made-For-T.V. movies, I have to admit I didn't even know this version of Jason and the Argonauts existed. Of course we all know the story of Jason on his quest to attain the golden fleece to restore peace to his kingdom and claim his rightful place on the throne. The story was originally done with Bernard Herrmann doing the score. To my knowledge, I've never seen the original and I wanted to keep it that way before reviewing anything from this version. A mix of nostalgia and Bernard Herrmann wouldn't be fair to this review in my opinion. So having watched this adaptation, I gotta say I was pretty surprised at how grand of a production it was. Rumored to have a production cost of around $30 million, it boasts huge sets, majestic special effects shots and a very recognizable cast. In the end, I'm not going to say I was blown away by it. It had it's moments, but most of the time I enjoyed saying "that's the guy from 'Braveheart'" or that's the guy from 'The Box'" and laughing at the lackluster C.G. effects. However, what I wasn't laughing at was Simon Boswell's (Shallow Grave, Hackers, Lord of Illusions) sweeping score.



Boswell's score transports you to the Golden ages of Hollywood when scores were adventurous, romantic and moving. Simply put, this score has everything a film music lover would want. It has a beautiful main theme that repeatedly shows up so the listener has something to latch onto and also give the film it's character. It has lots of action cues with thundering timpani and a plethora of marimbas, xylaphones, gongs and harps; giving the listener a variety of sounds to keep you interested. Unfortunately like a lot of scores, the genius of this score gets buried under clanging swords and screeching harpies, but it's still very effective in the film. Finally, let's talk about the length. Boswell had to write a mind boggling 2 hours of music in six weeks; begging one to ask..."Did he even sleep while writing this score?" Whether he did or not, it's clear Boswell put his heart into it. You may not have seen the movie, but if you enjoyed Rosenthal's 'Clash of the Titans' score, you'll want to pick this one up as well. They both have the same brilliance and feel.

The only recording of this score comes from Perseverance records (PRD 036). With some notable track times of 5:46, 5:53, 5:26 and an exhausting 9:45 among many, listeners can rest assured they're getting the bulk of the score. The sound quality is crystal clear and the CD artwork is fabulous with 16 pages of liner notes, photos and credits. Kudos to Perseverance!!! Might I mention as well, that if KR fans are looking for soundtracks, Perseverance is pretty much their one-stop place to find them. With titles like 'Lord of Illusions, Death Warrant, Unforgettable, Knightriders, The Prophecy, Deadly Spawn, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and a newly released Exorcist II: The Heretic," Perseverance is pretty much a KR fan's wet dream. Oh...did I mention they have a 5 CD set encompassing all the Puppet Master films? Yeah, what can I say...they're awesome! To stock up on these awesome scores, visit*www.perseverancerecords.com
(4/5) - B.C.

Conan the Barbarian - Basil Poledouris (1982)

If we're going to be looking into film scores in this article, it only seems appropriate to set a bar by which future scores will be judged. Therefore I'm going to throw Basil Poledouris' score to 'Conan the Barbarian' out there as my first 5 out of 5 on the KR rating scale. In my opinion, 'Conan the Barbarian' is the 'Appetite for Destruction' of film scores. It's loud, nasty, raw, swanky and yet elegant when it needs to be. Undeniable in it's craftsmanship and effectiveness, this score demanded to be heard and it put Poledouris on the map overnight. I bought a Varese Sarabande copy of this score about 13 years ago and quickly realized it's one of the best scores any film composer has ever brought to the masses.

From the pounding drums and horns of "Prologue/Anvil of Crom" to the softly swaying chorale in "Orphans of Doom/The Awakening," one has to ask..."how many incredible themes can be fit into one score?" Of particular note is track 2 "Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom." Beginning softly with woodwinds and strings, the track leads into call and answer trumpets that announce the oncoming of the riders. The track goes back and forth between strong chorale and light woodwinds to bounce between the riders and the helpless villagers prepping for the impending doom. At 3:34, the track takes a second-long breather that beautifully swells into one of the greatest chorale pieces you will ever hear.



In KR terms, it's absolutely bad ass and after all these years, still sends chills down my spine!!!! Admittedly this track was inspired by Carl Orff's "Carmina Buranna" and sometimes, people mistake the two when referring to the music of Conan. Hard to imagine that producer Dino De Laurentiis wanted the score to consist of pop music, but thankfully for film fans, this was a situation where director won out and Poledouris got the call and got the call in a big way. Somewhat unconventional, Poledouris was asked to write music before and during filming, which allowed him plenty of time to research different sounds and turn out a plethora of music. An absolute must for any soundtrack collector, this baby is just awesome to have on your man-room shelf regardless. There are several releases of this score. You can pick up the Milan release in stores for around $10, however the most coveted at this time is Varese Sarabande's VSD-5390 version. The sound quality is amazing and has two pages of the booklet dedicated to liner notes; somewhat uncharacteristic for old Varese releases who sadly tend to be a little bare boned.

This disc is long out-of-print however and coveted by many collectors, but do not fear, it can still be had for a reasonable price. "Buy It Now" prices on eBay will have it at $50 to $80, but the savvy shopper who buys it through auction style can still pick up a used copy for $18-$30. It's not a limited release so flea market die-hards could potentially find this treasure hidden away somewhere for $3 if their lucky. Don't be too quick to pull the trigger however, rumors are circulating that Intrada has found the original masters and is working on a release of Barbarian and it's sequel. Both are sure to be gobbled up immediately upon release. For current Varese releases KR fans would be interested in like 'The Abyss, Aliens, Christine and Die Hard 2,' check out varesesarabande.com. They've been doing this for years and have a monster catalogue of titles. (5/5) - B.C.



Seed of Chucky - Pino Donaggio (2004)

Available at lalalandrecords.com

It almost seems unfair to lump 'Seed of Chucky' in the same article with such a classic as 'Conan', but if Pino Donaggio is going to score classics like 'Carrie' and 'The Howling, he's proven he can hang with the big boys. Seed of Chucky is an interesting flick because it combines horror with comedy with serious parenting concerns with all out raunchy tits and masturbating. So how the hell do you score that? Enter Pino...a legend in horror and Brian DePalma's go-to guy. As the film opens to Donaggio's 8 note title theme, a sea of sperm are swimming across your T.V. screen so instantly you know we're all here to have some fun and fun is exactly what Pino's score is all about. Mirroring the quirkiness of the film, the score incorporates Japanese flutes on cues like "Made in Japan" and a sultry saxophone solo on "Our Jennifer," offering a welcome variety of sounds.

But the score isn't all scary drones and odd sounds. One of the finest cues in the score is a gorgeous melody performed by a full chorus on "Glen's Escape." Amazingly enough, the score was performed by the vaunted London Symphony Orchestra. Don't ask me how that happened, but fortunately for us...it did. To wrap it all up, Fredwreck and Defari perform a little rap number called "Cut It Up" for you. I could have done without this track, but at least it ensures all the film's music gets captured. Even the cue titles on the CD are creative puns so this score is fun all around. As far as owning this CD, here's the best part. La La Land records is selling this CD for a whopping $5 right now.

The CD is well worth it. Not only is the music good, the booklet has multiple pages of liner notes from Pino Donaggio and the director. La La Land offers seemingly endless CDs KR fans would be interested in including the original "Child's Play, Cabin Fever, Night of the Creeps and Alien Resurrection." For more titles, check them out at lalalandrecords.com (3/5) - B.C.