Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. The Creeper

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, October 02, 2003

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Graeme Revell (PITCH BLACK, TOMB RAIDER, MISSION TO MARS) inherits the musical mantle inaugurated by Harry Manfredini in 1980 with the first FRIDAY THE 13^TH movie. Whereas NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET had no real musical signature, with most films scored differently by different composers, Manfredini's musical approach has defined the scoring attitude of the FRIDAY films ever since, culminating in last year's JASON X with a visit to Mars. With FREDDY vs. JASON today's inevitable translation of GODZILLA VS. KING KONG for the slasher movie crowd Freddy Krueger of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET fame and Jason from the FRIDAY THE 13^TH films spar off within and without the dream world. Revell inherits the job and crafts a spooky and astringently atonal score rife with musical shocks and bizarre suspense. He acknowledges the Manfredini legacy by incorporating a couple of moments of Manfredini's signature repetitive whispered vocalisms, here electronically reprocessed, in "Jason's First Dream." The soundtrack CD (Varese Sarabande 302 066 498 2) represents the score well, although most of it was meant for the squeamish social event of the cinema, and it loses some of its effectiveness as pure music when listened to at home. The music is unremittingly cacophonic and dissonant, except for a melodic string figure that introduces the score in "The Legend" and later recurs in "Freddy Gets Young Jason" and a few other moments; that melody speaks to the characters' beginnings and tends to humanize them a bit, whereas the rest of the score pays no such homage, but serves up a cold and wriggly pudding of frightful ferociousness. A raucous rock theme is heard in "Freddy in the Real World" to disassociate the Elm Street nightmare-maker from his comfortable world of night terrors and show him awkward and impotent among contemporary reality.

A fitting companion

is the soundtrack to JEEPERS CREEPERS 2, also released on Varese Sarabande (302 066 496 2). This one is scored by the composer of the original, Bennett Salvay. As described by director Victor Salva in the CD notes, both he and Salvay wanted to echo some of the original themes from the first film, but more so wanted to break out and into a new kind of musical stratosphere. Much like the flying Creeper of the sequel, Salvay's score flies rapidly and weightlessly overhead. Like FREDDY vs. JASON, it is grounded not so much in melody and rhythm but on dissonance and severe chaotic musical action. But Salvay has a knack for crafting interesting textures and tonalities, and the music retains this tonal orchestral sensibility.

SOUNDTRACK & FILM MUSIC NEWS

John Morgan and William Stromberg (best known for their efforts in restoring and recording vintage scores for the Marco Polo label) are currently scoring STARSHIP TROOPERS 2, which records later this month in Moscow (where their Marco Polo CDs have all been recorded). The film comes out on video next year, directed by former effects wiz Phil Tippett.

Early next year, La-La Land Records will issue a compilation soundtrack of music from the various LONE WOLF AND CUB (aka BABY CART) samurai films. Coming up sooner is The Fantasy Worlds of George Pal: Volume 1, featuring suites from TOM THUMB, THE TIME MACHINE, ATLANTIS: THE LOST CONTINENT, THE POWER, THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAO, and DOC SAVAGE.

Elektra Records will release Hans Zimmer's score for THE LAST SAMURAI on November 25. This is the film that has been described by Zimmer as a "GLADIATOR in Japan," and the score is one of the most anticipated to come out this autumn. The film, which stars Tom Cruise, is directed by Edward Zwick and opens in the USA on December 5.

The LucasArts videogame, INDIANA JONES & THE EMPEROR'S TOMB, released earlier this year, contains a full orchestral score by composer Clint Bajakian, recorded by Seattle's 74-piece Northwest Sinfonia. The score does not stray too far from the John Williams style, but does have its own flavor due to the influence of the new locations Indy visits in the game: Ceylon, Prague, Hong Kong, and more. "The aesthetic goal of the score was to echo the original film scores in style, but also to introduce original ideas and world music elements in line with the various exotic locations Indy visits throughout the game," says Bajakian. While the score is heartily in evidence on the game itself, no official soundtrack CD is planned at this time.

Christopher Lennertz (SAINT SINNER) has scored the latest volume in the popular warfare videogame series, MEDAL OF HONOR: PACIFIC ASSAULT, taking over from Michael Giacchino, who scored the first four games. The music was scored for large orchestra and, according to an interview in the August issue of Film Score Monthly, was largely influenced by the style of Jerry Goldsmith's TORA! TORA! TORA!

Following his western score for Kevin Costner's OPEN RANGE, Michael Kamen has now been hired to work on the first digitally animated German family adventure, BACK TO GAYA. The film, according to Music from the Movies, tells the story of two digital characters who are forced to leave their virtual lives in a television series and enter

the real world.

Varese Sarabande has announced the cue list for their upcoming Deluxe Edition CD to Jerry Goldsmith's score to POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE, and it apparently features largely the same contents as the limited edition expanded Intrada release (though some cues have been retitled - for example, "Dental Problems" has become "Wild Braces") plus an additional 6:40 cue entitled "The Visitor." The CD is due in stores on October 14th.

Varese has also announced some intriguing new releases for October and November: LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION, scored by Jerry Goldsmith, will be released on November 11th and is, according to Varese Sarabande producer Robert Townson "a score of absolutely manic, unbridled energy" and a "rip-roaring, all-guns-firing soundtrack that both embraces the classic genre and redefines it at a level never before reached." Also due on November 11^th are: TAKEN, Steven Spielberg's Emmy-winning miniseries, composed by Laura Karpman; ALIAS, the popular television series with music by Michael Giacchino (MEDAL OF HONOR); and John Debney's score for the magical holiday film ELF, about a man raised by Santa's elves. GOTHIKA, a Halle Berry thriller with a score by John Ottman, is described as "dark and terrifying" and comes out on November 18th.

Perseverance Records reports that, due to legal reasons, their upcoming CD of Basil Kirchin's score to THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES will not include music from Kirchin's score to THE SHUTTERED ROOM after all.

Terry Michael Hudd has just completed the scoring of 1.0, a futuristic thriller starring Jeremy Sisto, Deborah Unger, Lance Hendrickson, and Udo Kier. 

Hip-O Records' October 7th soundtrack CD to the new Joel and Ethan Coen film, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, is a combo album featuring both Carter Burwell's score and various songs used in the film. The track listing includes seven compositions by Burwell, whose score was recorded in New York with a 75-piece orchestra.

Patrick Doyle's melodic orchestral score for the warm fantasy/drama/comedy/Arabian Nights swashbuckler SECONDHAND LIONS has been released on New Line Records. It mingles haunting Arabic music within a larger orchestral score.

After the success of THUNDERBIRDS (FILMCD 606), Silva Screen Records will release the first ever CD recording of Barry Gray's original recordings for the Gerry Anderson TV series CAPTAIN SCARLET. The music has been painstakingly researched and reconstructed from the composer's large but neglected store of session tapes by a team of fans and technical experts from Fanderson and Kindred Productions. The CD will contain 79 minutes of music and will be released on November 17^th.

Five Japanese film scores will be released on CD by ADV Music in the USA on October 28th. First out is DESTROY ALL MONSTERS from 1968 with music by GODZILLA composer Akira Ifukube. Then comes three REBIRTH OF MOTHRA CDs with original music composed by Toshiyuki Watanabe. Finally, the label releases SPRIGGAN, the 1998 anime film with music by Kuniaki Haishima.

SCORING ASSIGNMENTS OF NOTE

David Arnold will score Frank Oz's remake of THE STEPFORD WIVES, starring Nicole Kidman.

John Barry is

scoring the animated super hero feature, THE INCREDIBLES, which opens on Nov. 5^th.

Elia Cmiral (STIGMATA, THEY) will score SON OF SATAN, a short film from John Kovac that is part of the new Shorts Series launched by Fox Searchlab.

George S. Clinton is slated to return to Kombat to score the third film in the video game inspired series, MORTAL KOMBAT 3: THE DOMINATION.

Jan A. P. Kaczmarek will score the Johnny Depp/Dustin Hoffman How-I-Wrote-Peter-Pan biopic adventure, J.M. BARRIE's NEVERLAND.

Mark Mancina (SPEED, TWISTER) scores the next Disney park attraction made into a movie, THE HAUNTED MANSION.

Marc Shaiman will reunite with SOUTH PARK creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone when he scores their upcoming animated feature TEAM AMERICA. Shaiman scored their popular SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT in 1999. TEAM AMERICA, scheduled for release in 2005, is reportedly about "marionette superheroes fighting to end terrorism and put tired celebrities out of their misery." Sounds like typical Parker/Stone, eh?

For release in November this year, Shaiman has written the songs for The Cat In The Hat together with Scott Wittman.

After LORD OF THE RINGS, Howard Shore will tackle Peter Jackson's next larger-than-life film assignment, a new remake of KING KONG due out in 2005.

Alan Silvestri will score Stephen Sommers' skewed take on Dracula, VAN HELSING, due for release on May 7^th.

FILM MUSIC ON DVD

This week's DVD release

of Lawrence Kasdan's adaptation of the epic Stephen King alien invasion tale, DREAMCATCHER, includes among its characteristic making-of documentary a brief chat with and about composer James Newton Howard. Director Kasdan says that "when it came to DREAMCATCHER, I wanted it to be weird. I didn't want it to be a clear distinction between the sound effects and the music." Howard accommodated with an unusual score, which he describes as using a lot more electronics than he's done before. "I've tried to make it much more textural, less thematic, and not melodic," Howard says in an on-camera interview. "A lot of times the music is working on a very subtle level. My hope is that people will often times not be aware that it's there. It's mixed in with the sound design."

Warner's 2-disc 65^th-Anniversary edition DVD of the 1938 classic THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD includes plenty of material on Erich Wolfgang Korngold's classic score in its documentary, and an isolated music-only track as well.

Next week Disney will premiere THE LION KING on DVD, with plenty of extra documentaries including a detailed look into the film's music, featuring a score by Hans Zimmer and songs by Elton John.

Soundtrax is our weekly Movie Soundtrack column.

Comments or suggestions for future columns? Contact Randall at Soundtrax@cinescape.com.