Morricone's Faceless Nightmare from Beyond the Tomb

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, May 11, 2006

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATION

Ennio Morricone's hauntingly lovely score for the 1965 Italian horror film, AMANTI D'OLTRETOMBA (Lovers Beyond the Tomb, but best known under its USA release title, NIGHTMARE CASTLE; although also known as NIGHT OF THE DOOMED, THE FACELESS MONSTER, and ORGASMO) has been given a first rate soundtrack release from Italy's GDM label. While about 26 minutes in 9 tracks from the score appeared for the first time on a 1992 RCA soundtrack released, paired with 8 tracks from Morricone's L'UMANOID, GDM's new release contains 39 minutes of music over 7 mostly longish tracks. Directed by Mario Caiano (BULLETS DON'T ARGUE, one of Morricone's first Western scores; ULYSSES VS. THE SON OF HERCULES, SEVEN PISTOLS FOR A MASSACRE, etc), the film had to do with the ghosts of two lovers haunting a villa's inhabitants, and Morricone provides a mostly romantic sensibility as a backdrop to the film's low budget moments of fear and fright.

The main melody, introduced in "Amanti D'Oltretomba" is the same, or very close, to the gorgeous lyric Morricone used in L'AVVENTURIERO, Terence Young's 1967 swashbuckling adventure drama with Anthony Quinn as a Napoleaonic pirate. The theme is a sweepingly lovely violin line, here played over rather a busy piano riff with cello counterpoint. This motif represents the lovers and their former bliss, while the balance of the score comprises a series of unusual, awkward, and very frightening sustained musical evocations organs, voice, interspersed violins and horn.

"Contrappunto Tragico," for instance, consists of the harsh organ music that opens the film, followed by a series of unusually textured mysterioso motifs, also for organ. "Distesi" takes the riff that underlaid the main melody and sets it apart from the lyric, here marries to severely disassociated violin notes, shuddering in panic and layered dissonantly against one another; a piping trumpet soon propels the strings into further disharmony and finally a chaotic, panic-stricken dash for freedom.

"Spettri" (the only complete cue never before released; the previous three tracks all contain previously unreleased material) consists of eerie female vocalisms, ghostly mutterings and spooky spoken sonorities. The organ returns in "Per Organo e Ottori" for another prolonged solo organ exercise; it gets a big tiresome after a while but is nonetheless very effective in building an aura of claustrophobic discomfort; the heaviness of the organ chords and their slow ponderousness and shrill volume evoke an inescapable dread moving rapidly towards panic. The second half of the cue, like "Contrappunto Tragico," softens the harshness into a series of quiet organ filigrees, suggesting almost the atmosphere of silent film horror; a severe effect is provided by the inclusion of a deep and dramatic solo French horn over the top of the riffing organ, resonating like the growls of some prowling monster moving above the surface of a roiling subterranean lagoon. "Dall Oltetomba" is a sustained tonality of low organ, echoing subtly and proffering a nightmarish constantly grating sound design; very effective in the film but less so on CD. A reprise of the lyrical main theme, proffered in chamber music ensemble style, closes the album out with a touch of classicism. Despite its occasional raucous moments, NIGHTMARE CASTLE is a rare example of a true horror film from the Italian maestro, and its preservation in such form warrants praise.

www.gdmmusic.com  

FILM MUSIC NEWS

John Williams' score for STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH was honored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films at the 32nd Annual Saturn Awards on May 2. Williams received the Saturn Award for "Best Music," and the film itself won the "Best Science Fiction Film" award. Williams was also nominated for WAR OF THE WORLDS. The other nominees were James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer for BATMAN BEGINS, Danny Elfman for CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Patrick Doyle for HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, and John Ottman for KISS KISS BANG BANG. - via filmmusicradio.com  

THE DA VINCI CODE (soundtrack CD reviewed last week in Soundtrax) may not sound the same when released in England as it does in the USA. The producers of the film were flabbergasted to find that the BBFC (British rating commission) were more than a little unhappy with the sound mix and the level of tension in Hans Zimmer's score for the film. The board threatened a restrictive 15 rating if changes weren't made. The Telegraph newspaper quoted a member of the board as follows: "Everyone was full

of praise for the score but the BBFC felt that the way it was being used to build up the tension was simply too much for very young children..." This is certainly an unprecedented move and the producers have indeed made alterations to the soundtrack, eventually getting their 12A rating. "This illustrates the impact and power music can have in a film, though the full impact of Zimmer's score for Ron Howard's thriller may now sadly have to wait till the DVD," commented journalist Michael Beek of Music From the Movies. "I don't want to get into a debate about censorship, but I cant imagine 'young children' would even understand the story, or even want to see the film; would a 15 rating really have made that much of a difference to the UK box office? When a film goes before the censors the usual result is that producers are asked to make changes to the images on screen, particularly if the film is of an adult or violent nature. Rarely, if ever, does a film's soundtrack and score raise the eyebrows of the censors... until now." - via musicfromthemovies.com (full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/07/ncode07.xml)

However, in the BBFC report posted at http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Class...a4e11a80257162005ee25f?OpenDocument  notes that "This film was originally shown to the BBFC in an unfinished version, including a temporary score and sound mix. The BBFC advised the company that sound levels during some acts of violence may be too impactful for 12A and that the film was likely to receive a 15 classification. The final score and sound effects on the completed film included differences in sound levels which reduced the strength of some acts of violence to an extent which made the film acceptable at 12A." This suggests that it may not have been Zimmer's final score that was tampered with, but the temp score shown to the British censors prior to the completion of the final score and sound mix.

England's Harkit Records has released a new edition of THE GREEN HORNET Billy

May's wild score for the 1966 TV series starring Grant Williams as the masked crime fighter The Green Hornet and the legendary Bruce Lee as his trusty assistant Kato. Seen as a challenge to the BATMAN television series, Billy May's music for these 1966 episodes is one of the most sought-after of its genre. Harkit has released it as a limited edition CD with a 20 page booklet packed with notes, facts and photos. Previously available only on an elusive 1993 RFO Records CD (reissued on Max Entertainment in Japan in 1999) and on the KILL BILL Vol. 1 compilation soundtrack. www.harkitrecords.com

Bernard Herrmann's jazzy score for Hitchcock's THE WRONG MAN (1956) has been released as the month's Golden Age classic from Film Score Monthly. Undertaken as an ambitious experiment in neorealism, the film told the true-life story of Christopher Emanuel Balestrero (played in the film by Henry Fonda), who was wrongly arrested and tried for a series of holdups in New York City. The film was shot in stark black-and-white and eschewed many of the techniques and pleasures of Hitchcock's typical productions. THE WRONG MAN was the third collaboration between Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann, one of the most fruitful and famous director/composer

partnerships in the history of cinema. For THE WRONG MAN, Herrmann produced a score as low key and subtle as Hitchcock's film, emphasizing the claustrophobia and terror of Balestrero's Kafkaesque experience. "This was, in fact, the score on which Herrmann pioneered the minimal, obsessive style that became his hallmark," writes FSM. "Using a pared-down orchestra of brass, woodwinds, percussion, keyboards and a single string bass evoking Balestrero's profession as the bassist in a New York nightclub band -- Herrmann created an insular world of edgy color and bleak patterns. It is the quintessential "Herrmannesque" effort of psychological scoring. In addition to the suspense music, THE WRONG MAN features sympathetic cues for Balestrero's home life, and one of Herrmann's most unusual main titles: a piece of pop dance music played by Balestrero's nightclub band. Any Herrmann score is an important addition to a soundtrack collection a Herrmann score for a Hitchcock film, even more so. This premiere release of THE WRONG MAN features the complete original soundtrack in clean monaural sound, with liner notes by Herrmann authority Christopher Husted.

Also released this month by FSM is another classic jazz soundtrack, John Williams classic crime jazz" soundtrack to the TV series, CHECKMATE, plus the big-band showtunes collection Rhythm in Motion, both dating from 1961, when the composer was known as "Johnny" Williams.

The latest release from Intrada's Special Collection series pairs two scores for women's dramas from the 1950s. HILDA CRANE, scored by David Raksin, starred Jean Simmons as a young career woman, while THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER, score by Hugo Friedhofer, starred Jane Russell as a WWII saloon singer. Both scores are in stereo, and the disc, available to order now, is limited to 1200 copies. www.intrada.com

Coen Brohers composer Carter Burwell joins up with Swedish director Lasse Hallström on the score for Hallström's new film, THE HOAX. The film is a drama about an author who writes a bogus biography on Hollywood legend Howard Hughes, and it features a cast including Richard Gere, Julie Delpy, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis. Carter Burwell also has the score for Steven Shainberg's drama FUR, starring Nicole Kidman, coming up (it was recorded in March). Both FUR and THE HOAX are scheduled to premiere in November.

Lakeshore Records has released the soundtrack of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. Based on Christopher Buckley's eponymous novel, the story cynically and gleefully sends up the more PC aspects of our times. The first nine tracks are all golden oldies culled from a time - mostly the 1940s and 1950s - when smoke getting in your eyes was considered romantic, not second-hand poisoning, such as the Platters' version of Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"). Those familiar with kd lang's version of "Smoke Rings" will love the Mills Brothers' earlier version from 1932. The last four instrumental tracks consist of Rolfe Kent's original score, maintaining an appropriate lounge-lizardy mood.

Lakeshore Records has also released the score for THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE, the Pin-Up sensation in the fifties that shocked the nation. Bettie Page was a icon of the repressed 1950s, when she represented the sexual freedom that was still a decade away, but high in the hopes and dreams of many teenagers and young adults. Gretchen Mol does a superb job of portraying the scandalous Bettie, who was a small town girl with acting ambitions and a great body. Her acting career went nowhere, but her body brought her to the peak of fame in an admittedly fringe field. The music is by Mark Suozzo, with choral music by Joseph S. DeBeasi. www.lakeshore-recods.com

Varese Sarabande will release John Powell's score for Paul Greengrass' critically acclaimed docudrama UNITED 93 on June 6th.

Colosseum Records in association with Rubber Records has released the soundtrack of WOLF CREEK, composed and produced by Melbourne based producer François Tetaz. François Tetaz was born in the Western District of Victoria, and now lives in Melbourne. For the past six years, he has written music for film, dance and installations, and produced artists such as Lior and Bucketrider, while also running his music post-production studio, Moose Mastering. For the score of WOLF CREEK, he used prepared piano, Alan Lamb's unique telephone wire recordings from outback Western Australia and a string quartet to produce a score that operates as a philosophical counterpoint to the horror of the movie. via www.soundtrackcollector.com  

GAMES MUSIC NEWS

As reported in Tuesday's Music News, Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc., through a licensing relationship with Eidos Interactive, announces the upcoming release of the Hitman: Blood Money Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack album from the latest installment in the multi million selling Hitman franchise will be released on May 30th at European and US retail and online outlets through Nile Rodgers' Sumthing Else Music Works label, the industry leader for licensing and distributing video game soundtracks.

The Hitman: Blood Money Original Soundtrack features over an hour of original music from the game written and produced by British Academy award-winning composer Jesper Kyd. His powerful blend of ambient, electronic and symphonic orchestrations beautifully enhances the cool, dark cinematic flair of the Hitman series and evokes the sinister mindset of the world's most deadly assassin Agent 47 as he travels to America and prepares to make a killing.

For information on the game, visit www.hitman.com. 

For information on the soundtrack release, see: www.sumthing.com  

For information on the composer, see: www.jesperkyd.com  

Former editor/publisher of CinemaScore magazine, Randall Larson was for many years senior editor for Soundtrack Magazine and a film music columnist for Cinefantastique magazine. He is the author of Musique Fantastique: A Survey of Film Music in the Fantastic Cinema (Scarecrow, 1984) and Music from the House of Hammer (Scarecrow, 1995). In addition to Soundtrax and Music News for Cinescape.com, Randall reviews soundtracks Music from the Movies, writes for Film Music Magazine, and in many other fields.

Recommended Soundtrack sources:
www.buysoundtrax.com  
www.intrada.com  
www.screenarchives.com  
www.footlight.com  
www.arksquare.com/index_main.html  (Japan)
www.intermezzomedia.com/  (Italy)
www.moviegrooves.com  
www.moviemusic.com  

For questions or comments, contact the author at Soundtrax@cinescape.com