TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA on Compact Disc

The ferocious musical magic of James Bernard, resurrected on CD.

By Randall Larson     May 27, 2000

The ferocious magic of James Bernard is satisfyingly resurrected in this latest Hammer horror score from England's GDI label, which, after releasing a handful of compilations of Hammer music, is now issuing complete soundtracks of some of their best film scores. This disc, which follows THE MUMMY and THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, is a terrific example of why Hammer's music remains so powerful and full-blooded.

After redefining vampire music with Hammer's HORROR OF DRACULA in 1958, James Bernard developed his musical dissonance through DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1965) and DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968). With TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA (1970), Bernard responded to a cast member's suggestion to provide more lyrical, melodic music in contrast to the heavy-handed, tapestry-rich musical harshness of the first three scores. While TASTE THE BLOOD contains plenty of full-blooded and full-bloodied musical cacophony to underline the terror of Christopher Lee's fourth vampiric incarnation, Bernard balances the dynamic musical ferocity with some of his loveliest romantic writing, which humanizes the heroes and heroines struggling against the vampire. Bernard composed a sumptuous love theme for TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, a gorgeous, lilting woodwind melody that captures something of a medieval plainsong feeling.

There are many moments of particular brilliance, such as the dynamic 'An Unholy Alliance,' which embodies Bernard's characteristic build-up of the Dracula theme with increasing power and pacing. 'Dracula Reincarnated' is another cue that gradually increases in power, starting out with chilling violin vibrato and culminating in a violent triumph of brass and snare drum. 'Alice and Lucy' is splendid chase music, rhythmic pulses of violin and timpani playing off of fragile piping woodwind notes, the two motifs intertwining like a spiraling handful of blood vessels, finally gripped and rung dry. 'An Impossible Choice' also builds from a quiet, furtive notation of strings and winds to a powerful dynamic with snarling woodwinds and swirling, shivering violins over rumbling percussion. 'Paul Searches for Alice' builds a frantic pulse of percussion over growing waves of violinsslow moving 3-note patterns contrasted against a fast-paced repeated figurethat build inexorably, in Bernard's best fashion, toward the certain climax. And, of course, in 'The Evil is Vanquished,' the love theme emerges, finally triumphant over the Dracula motif.

Unlike HORROR OF DRACULA, which interlaced Bernard's themes for Dracula (that 3-note, imperishable descent of terror, 'DRAC-u-la') with his contrasting themes for the heroic vampire hunters in a complex and symbolically effective manner, his themes for TASTE THE BLOOD are kept musically distinct and unrelated. Only at one point, when Paul Paxton discovers his wife a victim of Dracula ('Dracula's Menace'), does Bernard proffer a bit of thematic interplay by allowing his love theme to briefly take on the dark texture of the Dracula motif.

At 51 minutes in length, this original soundtrack CD contains virtually all the film's music, including less interesting cues like 'Snake Dance' (a 2-minute bit of bongo and tambourine source music) and two interminably boring solo organ cues ('The Ceremony Begins' and 'Taste the Blood'). Two bonus tracks are also offered, an alternate take of the climactic cue, 'The Evil is Vanquished,' and another organ source cue.

The CD booklet, illustrated by plenty of color photos, includes a contemporary retrospective of the score by composer Bernard, a lengthy report on the making of the film by Marcus Hearn, the film's complete credits, and a brief evaluation of Bernard and his music by writer John Mansell.

TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, Music by James Bernard. GDI Records GDICD010 (U.K.)