Random thoughts.

- I only now discovered that the Banana Twinkies that were sold up until a few months ago are still available...two boxes for $16. Totally worth it. Just call me Tallahassee.

- I had hoped to devote a whole post to this, but, as it tends to happen, I lost interest: Paul Weitz's Cirque du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant crashed and burned at the box office, while Chris Weitz's The Twilight Saga: New Moon will likely make a fortune due to its built-in audience of teenage girls of all ages and sexes. First of all, this will make for a great many awkward moments at the Weitz home for years to come. Second, despite no familiarity with the source material, I really enjoyed Cirque du Freak and am forced to assume, due to the mixed reviews and miniscule B.O., that Twilight has debased the vampire movie genre to the point where people can't recognize a good one when they see it. I will admit that John C. Reilly is a most unlikely vampire, but he was one of my favorite things about the movie. If nothing else, his dry wit and his scenes with Willem Dafoe (all too brief) are the highlights, but I also liked the ensemble that brought the freak show to life. It's unfortunate that a follow-up won't be produced, but I guess I could read the books.

- The Disney Channel was airing the 1934 cartoon "Lonesome Ghosts". I would've watched the whole thing had the original soundtrack been used. As is, I couldn't bear more than ten seconds at a time. Maybe it's the way the new audio was mixed or how obvious it was that they tried to slap a new coat of paint on an old house, but (as with the redubbed voice of Mammy in the "Tom and Jerry") the new audio is distracting to the point of unwatchability. I suppose airing the real McCoy would cut into the "Hannah Montana" residuals, but does anyone want to take a fucking chance at that network anymore?

- Speaking of classic cartoons, Cartoon Network has been airing "Pink Panther" cartoons. The first of two observations: who's the pinhead what came up with that laugh track on some of the cartoons?! Watching "Pink Tuba-dore" and hearing that track smeared over every other moment (even when nothing particularly funny was happening) made watching the not-bad cartoon a trial.

- Second observation: There must've been 20-30 pieces of tracked underscoring for these cartoons...and I could swear that "Pink UFO" used them all. Watching the cartoons back in the early 90s on TNT (good times...), the music was engraved onto my subconscious, but the slipshod music editing wasn't the only problem with this cartoon. Between the sloppy animation (doors and chairs don't disappear when they're clearly blasted into nothing) and the weak writing (character thinks that one thing is another thing), it seems like they really weren't trying here. (I remember 1978 being the last year to appear on these cartoons, like the staffers were ready to check out, but didn't bother to do any quality control. Some things never change, I guess.)

The thing in October (part IX).

It seems that, in his short career, Douglas Pipes is being typecast as the Halloween/horror guy. (I probably should've mentioned that in my Monster House review.) Maybe he doesn't mind it and maybe he does, but I hope that his next job is something different. Typecasting can doom many an up-and-comer. Elia Cmiral never saw coming the typecasting bus that smashed into him, but it's not too late for Mr. Pipes. For now, though, let's look at Trick 'r Treat.

It's the last night in October in a small Ohio town, and with it brings many secrets, from a school principal (Dylan Baker) to a young woman (Anna Paquin) awaiting her first time and a miserly old man (Brian Cox). And then there's the weird little figure with the burlap sack on its head. Completed two years ago, the film sat on the shelf (Warner Bros. couldn't sack up and release it against Saw IV). This is usually a sign of the film's inferiority, but not in this case. An amusing, scary and constantly surprising anthology. Not the best thing ever, but very entertaining.

There are two main motifs that weave in and out of the score. One is a tune of wavering strings counterpointed by Psychoesque stabbing strings, representing the excitement and danger, respectively, of Halloween. The other is a haunting (and effective) variation of the public domain taunt 'Nyah-nyah, nyah-nyah-nyah'. (This theme dominates "Meet Sam", the renditions of it becoming more powerful and threatening.)

Pipes throws in some slurring brass effects (which don't get used often enough in film music) in "Father and Son" and "It's Halloween, Not Hanukkah". While we (the audience) find out how hard it is to bury a body, "Father and Son" lurks with muted horns, quavering strings and thoughtful piano before bursting forth with orchestral might and creepy vocals.

"Meet Rhonda" starts with wavering strings, then adds nervous flutes and a lovely lullaby and cooing female voices. "Charlie Bites It", however, is surprisingly playful, especially given the onscreen actions.

In spite of my misgivings about typecasting, Pipes does prove himself skilled at horror music. Tracks like "Halloween Prank", "Not a Trick" and "Old Mr. Kreeg" are far more melodic than what one usually hears these days in the genre.

"The Halloween School Bus Massacre" introduces another melody, a mournful repeating piano figure underlining the disturbing urban legend. Pipes throws in strings and a heartbreaking version of the 'nyah-nyah' motif. The theme is reprised in "The Bus Driver", underscoring, for me, the film's biggest surprise.

La La Land Records released the CD. Don't hesitate to get it...or to rent the film.

The thing in October (part VIII).

Every once in a great while, a composer comes along from out of nowhere and just amazes with what they have to offer. It is hoped that the composer will have a long, successful career showing off their abilities. Such a composer got his start on Monster House.

We all know that creepy-looking house on the block and the crotchety old man who lives there, always screaming at kids to get off his lawn. What if there was a good reason to keep people away? Three kids soon find out. Of the roughly four thousand animated movies released in 2006, this is one of the best, exciting and slyly subversive.

The film marked the feature scoring debut of Douglas Pipes. The "Opening Titles" get right into the spirit of the film, with a theme of horns and racing strings that seems to suggest a dark version of Mancini's bounding and leaping Great Mouse Detective theme. The end of the "Opening Titles" features an ascending four-note notif for horns that gets reprised in tracks like "Construction" and "Dummy Feed".

The other major theme comes in "Eliza's Song", a bustling, wistful five-note tune for the neighborhood. Interestingly, this track features dialogue as little Eliza rides her tricycle. The track ends amusingly as the orchestra mickey-mouses her sudden tumble. "Tricycle" reprises the theme in a peppy arrangement.

There's also a recurring motif of loud, menacing horns when something or someone gets eaten ("Cops Get Eaten", "House Comes Alive!", "Cop Car Gets Eaten"). Racing strings and snare drums highlight "The Plan" (which introduces a heroic-sounding submotif for horns that figures later in the score in "Chowder to the Rescue").

To augment the creepy vibe, Pipes utilized the theremin along with the orchestra, and in tracks like "Awesome Kite", "Cops Get Eaten" and "Ding Dong", it's quite effective. The score also has a surprising amount of heart, as in the meditative "Elegy", "The Flashback" and "The Dance" (a lovely, piano-based take on the main theme).

The latter tracks give themselves over to action, but it's very exciting action. "The Battle", in particular, builds in intensity, interpolating everything from a march-like version of the main theme to the 'Plan' sub-motif at it's most noble.

Surprisingly, this was also discontinued by its manufacturer (Varese Sarabande, in this case), but copies are available, dirt cheap, at Amazon.com.

The thing in October (part VII).

One thing I've never really minded about the music of Richard Band is his tendency to, shall we say, borrow from other scores to augment his own work. Tourist Trap made appearances in Puppet Master and The Day Time Ended. First Blood popped up late in Ghost Warrior, as did Star Trek: The Motion Picture in Metalstorm. Also, there was The Amityville Horror's theme reborn as the music box theme of The House on Sorority Row, and (my favorite) "The Imperial March" from The Empire Strikes Back utilized in Zone Troopers. Perhaps his most (in)famous borrowing occurred in his score to Re-Animator.

Med student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) has hit upon a way to re-animate dead tissue. However, there are some...complications. Easily the best film produced by Empire Pictures, this is a gross, distasteful (and quite funny) movie, enlivened by Combs's wonderfully deadpan performance.

Band got into a lot of hot water when he appropriated Bernard Herrmann's music from Psycho for this. I don't see the big deal. a) While Psycho is a classic score, it's also one of the most parodied in the history of ever; AC/DC used the string motif from "The Murder" in Maximum Overdrive and no one said jack shit about it and b) Band did try to have Herrmann credited, but missed the deadline to have the credits altered, so it's not like he didn't try*.

Still, independent of the pop-augmented Psycho borrowings, this is an exceptional Band original. The main Psycho theme recurs throughout the score (sounding its most Bandian towards the end of "Parts, Whole Parts"), but Band does work in an amusing electronic take on "The Murder" in "Halsey Alive", "Corpses Re-Animated" and "First Corpse to Be Re-Animated".

As ever, Band proves a master of atmosphere apart from the effects-laden set-pieces. "The Cellar" pulses with creepy strings and a synth backbeat, while "Body and Soul" is characterized by a hypnotic string arpeggio. A wavering melody for chimes pops up in "Searching for a Body in the Morgue", "The Lab", "Where's the Cat?" and "Stinger - Version 2".

As West's formula gets loose, a descending, chaotic motif for piano, winds and strings (likely underscoring the re-animated) makes itself known. The theme enters the score in "The Cat Experiment", returns in "First Corpse..." and dominates "Corpses Run Amok".

There's also a lovely flute melody underscoring the relationship between West's unwilling associate, Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) and his girlfriend, Meg (Barbara Crampton) that figures into "Halsey Grabs Meg" and "Meg Re-Animated".

This is the fourth release of the score (following a Varese LP, and CDs on Silva Screen - paired with the electronic Bride of Re-Animator - and LaLaLand). The now out-of-print Intrada release saw this paired with Band's lush and exciting score for easily one of Empire's worst, Ghoulies. However you get this score, it's worth it.

* - Perhaps my all-time favorite film music anecdote involves this film, when Band recalled the experience of recording the score with the Rome Philharmonic to the now-defunct Music from the Movies, he likened it to Fellini's Orchestra Rehearsal: "When I say that chairs flew across the stage and fights broke out, I'm not kidding! It was Orchestra Rehearsal. The only thing missing was the wrecking ball crashing through the studio."

Vic Mizzy (1922-2009)

It has been written that it's impossible to listen to the music of Vic Mizzy without laughing or, at least, cracking a smile. Given the CDs of his that I've collected over the years (and that journey is nowhere near over), I have to agree. Mizzy had a way with a melody like few others. Listening to his film and TV music (best represented on Percepto's invaluable "Suites and Themes" CD) reveals so much about his distinct composing style and personality (as the notes of his CDs could attest, he was quite the wit).

The world is a bit less amusing following Mizzy's unfortunate passing over the weekend. He will be greatly missed.

(I just wanted to be one of the few rememberances that didn't mention him as the guy who wrote the "Addams Family" and "Green Acres" themes within the first ten words like I'm sure so many others will. Those are classic themes, but he was so much more, folks.)

The thing in October (part VI).

The thing about sequels is that, more often than not, they can't live up to the original. Yeah. Big surprise. People keep soldiering on, hoping for the next Empire Strikes Back, Godfather Part II or Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. It doesn't always happen, folks. Take, for example, Poltergeist II: the Other Side.

The Freeling family is forced to stay with Diane's mother while they get back on their feet. Unfortunately, as noted by the youngest member of the clan, "They're back!". Richard Edlund's gimmicky effects are the real star of this follow-up, which scared me as a kid, but looks pretty silly today.

Jerry Goldsmith was asked back for this sequel. In Film Score Monthly's invaluable Buyer's Guide, Jeff Bond noted that some people preferred this score to Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated original. It didn't fully register at the time, but now, I totally get where he's coming from. Poltergeist has many good moments, but, overall, I get kind of a 'meh' feeling from it. As I've said elsewhere, it's not even the best score Goldsmith wrote in 1982. Bear in mind, he also did The Challenge, First Blood and the score I honestly believe deserved the Oscar nomination, The Secret of N.I.M.H..

As shaman Taylor (Will Sampson) visits the site of the Freeling's former home, "The Power" plays out over the opening credits, with some beautifully evocative Native American stylings leading into the character's noble motif. Towards the end of the track, though, we get a hint of the score's darker material and a brief reprise of Carol Anne's theme.

Speaking of the lullaby-like melody, it figures into tracks like "Things", "Late Call" (which, halfway through, features a clever electronic ringing phone noise) and the end credits.

"They're Back" is a pretty good encapsulation of the score, as churning electronics augmented with piercing stings, the chanting of a martial choir, Rambo-esque snares and horn hits and an electronic take on Taylor's theme unite.

The film's menace is Reverend Kane (Julian Beck). For a few minutes, the film forgets about killer braces, vomit creatures and flying chainsaws and gives us its most unsettling scene, as Kane gets inside Steven's head and beckons him to let him in. Goldsmith's music for the character, an electronic perversion of the hymnal "God is in His Holy Temple" (introduced in "The Mall") is creepy enough, but "The Visitor" turns the Kane music into a weird sort of death march, with churning electronics, tense strings, winds and the occasional intrusion from the choir. (Be on the listen for a string rendition of Kane's theme in "The Smoke".)

Even though the electronics can get to be a little much at times (this was the mid-80s, after all), Goldsmith still delivers in hair-raising cues like "Wild Braces", "Back to Cuesta Verde" and "The Worm" (the latter marking a return of the ominous, whispering voices of The Final Conflict).

It all builds to an exciting, Secret of N.I.M.H.-like climax ("Reaching Out"), where nervous, searching strings, rising horns and progressively heroic performances of Taylor's theme butt against creepy, piercing electronics, leading to a serene musical resolution for the film's surprisingly comical final moments. (The last few notes sound like they escaped from a Joe Dante movie. Really!)

Varese Sarabande's Deluxe Edition CD is still available at Amazon.com ('discontinued by the manufacturer', if you can believe it) and is worth having.

The thing in October (part V).

Something I really wish would come back are the days of Roger Corman. In addition to making movies in a variety of genres, he'd give a start to an actor or director looking to get into the business. It's astounding how many names started under his aegis. (The Academy seems to recognize his contribution, as he is to receive an Honorary Oscar next year.) Among the projects he produced was Piranha.

Private eye Maggie (Heather Menzies) enlists the help of hermit Paul (Bradford Dillman) in locating a young girl. Unfortunately, draining a pool at a test facility unleashes a voracious strain of piranha that make their way to a summer camp and a resort. This is an amusing, exciting (and, at times, affecting) piss-take of Jaws, well-directed by Joe Dante and scripted by John Sayles.

After the somewhat higher-profile horror films Don't Look Now and Carrie, it must've been a surprise to see Pino Donaggio working on this film. Still, his music is quite lush and intense.

About halfway through "Lost River Theme", we get one of, to me, the composer's loveliest (and most durable) themes, representing the beauty and danger of the water, based in solo piano and strings. Sometimes, Donaggio will change it up and give the theme an arrangement for flute and electronics ("Fatal Rescue") or eerie strings ("Empty Tubes").

In "Summer Dreams", Donaggio takes the Lost River theme and, with flute and acoustic guitar, turns it into a laid-back soft rock melody; a song cue for which someone clearly neglected the vocal track. (If I may..."Piranhas are in the lake"/"Piranhas eat flesh like steak"...I never fancied myself a Sondheim, okay?)

The piranha get their own motif: a wavering string figure leading up to rolling piano and stabbing, Herrmannesque strings ("Piranha Among Us", "No Trespassing"). The harp prelude in "Fatal Rescue" is particularly noteworthy. A tense sub-motif for strings characterizes "Dr. Hoak" and "Homoncules".

Independent of his themes, Donaggio creates some engaging moments, like the tongue-in-cheek militarism of "Operation Razorteeth", the jubilant classicism of "Aquarena", the twinkling electronics/strings combo of "Nightmare in the Sun" and the nervous flute work in "Escape in the Night".

As Paul hits upon the idea to "pollute the bastards to death!", "Beyond the Darkness" plays out with a strange melancholy that, combined with the visuals and the squealing of the piranha (more on that in a bit) actually made me feel genuinely sad the last time I saw the movie.

As a weird sort of bonus (or a way to pad the soundtrack past the half-hour mark), "Yes, We Have No Piranha" finishes the album off with sound effects from the laboratory scene before jumping into a sound sample of the titular menace. It's a strange touch, but an interesting one.

Varese's LP was reissued on the label's CD Club some years ago and is impossible to find. Best of luck, though. It's worth the search.