Don't make me call it Shocktober: vol. VI

Remember that baby from the end of Bride of Chucky? (BTW, spoiler warning) Well, he's all grown up and psychologically disturbed. He decides to seek out his parents, Chucky and Tiffany. He finds them in Hollywood and they seek to paint the town red...yes, literally. For anyone who ever found Chucky scary, this is an insulting piece of crap. For the rest of us, it's a gruesomely funny hoot; an impressive directorial debut for series creator Don Mancini. Featuring appearances by John Waters, makeup artist Tony Gardner (Darkman) and Young Sherlock Holmes himself, Nicholas Rowe. It's that kind of movie, folks.

Though he continues to work steadily, this is, to date, the last film Pino Donaggio scored that has had any kind of profile in the States. Pity. Introduced in the "Main Title" is a hypnotic, circular eight-note theme on electronics. Toward the end of the track, Donaggio brings in strings and voices to give it a haunting feel.

Built on chopping strings that would give Bernard Herrmann pause, "Glen's Escape" weaves a musical web out of which one isn't sure they'll escape. However, electronics and voices seem to light a way out.

True to the film's unusual sense of humor, Donaggio features a pair of noteworthy motifs: an Asian-flavored melody in "Konichiwa" and "Made in Japan" and a synth-based twitching motif for Glen's reaction to the blood-soaked insanity around him, providing a musical exclamation point to cues like "Intestinal Fortitude" and "Ordinary Dolls". The main theme trails off into some saxophone licks upon our first glance at "Our Jennifer".

"Konichiwa" also introduces a longing vocal motif for the concept of family that Glen searches for. Sweeping strings toward the end of "Stark Raving Mad" give the theme a sort of nobility. On the flip side, a sort of stalking motif for pulsing synths and off-key piano asserts itself in "Paparazzo's Delight" and "Acid Trip".

Of course, Donaggio isn't afraid to play up the film's horror aspects, with the violent strings of "Joan Gets Fired" and the rolling piano of "A Nightmare on Nottingham Mews". Donaggio even provides a nod to his own work with the Carrie-esque string and bell combo of "Bad Girls".

Currently available for, perhaps, the lowest price you'll ever see at La La Land Records, this is worth getting, especially if you love Pino Donaggio.

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.

Oooh, scary! music - Part II

Something that needs to come back to the genre of horror is good-old fashioned air-bladder transformations. Make-up effects artists would slave over a creation of some fearsome creature and bring it to life. These days, all a person needs to do is swerve a mouse around on a computer and BAM! Instant creatures. It's my honest opinion that something tangible and right before your eyes is far scarier than anything that CGI can conjure. In the heyday of such old-fashioned effects work came The Howling.

News reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace) tries to recuperate from an attack by serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). On the advice of psychiatrist George Waggner (Patrick Macnee), she and her husband travel to a retreat known as The Colony, only to find that what she escaped to is far more terrifying than what she's running from. This is a very effective thriller from Joe Dante with some suspenseful moments, impressive make-up effects from Rob Bottin (though one has to admit that the final werewolf design is more cute/silly than scary) and a fine score from Pino Donaggio.

The score works in a lot of fragmented motifs that Donaggio, nonetheless, develops beautifully. One example comes in the goofy yet anthemic "Hunting for Shadows", the electronic and guitar piece containing the "Channel 6 Update News Theme".

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the score is the theme I've termed "Karen's Anxiety". The melody interweaves electronics, chimes and some moaning voices for good measure, ably suggesting hyperventilation and loss of control. The theme appears in full in "Karen's Nightmare" and recurs throughout the score.

The other major theme is a folksy theme for guitar and light electronics. Introduced in "Doctor's Orders", it gets a fuller rendition in the "End Credits" (not to give anything away, but though the ending contains one of my pet peeves - the pathetically overused 'here we go again'/'killer's not dead' ending - this film is redeemed by the last line and the wonderfully tongue-in-cheek final shot), and a slower version (augmented with harmonica) appears in "Terry and Karen".

Most of the cues are comprised of suspense material, but it's very top-shelf. "Wolf Bites Man!" moves from typically tense string work to a horrifying gothic organ roll. "Animal Magnetism" stands out for the peculiar orchestrational choice of a toy piano. Horns and electronics highlight the show-stopping "Transformation".

Something that I've noticed is the beauty with which Donaggio infuses his horror scores. Such an example appears in the string work of "Welcome to 'The Colony'".

La La Land Records still has copies of the soundtrack available (though, at the current price of this and other fine titles, they may as well be giving it away), and isn't now the best time to take advantage of picking up this fine score?

Oooh, scary! music - Part I

It's not quite the 13 Scores of Halloween, but, all the same, I'll still be talking about horror scores this month.

Empire Pictures was rather lucrative in the 1980s, producing a number of genre films for the avid fan. Unfortunately, they were, more often than not, hamstrung by low budgets and cheesy ideas. For every Re-Animator or Trancers that became a cult classic, there were a number of films that ended up as objects of ridicule, like a Dungeonmaster or an Alchemist or a Crawlspace.

Despite such eccentricities as spying on his nubile tenants while he's hidden within the crawlspace and keeping company with a woman whose tongue he's cut out, Karl Guenther (Klaus Kinski) is just your average landlord...who happens to be the son of a sadistic Nazi doctor. Oh, and this new girl, Lori (Talia Balsam, daughter of Martin) moves in and, unlike the other chicks who are basically cannon fodder, suspects that something ain't kosher with Karl. Written and directed by David Schmoeller (whose finest film is - and if he doesn't return to filmmaking, shall forever be - Tourist Trap), this is less a film than a showcase for the wacky antics of Kinski's sadist slumlord. In some weird alternate universe, this could very well be a sitcom pilot.

(I almost feel guilty for slamming this film. If possible, try to track down the short film "Please Kill Mr. Kinski", where Schmoeller - who seems like a really nice guy - explains the hell that the star put him and others through making this film. In fact, it reminds me of a SNL episode: Kevin Spacey was doing a monologue and a crawl appeared that essentially said that he was a dangerous person to be around...though, in that instance, I can surmise that it was but a jest. One line from that crawl seems to perfectly sum up the Kinski-Crawlspace imbroglio: "Whenever you see him playing psychos, remember: he is one.".)

Three aspects stand out from this film. First is Giovanni Natalucci's art direction. The apartment block is the same one used in Troll, also released in 1986. The secret tunnels and ventilation systems looked fantastic. (At the IMDB, a goof is listed about the condition of the vents: not a speck of dust in them. Either this is a true goof or Guenther had more time on his hands than anyone could've imagined. In this - likely - instance, well-played, Messrs. Schmoeller and Natalucci.) Second, the sensitive performance of Sally Brown as Martha (the tongueless lass I mentioned earlier) really made one feel the character's suffering.

Third and foremost is the score by Pino Donaggio, which adds a crucial and much-needed sense of movement to the enterprise. The score is comprised of two main themes. One is a chopping string and horn motif - augmented with electronics - introduced in the "Main Titles" and reprised in "The Chase".

The other is a heartbreaking melody that, more or less, represents the suffering of Brown's Martha. A solo voice over klezmer figures in "Martha's Lament" and "Falling from Grace with the World", but a hopeful string-led version plays over the "End Credits".

There are two other themes that waft in and out of the score: a motif which, most obviously, represents Guenther's perverted hobby...or maybe, his perversion in general. This theme (on searching, swerving strings and electronics) appears in "Rats" and "Sorry, Kitty". The other sub-motif is a love - or, more appropriately, lust - theme with Body Double-caliber strings, saxophone and moaning female voice, popping up in such tracks as "Sorry, Kitty" and "Love Scene"*.

"Voyeurs" features primarily electronics, but they are noteworthy as the same kinds Donaggio would use in his score for The Barbarians. "The M&M Murders" also uses electronics, but to complement the cartoonish goings-on as Lori discovers that (surprise, surprise!) her fellow tenants are dead. (Amusingly, a whispering harmonica worms its way into "Blowpipe Blues").

Weirdly enough, director and composer collaborated on a few songs for the film. The piano-based "'Lovers Tonight' Rehearsal" is a remnant of this alliance.

The score was released long ago by Varese Sarabande on LP. I was lucky enough to obtain a CD transfer, but it hasn't been re-released...yet. In today's specialty soundtrack renaissance, just about anything is possible, so keep an eye open for this enjoyable score.

* - This isn't the actual track title, but I couldn't bring myself to type it out. Go to soundtrackcollector.com and look it up, if you like. There is no gruesome torture or dollar amount in existence that could get me to type it out.

13 Scores of Halloween - Day 7

In the wake of Halloween, several filmmakers produced their own horror features about unstoppable killers, usually falling on some day of the calendar. David Schmoeller, however, well aware of other fine horror films produced in the '70s, wrote (with Larry Carroll) and directed Tourist Trap, a sort-of pastiche of slightly older horror (Carrie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), as well as a completely original work.

While searching for their friend who went to get gas for their car, a group of young adults stumble onto a wax museum run by the kindly Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors). However, it's not long before the terrifying secret of the museum is uncovered and they end up running for their lives. No doubt about it: this is an odd bird of a movie. It's amazing what was accomplished on such a low-budget (check out the flying items in the opening scene). The film is creepy and peculiar, often in the same scene, making it worth seeing, if only once.

Given the limited budget, it's something of a miracle that the producers (among them, Charles Band - but let's not hold that against the film - and Halloween's Irwin Yablans) were able to get Pino Donaggio to write the music, but it paid off. Donaggio's score ably matched the mood of the film and is one of its strongest elements.

The main titles introduces a theme on strings and...honestly, it's pretty hard to describe, but it seems to be sort of backwoods-type percussion. This odd melody seems to be for the wax museum.

The opening scene features a harpsichord-based theme which, when notated, seems to (appropriately) state 'What the (fudge) is going on?' As you might imagine, this theme gets a lot of play. Sustained strings and the fudge theme accompany the introduction of Mr. Slausen as the girls are taking a swim.

Surprisingly, Donaggio works in a love theme for Slausen and his late wife. It's a touching piece of music that occurs in a number of guises, such as the lullaby-like treatment for her shrine, a solo piano and Carrie-like strings take and a waltz version toward the end.

Other themes include a chase theme on strings as the characters try to escape Slausen's demented brother Davey and a super-eerie melody for the realistic mannequins performed variously by strings and on-the-verge-of-orgasm female voices (this sounds like a derogatory description, I know, but wait till you hear them!).

Honestly, I could've done a whole week of Donaggio scores (maybe next year...), but this one stands out for, more than any score I've heard, his orchestrational inventivity. The score was released on Varese Sarabande (yay!) on LP (boo!). There's always the chance of a re-release by this or some other label, but, for now, the film is a reasonable substitute.

Tomorrow: The strange power of dreams.