Conan The Barbarian (1982) - Soundtrack

Here is an admission that might bring some heat from certain corners of fandom or the broader internet. I do not care all that much for the film Conan The Barbarian. While it does have its moments and elements that work for me, I also found the sum total of all those moments and elements dour and over serious. This might have to do with the simple fact that, as much as I admire John Milius as a screenwriter, I just do not connect with his work as a director. I also found the original Red Dawn to be a chore of a downer to sit through. Your mileage will vary, of course.

While the film itself might leave me feeling underwhelmed, the same cannot be said for the score for it that was composed and conducted by the late, great Basil Poledouris. It is a pulse pounding, fist pumping work of energy that will make just about anybody that listens to it want to pick up a sword and start swinging.

The film's Main Title, known as Anvil of Crom, is an undisputed masterwork, but I am just as fond of the Bolero-styled track The Kitchen/The Orgy, which is on the second disc of this three CD special edition set released by Intrada.

Sleepaway Camp (1983) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - March 23, 1984

My last two years of high school (Fall 83 - Spring 85) were spent living overseas, so I missed out on the theatrical release, and any and all spoiler talk from classmates who had seen it, for Sleepaway Camp and went into my first every viewing of the movie blind. This would have been, I think, in the fall of 1985 or the spring of 1986. That is when my best friend and I rented Sleepaway Camp from a local video store and gave it a watch.

For most of its 84 or so minutes of runtime, we found it to be an uninspired and routine slasher movie. One that was interchangeable with the innumerable others that were clogging the horror sections of every single video store during that period in time.

Then came the ending and, well, that final reveal and our reaction to it may have been one for the history books. Damn...

The euphoric jolt delivered by that moment can fuel something of a unicorn hunt for many a fan. Leading to a mistrust of trailers, ads, or reviews that might spoil any or all potential for yet another discovery high. But we all need to remember that these moments find you, that you do not find them. This is what makes them, and why there are, so very special.

Because you are just not expecting it, at all.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #48

Vengeance: The Demon (1988)

Another Fright Flicks Pumpkinhead card that, for whatever reason, used the film's alternate title of Vengeance: The Demon on the back side.
 

Five Million Years to Earth [Quatermass and the Pit (1967)] - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - March 20, 1968

I remember Five Million Years to Earth scaring the daylights out of me, back in the day, when it aired on The 3:30 Movie. While I also remember being somewhat impatient for the 'bug monsters' to show up and wreck havoc upon the populace, I was in no way disappointed with what happened in the movie.

That would be the only time I would see what I now know as Quatermass and the Pit, the third Hammer Film feature adaptation of a Nigel Kneale BBC serial. Because, just as was the case with Terence Fisher's monster movie Island of Terror, the damn thing never seemed to air again. At least that is how I remember it.

This is my favorite Quatermass movie/story and the creative impact it had on the filmmakers that I grew up watching is blatant. The one that comes to my mind the quickest is, of course, John Carpenter's 1987 Quatermass homage Prince of Darkness. There was also a noticeable homage to it in the 2006 animated feature Monster House.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #12

Datalog: Approx. 0:800 Hours, Day 2

I finally found Bishop - or rather part of him - buried in a mound of rusting debris. Back at the infirmary, I was able to connect Bishop's battery pack to the flight recorder. He reported some disturbing news. There had been an Alien with us all the way. On the Sulaco, on the EEV, and now here, on this planet.

If my memory is correct, Lance Henriksen voiced some regret at being roped into doing this particular cameo in the film during an interview with, I think, Fangoria magazine. It was a pretty pointless scene that, had it been excised, would not have impacted the storyline or characterization one bit. Couple that with the hours Henriksen no doubt had to spend in the make-up chair, so he could match with the prosthetic prop pictured above, and, well, is it any wonder as to why he was a tad grumpy about it?

The Final Conflict (1981) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - March 19, 1981

Although there was a failed television pilot titled Omen IV: The Awakening broadcast in 1991, and two media tie-in novel sequels published in the early-to-mid-80s, I consider The Final Conflict to be the official end of The Omen trilogy.

While it falls far short of crafting the ominous dread of the first film, and lacks the ghoulish bombast of the first (and superior) sequel's over-the-top death scenes, The Final Conflict does manage to have some redeeming elements. No pun intended.

First is Sam Neill as the adult Damien Thorn. Although not given much, if anything at all, to work with in the script, Neill nonetheless imbues Damien with such a powerful charismatic presence it makes the squandered opportunity here all the more noticeable and lamentable. Come on Damien, do something!

Second is Jerry Goldsmith's terrific score. It is a powerful and, at times, beautifully bombastic work deserving of award consideration.

And that is about it... really. While they pulled off the Final part of the film's title, any and all expecting, or hoping, for some cataclysmic Conflict will come away disappointed. Even though I can understand, and to a somewhat limited extent even appreciate, leaning toward a quieter and more psychological, perhaps even meditative, approach to the End Times. The creative team assembled here did not pull it off. So it goes.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #47

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

 

Phantom of the Opera (1990) - TV Week - March 18 - 24, 1990

San Francisco Chronicle TV Week - March 18 - 24, 1990

What makes this NBC mini-series noteworthy is that it was the first production that was allowed to film in the famed Paris Opera House. This will no doubt make it interesting to more than a few Phantom enthusiasts. I might check this version out at some point, but that point is not happening this week.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #11

Datalog: Approx. 0:400, Day 2

Murphy was a victim of the Alien, not a freak accident! I'm almost sure of it. What else could cause such a burn mark in solid concrete? It had to be from the acid Aliens spit at their victims just before they attack.

Bug (1975) - Soundtrack

New addition to the collection.

Although I recognize the name Charles Fox, I think his atonal electronic score for the William Castle produced and Jeannot Szwarc directed "killer bug" movie might mark his official entry into my ever growing collection of horror, science fiction, and fantasy centered movie soundtracks.

That a composter renowned for crafting memorable melodies such as the 1972's chart-topper "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and catchy themes for numerous television series, such as Wonder Woman, The Love Boat, and Happy Days, could and would compose something as strange and otherworldly sounding as the music for Bug only serves as another fine example of his sizable and inarguable talent.

The alien soundscape Fox crafted for Bug is a chilling experience in un-easy listening. Relaxing this is not...

And now I want to watch the movie again.