Coma (1978) - Soundtrack

While Goldsmith's tense and icy score for Michael Crichton's film adaptation of Robin Cook' best-selling medical thriller Coma may not be one of his most memorable, it does serve as an excellent example of how less can be so much more. Since the first half of the film features no underscore whatsoever.

The liner notes for this Bay Cities Compact Disc note how Goldsmith's "ornate use of harps, bells, and dissonant piano" recalls his famous score for the classic episode of TheTwilight Zone, The Invaders. While other sections feature "dark, somber string passages that give way to explosive percussion effects and distorted violins" that sound "like a dry-run" for ideas Goldsmith would expand upon in his brilliant (and for the most part unused) score for Alien (1979).

Also included on this reissue of the 1978 album are two pieces of period appropriate disco-themed ephemera. One is a disco version of Goldsmith's love theme for the film. The other is Disco Strut, an unrelated chunk of album padding that was composed by Don Peake (The Hills Have Eyes and The People Under the Stairs, more on these scores later).

Hideaway (1995) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - March 3, 1995

While I know I saw this on home video the only thing that I remember about it is the weird free association trivia-style game that was played by the protagonist (Jeff Goldblum) and his wife (Christine Lahti). A snippet of which shows up as a post-credit gag.

In an interview with Fangoria, I think, director Brett Leonard shared that Dean Koontz got up and walked out on a private screening of the film when Stephen King was mentioned by one of the characters. Although I had read a prodigious amount of Koontz's work in the late 80s, the source material came out during a fallow period of interest in reading him. So I could not tell how much it did or did not deviate from the novel it claims to be adapted from.

But, considering the deviations made by Leonard for The Lawnmower Man, I think it is a safe bet to say that alterations were made.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #41

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

Crash! (1976) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - March 2, 1977

I remember watching this on, I think, the CBS Late Movie and wishing it had been better.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #5

Datalog: Approx. 0:800 Hours, Day 1

Each prisoner at the Weyland-Yutani Prison Facility had a shaved head bearing some kind of prison code. There were only 25 prisoners left on this planet - all men. Apparently, Fiorina 161 was once a 1,000 convict work prison, but now it's a long-forgotten wasteland.

The Private Eyes (1980) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - February 27, 1981

Considering its Old Dark House plot trappings and Gothic Mansion setting, I am bewildered that I gave The Private Eyes a pass on the big screen. We'd gone and seen The Prize Fighter (1979), the movie that Conway and Knotts had made prior to this, and really enjoyed it. I also had a raging crush on Trisha Noble, who had a supporting role, thanks in large part to my loving the short-lived cop show Strike Force, on which Noble was member of the primary cast.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #40

Alien (1979)

 

Project UFO - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - February 26, 1978

Project UFO was this short-lived buzzkill of a show I remember watching and being disappointed by, as all the weird incidents and encounters were given logical explanations. Still high from a recent viewing of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I wanted more magic and wonder and less reason and rationality.

The episode that aired on Feb 26 was Sighting 4002: The Joshua Flats Incident, which was the second episode of the series (so it looks to have been a mid-season replacement) and is probably one that I watched, even if I don't remember it.

The IMDB synopsis reads: Prominent citizens of a town report seeing a UFO, but investigators cannot get information from them and turn instead to an eleven-year-old boy. No memories shaken loose or stirred up. So it goes.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #4

Datalog: Approx. 0:700 Hours, Day 1

The EEV crashed on the planet Fiorina 161, a class C prison facility. I was unconscious when Medical Officer Clemens rescued me from the wreckage. He told me the others didn't make it. Hicks and Newt died in the crash. Bishop was damaged beyond repair.

It has been so very long since I have watched Alien 3 from start to finish, that I do not remember if this shot/plot point made it into the theatrical release version. Ripley's rescue and recovery were streamlined for pacing reasons, I think.

This card also reveals the film's biggest creative swing... in that the fan favorite characters of Hicks and Newt had died in the crash. Bishop, although described as being damaged beyond repair, would be given a more tactile death scene. Because Lance Henriksen was the only Aliens cast member allowed, or sweet-talked into, an onscreen appearance in the film.

I do think this could have worked, if the script had been tightened and the film allowed more focus on Ripley's grief and trauma.

Horror Planet [Inseminoid (1981)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - February 25, 1983

I remember reading about Inseminoid/Horror Planet in the pages of Fangoria magazine and getting/being super excited/interested in it. When I finally did see it I was happy to not be all that disappointed with it, but was dismayed to learn that the shock ending had been spoiled by one of the gorier still shots used in the magazine coverage.

Fun and nasty little movie, though.