Batman (1989) - Soundtrack Collection

While there have been expanded re-issues and special editions of Danny Elfman's iconic score for Tim Burton's Batman, I have passed on every opportunity to purchase an upgraded variation of this original soundtrack, which I purchased way back in 1989. I am quite satisfied with what I have, thank you very much.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #17

Welcome to Burkittsville

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - Sunday, September 4, 1977

Ah, yes. Yet another ad that both fascinated and terrified me, back in the days of my childhood. Although I had no idea who Michael Berryman was at the time, his unique visage glaring out at me from this ad made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

On the lower left hand portion of this ad, you will see a listing for the Coliseum drive-in. This was our family's preferred drive-in, because of its proximity to home. I think we were seeing Star Wars, but this was playing on the neighboring screen and I kept looking over to see if anything scary and forbidden to my ten-year-old eyes might be glimpsed.

I do remember seeing the trailer attack scene and the film's ending, but the context and meaning of those silent scenes were incomprehensible to me, of course.

That would change in 1984, when The Hills Have Eyes was broadcast on one of the English language channels in Hong Kong. I recorded the broadcast and, for the next few years, that version of the film was the one I became familiar with.

Turns out that version had an alternate ending. In the domestic theatrical release the film ends with a shot looking up on the exhausted and exhilarated Doug (Martin Speer), after he has finished violently stabbing Mars (Lance Gordon) to death.

The televised version dissolves from that to a long shot of Bobby (Robert Houston) and Ruby (Janis Blythe) walking together toward a staggering Doug. Bobby is then shown introducing Ruby to Doug, it is here the film fades from this somewhat bucolic image of potential healing and the end credits begin.

I had no idea this was not how The Hills Have Eyes ended until I showed this version to a friend. Seeing it left him slack jawed and flabbergasted.

This alternate ending does help to explain how and why Bobby and Ruby are married in the shoddy misfire that was The Hills Have Eyes Part II.

Basic Instinct (1992) - Soundtrack Collection

As good as Jerry Goldsmith's score for Basic Instinct is, and it is very good, it is not the music I most associate with the film. That would be Blue by LaTour, because of its being put to excellent use in the film's trailer. That is what I first 'hear' whenever I am wont to think about Basic Instinct. Which is not all that often, truth be told.

After having worked together with excellent results on the 1991 science-fiction action-adventure Total Recall, director Paul Verhoeven and composer Jerry Goldsmith joined forces for 1992's Basic Instinct. While the creation of the main theme for the former went rather smoothly, the journey to creating the main theme for Basic Instinct turned out to be a frustrating and challenging one.

"Jerry felt the movie needed a 'heart' that would elevate it," Verhoeven shares in the liner notes. "But when he started to play music in his studio, I disagreed with it... I didn't want...a romantic heart, because the movie is too harsh and cold-blooded [for] that."

Goldsmith took it in stride, though. After a piece of music eventually caught Verhoeven's ear and was placed under a scene featuring an intimate conversation between femme fatale Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) and troubled detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), the film's elusive main theme was discovered at last.

"In a flash, it became clear to Jerry what the score should be," Verhoeven explains. "From then on, he could write the score in one run, and we were sailing with the wind."

Goldsmith's main theme is not an overtly romantic one, as requested. Instead it is a haunting and almost hypnotic one. The liner notes describe it invoking "the feeling of being mesmerized." Which is accurate.

While most of the score plays under dialogue and sex scenes, there are a few moments that allowed for Goldsmith to display his gift for propulsive and brassy action composition. This occurs during an over-the-top sequence involving a bit of reckless driving on a winding Northern California highway. 

As good as the music for the scene is, the way it plays out always struck me as being ridiculous to the point of self-parody. It is probably intentional, but I nonetheless wince at the melodramatic goofiness of the scene whenever I see it.

But that viewing experience memory does not hamper my listening experience whenever I play this expanded edition soundtrack. The music remains an icy delight to this day. 

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #14

 

The Brood (1979) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - August 1, 1979

This is one of those kindertrauma ads I remember scaring the daylights out me, back in the day. I also might have seen a couple of television ads for it, but cannot be too sure about that. August 1979 would be some 46 years ago, at time of writing. 

I also remember reading about the film in either an issue of Fangoria, Starlog, or, most likely, Cinefastique. This had to have been post Scanners, because I was fascinated, curious, and eager to learn of Cronenberg's early works.

When I did get the chance to watch The Brood on home video, it did not disappoint. I think it is my favorite Cronenberg film. There is a lot in and about the film that I relate to. Feel free to make of that what you will.

Bad Dreams (1988) - Soundtrack Collection

This is one from Varèse Sarabande’s LP to CD series.

While I could still vividly recall images and sequences from Bad Dreams, the only music from the film that I remembered was the use of Guns N' Roses' song Sweet Child O' Mine for the end credits. Other than that, nothing.

Well, turns out there was a very good reason for that. Jay Ferguson's electronic score for the film eschews traditional thematic or melodic structure. Listening to it brought to mind one music writer's dismissal of most 80s electronic scores as being "one long drone." 

Which pretty much describes this score. It is 30 to 40 minutes of dark tones and drones that, no matter how often I revisit it, remains unmemorable.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #16

Devouring the Slate

 

Underworld: Awakening (2012) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - Friday, January 27, 2012

Underworld: Awakening is one of two films in the Underworld franchise that I have seen. The first one was 2009's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which appears to have been a prequel film fleshing out the backstory of the first film and all its subsequent sequels. 

Neither film grabbed enough of my interest to compel me to check out the other entries, to see what I was missing out on. The only reason I did see Underworld: Awakening was because a friend-of-a-friend of ours, at the time, did not want to go the movies alone. Since I am a Monster Guy, I was willing to sit through watered down vampires fighting watered down werewolves. I was not all that engaged, but I was not bored, either.

Perhaps if I were to approach the franchise not as horror, but as action film oriented Urban Fantasy adventures, I might get the stick out of my muddy backside and enjoy the Underworld films for what they are. Frothy entertainments.

Maybe. But then, maybe not.

Back to the Future Part III (1990) - Soundtrack Collection

"These are our boys, Jules... and Verne!"

Separate films being made back-to-back, as one giant production, was not unheard of in the late 1980s. The Salkind Clause had existed for well over a decade by the time Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and Amblin Entertainment announced they would be making two sequels to their 1985 mega-hit Back to the Future, instead of the traditional one. Because they could not fit all of the story they wanted to tell into a single film.

It was a pretty big creative swing that, thankfully for all involved, paid off. Both for its makers and its viewers. Well, this viewer, at least. I recall the warm glow this finale ignited in my heart and the bright smile that spread beneath my widening eyes as Doc and Clara's time-traveling train took flight and swooped off to who knew where or when.

Silvestri's love theme for Doc and Clara debuts in the opening credits, which was markedly different from the second film's rousing "the sky's the limit" action adventure interpretation of the first film's iconic theme. A stylistic shift that communicates the warmer, gentler nature of Part III.

In the liner notes for this 25th Anniversary Edition composer Alan Silvestri describes the love theme as, "...an out-and-out nursery rhyme. Doc's love for Clara was childlike. It was the first time you felt Doc had ever experienced anything like that. And it was meant to be just a one-finger, simple, pure child's nursery rhyme."

That simple one-finger theme, which grows stronger and stronger as the movie progresses towards its exciting race back to the future, is my favorite thing about this particular score. A reminder that, for all of their time-traveling bombast and paradoxical play, the Back to the Future films are, at their core, about the power of love.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #13

Schoolgirls in Chains (1973) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - Wednesday, January 25, 1978

I have come to believe that there are only two kinds of movie. There are movies I want to see and then there are movies that I do not want to see. Schoolgirls in Chains falls into the latter category.

What kind of movies I want to watch, when I want to watch them, and why I want to watch them are decided by my own idiosyncratic tastes and fickle moods. I can swing from something dead serious to a silly or campy romp. I could be in the mood for a slow burn or I could have a hankering for something a tad faster paced.

Yet there are films that I will probably never be in the mood or frame of mind to watch. Again, Schoolgirls in Chains falls into that category.

Back to the Future Part II (1989) - Soundtrack Collection

Once, a long time ago, I read a critique that proffered an interesting and challenging opinion regarding the scores for Jaws and Jaws 2, both of which were composed and conducted by the legendary John Williams. The opinion was that the score for Jaws 2 was superior to the iconic, and Academy Award winning, score for the first film.

I hold this very same opinion about the scores for Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II. The former, while fresh, vibrant, and iconic, is nowhere near as fleshed out and expansive as the latter. Of the trio of films, the score for this one is my favorite and the one I listen to the most.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #15

Michael Williams

 

Xtro (1982) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - Friday, April 8, 1983

I was still living in the United States when Xtro got its limited theatrical release, but I have no memory of it.

What I do remember from that time period was the gnarly image from the film that graced the cover of Fangoria's 24th issue.

Fangoria 24 - December 1982

There was also an interesting observation made about the film in The Twilight Zone Magazine's annual movie recap, printed in its January-February 1984 issue, titled 1983: The Year of Living Languorously (a scathing reference to the perceived mediocrity of most genre films released in 1983). 

TZ's recaps shared opinions of what was believed to have worked in the films, and what did not. The observation regarding Xtro was considered something that worked: "The oddly touching idea, buried somewhere in the film, that this entire story of a man kidnapped by aliens and returned to earth may be just the wishful dream of his abandoned young son." I like that read, it works for me. 

Xtro does have something of a dreamlike vibe to it and, if you go with that "wishful dream" read, its pairing with David Cronenberg's The Brood is an excellent choice. But I can't say the same about having Jekyll and Hyde Together Again serving as a comedic palate cleanser for this triple-feature. That movie is just plain dreadful.

Back to the Future (1985) - Soundtrack Collection

Here is an example of how my completist streak can guide a soundtrack into my collection.  I did not see Back to the Future until 1989 or 90, because I had decided to see Back to the Future Part II, or maybe it was Part III, on the big screen.

That would be the only time I ever watched the first film, although I did watch Parts II and III several more times, after they had come out on home video.

I also passed on the first film's original soundtrack album release, as it emphasized the rock and roll songs in the film, rather than Alan Silvestri's excellent, and iconic, film score.

But when remastered and expanded versions of the soundtracks for Back to the Future Part II and Part III were released, I felt it was only reasonable that I include this remastered expansion, which not only contains the complete original soundtrack, but also a second disc containing early session alternates.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #12

 

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage [ L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970)] - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - October 6, 1970

Dario Argento's impressive feature film debut was an atmospheric jolt of terror and suspense that caught the attention of both critics and audiences. I was unable to see it for myself until the mid-to-late 1980s, when it was released on home video.

Junji Ito's Uzumaki - A 500 piece puzzle from Unbox Industries

Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) - Soundtrack Collection

How is it that I have yet to see this "Lost World" style fantasy-adventure film? It has dinosaurs in it! It also has William Katt, who I would have known, at the time, from his appearances in Carrie and The Greatest American Hero, Sean Young, who I would have likewise known, at the time, from Blade Runner and Stripes, and Patrick McGoohan, who I would have known from David Cronenberg's Scanners. I have watched many a movie that had far fewer points of interest to me than the four I just gave for Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.

The movie also has a nifty Jerry Goldsmith score. One that was a part of a string of scores from him that featured extensive use of keyboard synthesizers. Others from this time period included the memorable scores for Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Explorers, and Rambo: First Blood Part II. That is one hell of a creative hot streak for Goldsmith.

To be both honest and fair, there were, arguably, two primary reasons for my not having seen Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend in the mid-to-late 1980s. 

First, it was released while I was living in Hong Kong. While I did see a great many films, and also learned that a great many films could and would be altered for international release, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend was not one of them.

Second would be that it was a Disney film. Which meant that it was silly "Kid's Stuff" that, way back in 1985, 18-year-old me would not have been the least bit interested in seeing. Gah, I was such an immature dork back then. I really should give this movie a look.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #14

Joshua Leonard

The Beast from 20,000 (1953) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 24, 1953

I have taken to describing Roland Emmerich's ill-conceived 1998 version of Godzilla as "a bloated and overlong, but nonetheless acceptable, remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms."

Movies that had the word "Beast" in their titles were a matter of routine, back in the day. At some point, during any given week, there was bound to be a movie with a titular beast that lurked in some haunted cave, or cellar. One that had five fingers, or a million eyes. That craved blood, or had to die.

But the most coveted beast of them all, for me, was the one that came up from 20,000 fathoms. The infamous moment when a cop gets snatched up and gulped down, while no doubt laughable by today's standards, shook me to my core. Back when I was somewhere between the ages of 5 and 12, that is. 

I have heard and read conflicting stories about this film and its connection, real or supposed, to Ray Bradbury's short story The Fog Horn. Some versions have the filmmakers purchasing the rights to Bradbury's story prior to production. Other versions have the purchasing of the rights occurring during the production, when the similarities between a lighthouse scene and events in Bradbury's story were noticed and/or pointed out.

Here it might be best to invoke what I have come to call The Liberty Valance Rule: Whenever truth contradicts a legend, it might be best to just go with the legend.

Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan (2013) - Soundtrack Collection

I had only just discovered that Midnight Syndicate existed when I attended the first Kirk Von Hammett's Fear FestEvil, held at the Regency Ball Room in San Francisco, February 6 - 8, way, way back in 2014.

After I geeked out over all the memorabilia, costumes, and props that were on display, I strolled through the vendors room(s) and discovered that Midnight Syndicate had a booth there. That is where I met and spoke with Edward Douglas, one half of the Midnight Syndicate team. I also bought a whole lot of stuff.

One of the items I purchased was this soundtrack for Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan, for which Douglas composed the music and Midnight Syndicate performed it. I liked it enough to check out the movie and... well, I still like the music.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #11

I have yet to muster the intellectual and creative energy to write a review of Alien: Romulus. While I thought the movie was okay, I also felt that it failed to meet the lowest of creative baselines: having an actual reason to exist.

Maybe that counts as a review. Whatever.

There was one thing that did rankle me, though. The unnecessary and borderline offensive use of the late Ian Holm's likeness in the film as the quasi-villainous android Rook. It was a part that could, and should, have been played by anyone else. There was zero need to use Holm's likeness. 

It was a distasteful distraction to an otherwise mid-to-lower tier monster movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 11, 1984

I was living overseas, in Hong Kong, when A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in the United States in November of 1984. So I have zero memories of it as a theatrical release or viewing experience. Never saw the poster hanging in a lobby, nor did I see any TV spots for it. Because I was not there. So it goes.

It was not until Fangoria's 43rd issue arrived in the mail and I read a letter in The Postal Zone that praised a film called A Nightmare on Elm Street for creating an ultimate boogeyman that I became aware of its existence. What was this movie with a villain the letter writer deemed capable of scaring Jason Voorhees himself?

This praise both intrigued me and made me anxious to see this "ultimate boogeyman" film. Which I was able to in, I believe, the Thanksgiving weekend of 1985. When I rented the movie on home video. It not only managed to scare the shit out of me, but it also kept me awake that night. As I was afraid to fall asleep.

Something that would not happen again until, 25 years later, an opening night viewing of Paranormal Activity rendered me too scared to sleep. Good times.

Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui, Vol. 1 - Manga Review

As I better acquaint myself with the wide variety of manga out there, there have been occasions wherein my brain asks, with no small amount of incredulity, "Wait a minute, this is actually a thing?"

Example one would be when I read the first volume of Monster Musume, which served as my introduction to the harem genre. While there was a time I would have enjoyed the offerings of this genre, that time is now past. So it goes.

Example two is Delicious in Dungeon, a Christmas gift from an anime-manga loving sister-in-law. One who not only knows that I have started to venture into the realm of manga, but also knows that I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for well over a decade.

Here we have two great things, manga and D&D, that taste great together. But there is more, so much more. Delicious in Dungeon is rooted in something known as the gourmet genre. Which means the focus is, for the most part, on recipes, ingredients, and preparations. You know, foodie stuff.

But first, the backstory: One fine day the floor in the catacombs of a small village gives way. A man crawls out of the sinkhole and tells the villagers that he was the king of a wealthy country that had been entombed and hidden by a lunatic magician. His dying words are that whoever, or whomever, defeats the magician will have the country, and its riches, bestowed to them.

And so the treasure hunt begins... only there are all kinds of dangerous and deadly monsters and traps lurking in the world beneath those catacombs. 

Laios and his adventuring companions run afoul of one such monster, a large red dragon, and get their collective backsides whooped good and hard. Victory is quite literally tossed from the jaws of defeat, when one of the team, trapped inside the red dragon's mouth, teleports the rest to safety.

Now Laios, and the few who decide to return with him, is in a race against time to save the team member that saved them. That said team member also happens to be his sister only adds to the urgency...

Short on supplies and coin, Laios makes the bold and brash decision to eat the monsters they kill on their journey. Only not every member of the team is okay with this. Until they cross paths with a monster chef of a dwarf named Senshi, that is. He is able to make the distasteful concept of eating monsters into a rather tasteful reality.

Because Senshi, you see, knows a thing or three about how to turn monster remains into a meal. He also relishes the chance to cook a red dragon, so he is quite happy to join Laios's team. Amusing shenanigans ensue, of course.

The only downside to this first volume is how the fate of Falin, Laios's sister and presumed red dragon snack, remains TBD. While all this entertaining monster killing and cooking was going on, the memory of the traumatic ending to The Final Prayer (aka The Borderlands) refused to be ignored. Which added some bitter zest to this gastronomic-themed adventure.

More, please...

The Awakening (1980) - Soundtrack Collection

I have yet to read Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars, nor have I seen Hammer Film's Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, so I do not know how The Awakening compares to either.

On its own, however, it comes across as a bland knock-off of The Omen. Only the accidental deaths of any and all that would hamper the return of the dread Queen Kara were nowhere near as inventive, or memorable, in their staging as they had been in the films The Awakening was, um, paying homage to (i.e. The Omen and Damien Omen II). 

The Awakening would be the only horror film Claude Bolling composed a score for. While the movie itself leaves a great deal to be desired, Bolling's music is atmospheric and suitably chilling.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #13

Three Filmmakers

 

A Bucket of Blood (1959) / [Attack of] The Giant Leeches (1959)

San Francisco Examiner - February 4, 1960

"Be a nose. Be a nose!"

Roger Corman's black comedy classic A Bucket of Blood provided yet another memorable Saturday afternoon viewing experience for me. While the overt comedy went over my child brain, what lodged and cemented the film in both memory and heart was the character of Walter Paisley (brought to life by the legendary character actor Dick Miller).

The second half of this double feature is a mid-tier monster movie that still managed to scare and gross me out as a child. As an adult the most interesting thing about it, for me, is that its director, Bernard L. Kowalski, also helmed the 1973 snake-themed thriller Sssssss. 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Soundtrack Collection

Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman joined forces to score the mega-sequel to the mega-hit that was The Avengers. The results were a serviceable, albeit unmemorable, film score. So it goes.

While I liked certain aspects and moments in Age of Ultron, it fell short of providing the first film's eye popping sugar rush of fun. But that kind of lightning in a bottle is oft times more the result of dumb luck and serendipitous timing, not corporate planning and oversight by production committee.

Nonetheless, Avengers: Age of Ultron would be better than some of the dire mediocrities to come.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #10

New Year's Evil (1980)

Oakland Tribune - January 30, 1981

Happy New Year!