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 Posted:   Sep 18, 2023 - 5:03 PM   
 By:   c8   (Member)

Now available.



World premiere of complete James Horner early horror score! “They’re not human. But they hunt human women. Not for killing. For mating.” So goes the movie taglines on posters marketing the film in 1980. The taglines pretty well sum up the picture. Key roles feature Doug McClure, Vic Morrow, Ann Turkel, legendary creature designer Rob Bottin fuses life from both land and sea into one grotesque “humanoid” creation, Barbara Peeters (and uncredited Jimmy Murakami) direct for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. Picture tips hat heavily towards gore effects and sexual escapades of incoming 80’s “adult” material with closing nod in particular to 1979’s Alien. Composer James Horner writes his second score after The Lady In Red, showcases his understanding of the horror movie medium and his considerable composing talents with a score orchestrated for strings, woodwinds, piano, harp and percussion while leaving all brass at the door save a lone trumpet for select solo work. With reverberating echoplex in tow, Horner launches his “main title”. Dissonant colors for scary happenings in full orchestra, austere solo work for trumpet over strings and origins of his love theme on piccolo (an unusual romantic sonority) all appear. In following “Buck-O” (named for small vessel), Horner opens with exhilarating flourish for woodwinds and piano with xylophone punctuation to accompany the boat, first into adventure then horror. In previously unreleased “Surprise For Baron”, composer aims for suspense surrounding dog that encounters terror of its own followed by frantic search for the missing pet. Other highlights abound: flute over harp and trilling violins bringing love theme into focus if only momentarily, intense string jabs mirroring “Jerry’s Death”, rousing strings punctuated by snare drum (snares off) and tympani that opens “Tommy’s Struggle”, mystery of complete “Hill House” finally erupting into moment of orchestral fury are just four of them. Entire score is all newly-remixed from recently discovered 2” 24-track session elements, reveals numerous orchestral colors buried in original 1980 mix, especially in woodwinds and percussion. For fans familiar with initial album that was released back in the day, new remastering of that oft-released production also appears, retaining Horner’s mix and program choice but with crisper and more detailed sound quality. Score recorded March 15 & 16 at Wilder Bros Studios in Los Angeles. Flipper-style artwork enhances package design by Kay Marshall, informative notes by John Takis. David Newman conducts, James Horner composes. Intrada Special Collection CD available while quantities and interest remain!

Track List:


01. Main Title (From Humanoids From The Deep) (2:25)
02. The Buck-O (3:47)
03. Surprise For Baron (3:02)
04. Men Discover Dogs (0:32)
05. Peggy’s House (2:07)
06. Trip Up River (1:58)
07. Footprint (0:13)
08. Jerry And Peggy (0:53)
09. Borden Catches Something (1:04)
10. Jerry’s Death (2:01)
11. Peggy’s Rape (1:02)
12. The Tent (0:29)
13. Humanoid’s Head (0:20)
14. Tommy’s Struggle (2:53)
15. The Search (1:53)
16. The Underwater Boat By (0:32)
17. Night Swim (1:48)
18. The Grotto (2:45)
19. Drake’s Lab (0:34)
20. Hill House (1:38)
21. Carol’s Final Confrontation (3:03)
22. Aftermath (2:23)
23. End Title (From Humanoids From The Deep) (2:12)
Total Time: 41:25

Original 1980 Soundtrack Album

24. Main Title (2:23)
25. The Buck-O (3:42)
26. Unwelcome Visitor (2:00)
27. Night Swim (1:46)
28. Jerry And Peggy (0:54)
29. Trip Upriver (1:55)
30. The Humanoids Attack (2:51)
31. Jerry’s Death (2:01)
32. Search For Clues (1:53)
33. Strange Catch (1:03)
34. The Grotto (3:19)
35. Night Prowlers (2:04)
36. Final Confrontation (3:01)
37. Aftermath (2:18)
38. End Title (2:10)
Total Album Time: 34:09
CD Total Time: 75:36

Link: https://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.12874/.f

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 18, 2023 - 5:20 PM   
 By:   GoblinScore   (Member)

Sold and "David Newman Conducts" plus "Recorded at Wilder Studios" already earned my dough.

Love that thoroughness!

 
 Posted:   Sep 18, 2023 - 7:02 PM   
 By:   The Mutant   (Member)

Ordered. Finally picked up Deadly Blessing too.

 
 Posted:   Sep 18, 2023 - 7:50 PM   
 By:   Josh   (Member)

Finally picked up Deadly Blessing too.

Last night my wife and I managed through sheer will power to slog through that bonkers movie featuring Ernest Borgnine as the sadistic, overzealous leader of a rural Amish-ish community. (I was like, "If he says 'incubus' one more time..!"). Horner's score was the standout performance, and of course the Intrada release is primo.

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 18, 2023 - 11:51 PM   
 By:   SilentWitness   (Member)

Fantastic sound quality in the audio clips! One really hears new details in the film mixes.
Unfortunately some echoplex effects seem to be missing. The col legno passages in the clips from "Surprise for Baron" and "Hill House" have no echo as opposed to their film counterparts.
I wonder why "Hill House" is only 1:38 long. Even the slightly edited OST version ran 2:08 under the title "Night Prowlers". The complete film version would probably clock in at roughly 2:44.
I'm also fairly certain that the "Night Swim" scene belongs somewhere before "Jerry and Peggy". If it's the same music from the OST then its first half fits perfectly the deleted scene of a girl going for a swim and leaving her dress and sandals behind (the same sandal we briefly see in the "Jerry and Peggy" scene).
In any case, I'm looking forward to this CD a lot. The great sound quality gives new life to even the familiar music, and to finally hear the previously unreleased music in great stereo sound (the old laserdisc's isolated score was only in mono) is a wonderful bonus. Just a pity about those missing echoplex effects.

 
 Posted:   Sep 19, 2023 - 1:14 AM   
 By:   Grimsdyke   (Member)

OMG, I am old enough to remember when Horner appeared "on the scene" and I can hardly wait to listen to the new Intrada-CD !!

O.K., I know that people hate it but I really hope that there is now wide(r) access to the New World catalogue.
Many, many gems there .... big grin

 
 Posted:   Sep 19, 2023 - 4:34 AM   
 By:   Solium   (Member)

Finally picked up Deadly Blessing too.

Last night my wife and I managed through sheer will power to slog through that bonkers movie featuring Ernest Borgnine as the sadistic, overzealous leader of a rural Amish-ish community. (I was like, "If he says 'incubus' one more time..!"). Horner's score was the standout performance, and of course the Intrada release is primo.


Best performance goes to the snake.

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 19, 2023 - 7:28 AM   
 By:   Hurdy Gurdy   (Member)

I've got quite a soft spot for DEADLY BLESSING.
Saw it at the cinema as a teenager.
3 attractive leads...a lovely lyrical-cum-scary score by James Horner...handsome cinematography and an atmospheric rustic/rural setting...
A proper old-school Horror pot-boiler...with ALL the trimmings.

 
 Posted:   Sep 19, 2023 - 10:59 AM   
 By:   OneBuckFilms   (Member)

Samples are like a cross between Goldsmith's Alien and Battle Beyond the Stars (I know, it predates it).

Great sound quality, especially given the age of the score and it's budget.

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 22, 2023 - 12:13 PM   
 By:   c8   (Member)

Man I got my copy and I was NOT prepared for how GOOD this sounds. Horner clearly was ambitious back in the early 80s. He knew how to make do with nothing and really write compelling music for utter schlock without treating the films like schlock. You just hear Horner laying out his suspense and horror ideas and experimenting with them. This has never been one of my favorites and probably listened the original album a number of times I can count on one hand.

Hell, I had completely forgotten/not realized there was a blaster beam in this score and there's synth effects I definitely never heard in the previous release. The new elements are a massive upgrade over when's been out there previously (which I seem to remember were LP rips but don't quote me). Of course I also forgot that Horner is trying out so many Goldsmith ideas (the mixing bowls, for example, immediately recall Planet of the Apes; didn't like them there and don't like them here) and even Herrmann ideas (Psycho looms large over this score). I think there's a certain reality that these Z-movies find their composers told to ape A-list music.

The love theme (ex. in Jerry and Peggy) shows back up, of all places, in The Karate Kid ("Journey to the Spiritual Mountain").

And maybe I'm reading far too much into the liner notes, but I feel like there's a strong hinting around (especially in the final paragraphs) that Battle Beyond the Stars is on its way. If that's so, Intrada can just have my money now. No need to wait. That's one of the scores where I don't care what Horner thought about a release. Poor performance be damned, the writing is so gosh darn stellar you can't help but fall in love.

P.S. I usually put the primary artwork in my library but the alternate artwork here >>> the primary artwork. I love it so much I used it instead. Major kudos.

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 22, 2023 - 12:42 PM   
 By:   showads   (Member)

“ And maybe I'm reading far too much into the liner notes, but I feel like there's a strong hinting around (especially in the final paragraphs) that Battle Beyond the Stars is on its way. If that's so, Intrada can just have my money now. No need to wait. That's one of the scores where I don't care what Horner thought about a release. Poor performance be damned, the writing is so gosh darn stellar you can't help but fall in love.”

It’s not fair to get me this excited after so many years desperately wanting a complete version of Battle Beyond The Stars!

 
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