The latest soundtrack CD from Kritzerland presents the first-ever release of the score for the 1971 horror film THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD. The film was produced by Amicus Productions, which specialized in anthology horror films like Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror. Despite its title, The House that Dripped Blood was a not-especially-gory entry from the studio and told four horror tales, written by Psycho novelist Robert Bloch, revolving around the same house -- Denholm Elliot played a thriller writer who believes his murderer character has come to life; Peter Cushing becomes obsessed with a wax museum; Christopher Lee has a mysterious relationship with his seemingly innocent young daughter; and Jon Pertwee plays the star of a vampire film whose costume causes him to take a "method" approach to his role. The score was composed by Michael Dress [1935-1975], whose few other scores include the Amicus-produced science-fiction drama The Mind of Mr. Soames, starring Terence Stamp and Robert Vaughn.

Next week, La-La Land will be releasing a two-disc set of music from Seth McFarlane's hit sci-fi comedy series THE ORVILLE, featuring the show's main theme by nine-time Emmy winner Bruce Broughton, plus selections from the episode scores by Broughton, Andrew Cotttee, John Debney and Joel McNeely.

The latest limited edition release from Varese Sarabande presents the LP tracks from Lee Holdridge's score for the 1978 romantic docudrama sequel THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, PART 2. Marilyn Hassett reprised her role as Jill Kinmont, a champion skier paralyzed in an accident, and the sequel depicts her romance with her eventual husband, played by Timothy Bottoms. (Beau Bridges played her ill-fated love interest in the first film, scored by Charles Fox who received an Oscar nomination for its song, "Richard's Window." Fun biopic trivia: the first film, released in 1975, takes place in the mid-late 1950s, while its sequel was made only 3 years later but takes place 20 years later) 

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced their latest nominations for their movie awards, including Original Music:

BlacKkKlansman - Terence Blanchard
If Beale Street Could Talk - Nicholas Britell
Isle of Dogs - Alexandre Desplat
Mary Poppins Returns - Marc Shaiman
A Star Is Born - Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Lukas Nelson

Justin Hurwitz won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score, Motion Picture for First Man, and "Shallow" from A Star Is Born won Best Original Song, Motion Picture.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Aquaman - Rupert Gregson-Williams - WaterTower
Delitto Quasi Perfetto - Carlo Rustichelli - Digitmovies
Doctor Who: Series 11 - Segun Akinola - Silva
Don Camillo - Pino Donaggio - Digitmovies
Fumo di Londra - Piero Piccioni - Beat
Once Upon a Time in the West - Ennio Morricone - Beat 

We hope you haven't disappeared for the holidays yet, because the jam-packed December edition of FSM ONLINE is now live. This month’s cover story is an interview with NICHOLAS BRITELL about his music for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK and VICE, both shortlisted in the Best Score Oscar race. Also this issue, KRIS BOWERS tells us about scoring GREEN BOOK and coaching Mahershala Ali in his role of Dr. Don Shirley; RUPERT GREGSON-WILLIAMS dives deep for AQUAMAN; an interview with music supervisor MAGGIE PHILIPS on the soundtrack of HOMECOMING (written by FSM founder Lukas Kendall!); a HOMECOMING Counterpoint with Tim Greiving and the Kaplans arguing the merits of tracking; MAX RICHTER hails MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS; THEODORE SHAPIRO builds a score for DESTROYER; MYCHAEL DANNA writes for a living legend in ON THE BASIS OF SEX; LUDWIG GÖRANSSON re-enters the ring with CREED II and discusses his big year; Cary Wong’s annual MEMO TO THE ACADEMY MUSIC BRANCH takes on a different context; inside the Tadlow Records scoring session of KING OF KINGS; a very merry EAR OF THE MONTH contest; lots of album reviews, including MARY POPPINS RETURNS, MORTAL ENGINES and RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET; more embedded audio clips, and more.

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For the first time since the 1979 Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced shortlists for nominations in their music categories:

ORIGINAL SCORE
Annihilation [Geoff Burrow, Ben Salisbury]
Avengers: Infinity War [Alan Silvestri]
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs [Carter Burwell]
Black Panther [Ludwig Goransson]
BlacKkKlansman [Terence Blanchard]
Crazy Rich Asians [Brian Tyler]
The Death of Stalin [Christopher Willis]
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald [James Newton Howard]
First Man [Justin Hurwitz]
If Beale Street Could Talk [Nicholas Britell]
Isle of Dogs [Alexandre Desplat]
Mary Poppins Returns [Marc Shaiman]
A Quiet Place [Marco Beltrami]
Ready Player One [Alan Silvestri]
Vice [Nicholas Britell]

ORIGINAL SONG
"All the Stars" - Black Panther
"The Big Unknown' - Widows
"Girl in the Movies" - Dumplin'
"I'll Fight" - RBG
"Keep Reachin'" - Quincy
"OYAHYTT" - Sorry to Bother You
"A Place Called Slaughter Race" - Ralph Breaks the Internet
"The Place Where Lost Things Go" - Mary Poppins Returns
"Revelation" - Boy Erased
"Shallow" - A Star Is Born
"Suspirium" - Suspiria
"Treasure" - Beautiful Boy
"Trip a Little Light Fantastic" - Mary Poppins Returns
"We Won't Move" - The Hate U Give
"When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The score list has its share of surprises. Because the list had to be finished before the end of the calendar year, I was worried that the Music Branch voters would go for the obvious film-and-composer choices, but perhaps because such perennial nominees as Randy Newman, Thomas Newman and John Williams had no new scores this year, they went for a more eclectic group. Only two of the fifteen listed scores were composed by past winners (Alexandre Desplat and Justin Hurwitz) and five of the fifteen were scored by composers who have never been nominated. The most unexpected inclusions were Annihilation and The Death of Stalin, and it's reassuring that the shortlist voters would show their support for such relatively obscure composers as Christopher Willis and the Burrow/Salisbury team, especially with heavy hitters like Giacchino and Zimmer not making the cut.