Search - Various Artists - Soundtracks :: Themes From Classic Science Fiction, Fantasy And Horror Films

This CD delivers the shivers

04/14/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Nothing underscores the tempo and mood of a movie like good soundtrack music. In this CD, the listener is treated to a wonderful mix of genre music from Science Fiction and Horror films. Orchestra conductor Dick James makes the most out of instrument placement, musical arrangement and stereo separation.If there is a downside, it can only be the absence of a theremin in "This Island Earth" and "It Came From Outer Space." Jacob opts for a jazz organ as an adequate substitute.The only other problem is the occasional squeaky chair noises the musicians make. But this tends to give the music a "live" sound rather than studio perfection.All in all, this is a wonderful collection that would accompany late night science fiction or horror reading perfectly."

(mostly 1950s) Sci-fi and Horror gems

Stuart M. Paine | Arlington, VA USA | 12/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great disc for demonstrating that Henry Mancini might have come to have a very different public image if Blake Edwards had not happened along! Hardly anyone knows that he began on Universal horror films.



These tracks are not from original soundtrack recordings, but the performances by Dick Jacobs's Orchestra are spirited and competent and sound great - very 1950s. There isn't much available, actually, which IS 1950s horror or sci-fi, so this is a welcome collection just in that regard. Where else would one find anything from THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, for example? The sound quality is immediate and dry in the way of pop records of the time, so don't expect to hear anything at all here similar to the huge, lush, Romantic recordings done by Charles Gerhardt beginning in the 1970s.



Although all of the selections are enjoyable, my favorites are the Salter and the Stein CREATURE excerpts (Salter's ascending 3-note motive for the "gill-man" is particularly memorable), the ferocious Dracula theme from James Bernard's HORROR OF DRACULA (first Hammer Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing Dracula film) and William Lava's title for THE DEADLY MANTIS. In fact, if it were not for this disc, I probably would never have realized that Lava had done the MANTIS score, because it is only the name of Joseph Gershensen, the musical director, which appeared in the film's opening credits.



This CD has a very short running time - less than 29 minutes. That upset me at first - enough, in fact, that I wrote to Varese Sarabande to complain, but I've since changed my mind. The time is short because 1) the original LP was short as was typical during the 1950s and 60s, and 2) for this re-release, Varese has excised sound effects which opened and/or closed the musical selections. Those that remain are not, in my opinion, obtrusive.

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