Although "Theatre Of Blood" happens to be a campy horror-comedy, this score happens to be one of my favorites from a horror film of any type. The composer, Michael J. Lewis, released his complete original score as a promotional release in 1973. I couldn't find any information regarding the number of physical copies he produced, but needless to say the promotional vinyl release this rip originates from is extremely rare. La La Land recently released a remastered version of the score on CD, with the slightly altered title of "Theater of Blood". While the sound quality of the La La Land release is undoubtedly superior to that of this rip, I still find this version to be superior, if only for one reason. The promo release contains each cue as an individual track, with 24 total tracks, while the La La Land version combines several of the cues, and amounts to only 25 tracks. In my opinion they made some poor decisions with their choice of combinations also, which detracts from the mood Lewis managed to establish on each of the individual tracks.
Theatre of Blood sees the legendary Vincent Price in the role of Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart, a psychopathic Shakespearean actor who fakes his own suicide in order to take revenge on the critics who snubbed him. Price's character manipulates his targets into unwittingly playing the role of various victims that appear in each of his performances of Shakespeare's plays. He then proceeds to dispatch them in an inventive yet extremely brutal manner. Theatre of Blood was considered one of the goriest horror-comedies of its era, and remains considerably gory even by today's standards. This may be the campiest film Price ever starred in. He even sports an afro at one point in the film. Price has often claimed the film to be his favorite though, as it gave him the opportunity to recite famous Shakespearean lines. Due to his reputation as an actor who devoted his career to horror films, he was never seriously considered for a role in any adaption of Shakespeare's work.
I should point out that many of the tracks contained on this release aren't exactly in the spirit of our ongoing Nightmare Before Christmas event. As with the film, much of the music heard on Lewis' score isn't strictly rooted in horror, as Lewis captures a diverse range of moods throughout his score, which frequently changes in tone as a result. Lewis captures the spirit of adventure with a few tracks, particularly "The Trojan Trail", which features a distinct military beat. He also shows a more romantic side on "Master of the Killing Phrase" and "Cymbeline" and "Edwina's Theme", all of which are beautiful tracks, dominated by sweeping strings, and highlighted by beautiful piano melodies. As the title alludes to, "Where Are My Doggy Woggies" has a comedic feel to it, and actually sounds downright downright goofy at the onset, before gradually transitioning to its suspenseful conclusion. I'm sure that some of you are thinking, why I is he posting this when so many of the tracks stand in sharp contrast to the ongoing dark theme? The answer to this is: because the remaining tracks are deliciously dark enough to warrant their inclusion in our Nightmare Before Christmas event. While they may not even make up the majority of the tracks which comprise this score, I believe they are strong enough to dominate the overall mood of the album, almost reducing the contrasting themes they share the album with to an afterthought.
Download: Michael J. Lewis - Theatre of Blood: Original Motion Picture Score (Official Promo Release)
Download Size: 73MB
Theatre of Blood sees the legendary Vincent Price in the role of Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart, a psychopathic Shakespearean actor who fakes his own suicide in order to take revenge on the critics who snubbed him. Price's character manipulates his targets into unwittingly playing the role of various victims that appear in each of his performances of Shakespeare's plays. He then proceeds to dispatch them in an inventive yet extremely brutal manner. Theatre of Blood was considered one of the goriest horror-comedies of its era, and remains considerably gory even by today's standards. This may be the campiest film Price ever starred in. He even sports an afro at one point in the film. Price has often claimed the film to be his favorite though, as it gave him the opportunity to recite famous Shakespearean lines. Due to his reputation as an actor who devoted his career to horror films, he was never seriously considered for a role in any adaption of Shakespeare's work.
I should point out that many of the tracks contained on this release aren't exactly in the spirit of our ongoing Nightmare Before Christmas event. As with the film, much of the music heard on Lewis' score isn't strictly rooted in horror, as Lewis captures a diverse range of moods throughout his score, which frequently changes in tone as a result. Lewis captures the spirit of adventure with a few tracks, particularly "The Trojan Trail", which features a distinct military beat. He also shows a more romantic side on "Master of the Killing Phrase" and "Cymbeline" and "Edwina's Theme", all of which are beautiful tracks, dominated by sweeping strings, and highlighted by beautiful piano melodies. As the title alludes to, "Where Are My Doggy Woggies" has a comedic feel to it, and actually sounds downright downright goofy at the onset, before gradually transitioning to its suspenseful conclusion. I'm sure that some of you are thinking, why I is he posting this when so many of the tracks stand in sharp contrast to the ongoing dark theme? The answer to this is: because the remaining tracks are deliciously dark enough to warrant their inclusion in our Nightmare Before Christmas event. While they may not even make up the majority of the tracks which comprise this score, I believe they are strong enough to dominate the overall mood of the album, almost reducing the contrasting themes they share the album with to an afterthought.
Year of Release: 1973
Label: N/A (Promotional Release)
Catalog #: CD 156-192
Original Format: Vinyl
Digital Format: MP3
Bitrate: 192kbps
Label: N/A (Promotional Release)
Catalog #: CD 156-192
Original Format: Vinyl
Digital Format: MP3
Bitrate: 192kbps
Track List:
1. Main Theme
2. Ides Of March
3. Oh Pardon Me, Thou Bleeding Piece Of Earth
4. Friends, Romans, Countrymen
5. The Dragon Wing Of Night
6. The Trojan Trail
7. Master Of The Killing Phrase
8. Fear No More The Heat Of The Sun
9. Cymbeline
10. Sexy Lips & Swinging Hips
11. A Pound Of Flesh
12. To Be Or Not To Be
13. Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent
14. Here Clarence Comes
15. Drown In A Butt Of Wine
16. Partita Of Blood
17. Alive In Triumph
18. Fugato
19. I'm So Glad You've Come
20. Flame With Ash Highlights
21. Edwina's Theme
22. Where Are My Doggy Woggies
23. Come Fire, Consume This Pretty World
24. He Did Know How To Make An Exit
1. Main Theme
2. Ides Of March
3. Oh Pardon Me, Thou Bleeding Piece Of Earth
4. Friends, Romans, Countrymen
5. The Dragon Wing Of Night
6. The Trojan Trail
7. Master Of The Killing Phrase
8. Fear No More The Heat Of The Sun
9. Cymbeline
10. Sexy Lips & Swinging Hips
11. A Pound Of Flesh
12. To Be Or Not To Be
13. Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent
14. Here Clarence Comes
15. Drown In A Butt Of Wine
16. Partita Of Blood
17. Alive In Triumph
18. Fugato
19. I'm So Glad You've Come
20. Flame With Ash Highlights
21. Edwina's Theme
22. Where Are My Doggy Woggies
23. Come Fire, Consume This Pretty World
24. He Did Know How To Make An Exit
Download: Michael J. Lewis - Theatre of Blood: Original Motion Picture Score (Official Promo Release)
Download Size: 73MB
Wow, great post. An excellent score to a terrific film.
ReplyDeleteLewis' score for The Medusa Touch is also well worth a listen.
This site is really something else, I haven't seen so much good taste in one place in a long time.
Thanks a million.
@Anon: Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying the content here. Please let me know if there are any albums you would like to see posted here in the future, or if you would prefer to see more of a particular genre.
ReplyDeleteI actually haven't had the opportunity to listen to The Medusa Touch, but I'll see if I can track it down. If it compares to "Theatre of Blood", then I'm sure it is amazing. Thank you for the recommendation.
You have a great site here. Came accross it as I was looking for the tracks for the album "Count Down" by Jimmie Haskell. Checked out your "soundtrack" area and found a number of "great" titles.
ReplyDeleteI downloaded the soundtrack to the film "Theatre of Blood" one of Vincents best. Tried downloading it three times and only the following tracks: 1,2,9,18 and 21 would open to play. At least though I was able to hear the complete title track. To bad the rest refused to open. Keep up your good work with this site...
@Anon: It sounds as if some of the tracks may have been corrupted, either during the download process, or when you were extracting the archive. All the tracks play perfectly fine for me. It seems as if the person who left the first comment was also able to play all of the tracks fine. I will give you the benefit of the doubt though, and will go ahead and reupload the album for you later tonight.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteThis is really wonderful of you to repost this soundtrack. I tried two different ways to unzip them and they always came out the same.
Also,I just finished listening to the soundtrack of a favorite film of mine. It is "The Changeling". So glad you were able to post this one too.
Also glad you were able to post the "Quatermass" soundtrack. I am a big Hammer film fan.
Again thanks...
Hi ZerO II,
ReplyDeleteHope you get this before you reupload the file for "Theatre of Blood" soundtrack.
I just looked at my Zip file again.
When I right click it I get several options which include:
1. Extract File
2. Extract Here
3. Extract to: (whatever the name of the item is).
I open with either number 1 or 3.
So I tried number 2 and
it opened beautifully.
So thank you for a great post and offering to reupload it again. So very kind of you. A great soundtrack to a great movie.
@Anonymous: I'm glad to hear that you were able to sort things out, and you are enjoying some of the albums you are discovering here. Feel free to make requests if there are any albums you would like to see posted here, or if there is a particular genre you would like to see more of in the future.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I hadn't already started re-uploading this. I'm sure you will be impressed once you listen to this album, if you haven't had the opportunity to listen to it already. Take care.
theres something wrong with the zip plz re upload
ReplyDelete