Following up my last post, here is another amazing soundtrack from Italian composer Pino Donaggio. This is the the first in what will be a series of posts dedicated to sharing the film scores/soundtracks to various werewolf themed horror films. In 1978 Pino Donaggio formed what would be a short-lived partnership with director Joe Dante, composing the score for the b-movie horror film "Piranha", which was the subject of my last post. In 1981 Donaggio composed the score to one of the greatest werewolf films ever made, "The Howling". This would be one of the last times anyone other than the legendary Jerry Goldsmith would compose a score for one of Dante's films for many years, as the two formed a long lasting partnership which persisted up until Goldsmith's death. The download provided below is to the original Varèse Sarabande soundtrack, which was released on vinyl in 1981, and has long been out of print. La-La Land recently reissued an expanded and remastered edition of the soundtrack, which contains 12 bonus tracks, as well as liner notes from Pino Donaggio. You can pick it up for only $9.99 here.
Christmas is drawing closer, which will bring an end to our ongoing Nightmare Before Christmas theme, although I am seriously considering continuing the theme until New Years. I was very ill earlier in the week, and have been working and trying to keep up with my school work as well. As a result I haven't been able to post nearly as many albums as I had planned to for the event. I still have a number of horrifying gems that I would like to share with you all though. To ensure that I have adequate time to do so I've decided to keep the remainder of my posts fairly short, and provide an off-site review at times. With that in mind, I would like to share an excerpt of Jason ' nicely written review, which was posted on the Artist Direct website:
"Pino Donaggio's score to the 1981 Joe Dante classic The Howling remains a model of horror movie music. Pulpy and melodramatic yet never silly, its skillful mosaic of gothic organ, supernatural strings, and sound effects is a chillingly potent evocation of dread. Donaggio's melodies are tightrope-taut, ratcheting the suspense at every turn, and while his music is an integral element of Dante's onscreen narrative, The Howling is one of a precious few horror soundtracks that succeeds independently of visual media, artfully combining human voices, lush synthesizer motifs, and Herrmann-inspired dissonance to create a symphony of fear. - Jason Ankeny (All Music Guide)"
Christmas is drawing closer, which will bring an end to our ongoing Nightmare Before Christmas theme, although I am seriously considering continuing the theme until New Years. I was very ill earlier in the week, and have been working and trying to keep up with my school work as well. As a result I haven't been able to post nearly as many albums as I had planned to for the event. I still have a number of horrifying gems that I would like to share with you all though. To ensure that I have adequate time to do so I've decided to keep the remainder of my posts fairly short, and provide an off-site review at times. With that in mind, I would like to share an excerpt of Jason ' nicely written review, which was posted on the Artist Direct website:
"Pino Donaggio's score to the 1981 Joe Dante classic The Howling remains a model of horror movie music. Pulpy and melodramatic yet never silly, its skillful mosaic of gothic organ, supernatural strings, and sound effects is a chillingly potent evocation of dread. Donaggio's melodies are tightrope-taut, ratcheting the suspense at every turn, and while his music is an integral element of Dante's onscreen narrative, The Howling is one of a precious few horror soundtracks that succeeds independently of visual media, artfully combining human voices, lush synthesizer motifs, and Herrmann-inspired dissonance to create a symphony of fear. - Jason Ankeny (All Music Guide)"
Year of Release:
Label: Varèse Sarabande
Catalog #: STV 81150
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Contemporary Classical
File Format: MP3
Bitrate: 256kbps
Label: Varèse Sarabande
Catalog #: STV 81150
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Contemporary Classical
File Format: MP3
Bitrate: 256kbps
Track List:
A1. Opening / Phone Call From Eddie / Dark Streets
A2. Sleaze / Karen's Nightmare
A3. Eddie's Room
A4. Doctor's Order
A5. The Howling
A6. Spectre / Escape From Morgue
A7. Something Nasty In The Moods
A8. Hunting For Shadows
A9. Wolf Bites Man!
A10. Terry And Karren / Delirium
A11. Animal Magnetism
B1. Wolf At The Door
B2. Run For Your Life
B3. The Big Bad Wolf
B4. Wolfing Down Terry
B5. Eddie Lives Again
B6. Transformation
B7. Welcome To "The Colony"
B8. Fur From The Maddening Crowd
B9. The Shapeshifters
B10. To Make You Believe
B11. End Title
A1. Opening / Phone Call From Eddie / Dark Streets
A2. Sleaze / Karen's Nightmare
A3. Eddie's Room
A4. Doctor's Order
A5. The Howling
A6. Spectre / Escape From Morgue
A7. Something Nasty In The Moods
A8. Hunting For Shadows
A9. Wolf Bites Man!
A10. Terry And Karren / Delirium
A11. Animal Magnetism
B1. Wolf At The Door
B2. Run For Your Life
B3. The Big Bad Wolf
B4. Wolfing Down Terry
B5. Eddie Lives Again
B6. Transformation
B7. Welcome To "The Colony"
B8. Fur From The Maddening Crowd
B9. The Shapeshifters
B10. To Make You Believe
B11. End Title
Great cheesy flick to re-visit as well. A pleasant surprise.
ReplyDelete@Anon: I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see posted here in the future. Take care.
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