CD Reviews: The Night Walker and The Wicker Man
The Night Walker (1964) **** 1/2
VIC MIZZY
Percepto 009
22 tracks - 49:40
"The score is a masterpiece. It's very inventive, and the instrumentation
is fantastic." Thus stated Bernard Herrmann about Vic Mizzy's score for
The Night Walker. Indeed, this is a fantastic gothic horror score
as effective as Herrmann's Psycho, even if written for a far inferior
picture.
The film, directed by schlock-meister William Castle, stars Barbara
Stanwyck (Irene Trent) in a career revival of sorts as a woman married
to the abusive and sadistic Howard Trent. Trent dies in a mysterious explosion
but his body is never found. The twists and turns of the plot include a
bizarre wedding between Irene and her dream lover. But was it real or imagined?
Is Howard actually dead?
Mizzy wrote the score using the Schillinger System (developed by the
Russian mathematician). This was a favorite technique of Mizzy's, allowing
for a specific number of permutations of a set number of notes and multiple
variations of a single theme. The interesting orchestration kicks off in
"Main Title," scored for bass guitar and prepared piano (with a block of
wood placed across the sound board, giving the illusion of a harpsichord
or a slightly out of tune piano) that serves as Howard's theme and is meant
to accompany the on-screen thumping off his cane.
The cleverly titled "Hittin' Mrs." opens with a powerful brass statement
representing the gothic gargoyle statues that decorate Howard's apartment
building (and the disc's great cover art, but have little else to do with
the movie despite what the artwork may suggest) as seen in Irene's nighttime
visions. It then segues via Howard's theme into an equally frightening
motif as Howard first strikes Irene.
The score also features a surprisingly restrained love theme ("Dream
Lover" and "Dream Lover Returns") for rising and falling piano, which scores
the possibly imagined relationship between Irene and The Dream (as her
nocturnal lover is known).
"Marriage Mirage" features the first fully effective appearance of a
pipe organ, which twists quotes of Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin
with a creepy new motif. "Weird Wedding" follows and is by far the highlight
of the score, a classic of the horror genre. It mixes the organ with the
full orchestra and features most of the score's main themes in perfectly
timed outbursts from the brass, beautifully complimenting the gothic organ.
If you would not normally be interested in seeking out music by the
man who wrote the themes to Green Acres and The Addams Family,
I urge you to go to Percepto's website and listen to the sample tracks
of this score. Doing so sold me on a disc I otherwise would have no intention
of buying. The overall package is superb and Mizzy contributes several
great production anecdotes in the liner notes. Normally I'm an advocate
of complete chronological releases, but in this case the brief source cues
do disrupt the flow of the score and perhaps could have been sequenced
at the end. But that's a minor flaw in an otherwise stellar release.
-- Darren MacDonald
The Wicker Man *** 1/2
PAUL GIOVANNI
Silva Screen FILMCD 330
16 tracks - 39:40
The transition of the occult thriller The Wicker Man from screenplay
to movie to theatrical release is one of those stories where you shake
your head in disbelief. It was hated by its producer, relegated to support
feature slot and butchered by 20 minutes before finally being released
in a director's cut years after it was made. The master tape was discovered
in Roger Corman's film vault, though was originally feared to be buried
under a motorway in England! Not surprisingly, the soundtrack's journey
to record stores has been equally tortuous, and Silva must be commended
for the first ever release of the stereo masters of all the songs, with
attractive packaging to boot.
The movie, starring Christopher Lee, follows Edward (The Equalizer)
Woodward's fatal descent into paganism and witchcraft on a remote Scottish
isle, and has long been a cult favorite. Instead of an overblown Hammer-style
'70s score, the movie features authentic atmospheric folk music by Paul
Giovanni, performed by Magnet.
Trunk Records released "The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Music
and Effects" in 1998, but the mono sound quality was poor, and it featured
sound effects and dialogue because the separate music tracks were not available.
It also had a truncated version of the beautiful ballad "Willow's Song."
And because the recording was taken from the heavily cut version of the
film, there was no "Gently Johnny." By comparison, Silva's release features
the isolated crystal-clear stereo music tracks. This is the version that
was prepared by the composer for release in 1977, but scrapped when the
film failed to find its audience. As expected, "Willow's Song" is here
in all its glory, as is the bawdy "Gently Johnny."
The first eight tracks on the disc are taken from the proposed LP release;
the next three (in mono) were composed for playback on the set, and as
such are of limited quality. The final five tracks are a suite of incidental
music. This is best possible release we could expect for this album, but
its folksy music is an acquired taste, so it's recommended with minor reservations.
For fans of the film, this is a must-buy. (P.S. Go to silvascreen.co.uk
and you can listen to "Willow's Song Instrumental," which is not included
on the CD). -- Nick Joy
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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