In the Far West, the fur trade is raging. Bloody Fury, one of the last red wolves, decides to avenge his exterminated family. But is revenge the best solution to find the way to redemption?
COMPOSERSPAY HOMAGE TO THE WESTERN SCORES OF OLD.
Susan DiBona is a seasoned film composer and multi-instrumentalist who began studying piano and writing music at the age of seven. After many years of performing onstage and working as a session musician, songwriter, orchestrator and arranger, she later kicked off her career as a film composer in Berlin, Germany, where she wrote and produced numerous scores for a number of popular primetime German TV series and features. Her first classical piano and theory teacher as a child was the composer and concert pianist Leopold Godowksky III, nephew of George Gershwin, who mentored her and encouraged her to develop her composing skills. She acted as both vocal coach and lyricist for the top 3 winners of Star Search Germany under contract with BMG/Universal Music. Susan has vocal coached and written lyrics for artists under contract with Polydor, Capitol, Sony/BMG, and Echo Verlag.
She attended the Buddy Baker/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop at NYU and was mentored by Mark Snow (The X-Files) and Sonny Kompanek (orchestrator for Carter Burwell). Fluent in German, English, and Italian, she has conducted such prestigious orchestras as the Berliner Symphoniker, the Rome Film Orchestra, as well as ensembles including members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, Babelsberger Filmorchester and the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, Italy.
Salvatore Sangiovanni, born in Italy, is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso concert and jazz pianist whose composing skills range from classic Italian opera to American big band and beyond. He holds a post-graduate degree in classical piano performance from The Royal School of London. He studied film scoring and orchestration under Carlo Crivelli and was mentored by Maestro Ennio Morricone. Sal also studied jazz with Michel Camilo (faculty member of The Juilliard School) and be-bop legend Barry Harris.
BLOODY FURY is a recent assignment for you both how did you become involved on the movie?
We’d heard of the project in summer 2022, and contacted the director, Jordan Inconstant, and sent him some of our music right away to introduce ourselves. Once the film was edited, around October, he got in touch and asked if we’d be available to write the score.
Watching the video of some of the sessions it’s clear that the score is influenced by both the music of Italian western and the more conventional sound of the Hollywood western, was this something that the director requested or was this a sound and style that you suggested would work for the movie?
Jordan did ask specifically for some elements of Italian Western film music, but we did want to channel some other composers as well: Aaron Copland, Elmer Bernstein, Scott Joplin – for the ragtime piano pieces which are played in the saloon scenes – and Carl William Stalling for the animation sequences (with a character voiced by Bill Nighy). Composing in these styles was not always a conscious choice; these styles came naturally and automatically to us because they fit so well with the images. We also included very American rock/blues music, something Jordan requested – and we think it works well. Our goal was to bring all these classic styles together seamlessly, make the score as modern and fresh as the movie, yet still give it our own signature sound.
Was the film temp tracked with any music at all, if so was this helpful or maybe distracting?
We received the film without temp tracks, by our own request. We did ask for some audio examples from the director at times to help us communicate (among the director and us two composers, there are three different native languages), and to narrow down the musical choices we would make as a team. In any case, a blank canvas to play with and an in-depth conversation with the director before we even start writing feels best for us. Temp tracks are limiting. In fact, if we feel free to develop our ideas at the start of the composing process – i.e., if the director trusts us enough to let us throw lots of different ideas around without having to follow temp tracks right from the beginning – the more creative resources we will have to draw from, and the better the score will be because we simply feel free to work using our instincts.
It looks like a small group of players mainly strings, how many live players did you have in the orchestra and what electronic elements did you use for the score?
We orchestrated everything ourselves in record time as soon as we had final approval on the mock-ups. As for electronic elements, we created some synth tracks and electronic effects. We then recorded live percussion tracks, and Susan recorded some bamboo and wooden flutes as well as vocals (also in our own studio) before the orchestral session. For the orchestral sessions, we had 18 live players at the session in Rome, with trumpet/Flügelhorn, and piano (both a classical grand and an upright “busted-up” piano for the ragtime parts). We recorded everything we needed from the orchestra in a couple of hours. Afterwards, we overdubbed the electric guitars in Berlin, where we also completed the mix with Klaus Knapp at Trixx Studios.
The film is a mix of live action and animation, how much music did you write for the project?
The soundtrack is about 30 minutes in length total.
On the score you use an old piano, which re-kindles perfectly the sound of the saloon tracks as composed for Italian westerns by the likes of Morricone, Bacalov, Nicolai etc, was this a piano that was originally utilised on other western scores?
Funny you should mention it! Yes, that very saloon piano was actually used in the score for the classic Western Django.
When will the movie be released, and I hope the score will be released?
The theatrical premiere is on May 4th in Paris, and we’ll know more soon about the distribution. We hope to have the score out on CD in time for the premiere! We’ll keep you posted.
Many thanks to
Susan & Salvatore, for answering our questions and we look forward to the film being in cinemas and also the soundtrack release.
HAPPY HORROR-DAYS EVERYONE. Come in dont be shy, …Take a seat or why not cozy up on the couch with your favourite soundtracks from a plethora of horror tales that are filled with festive frolics which are festooned with macabre and chilling trimmings. Are you sitting comfortably……. Lets Begin.
Howlin Wolf Records wish you all a Happy Horror-days with their release of the music from the anthology Deathcember, available now for shipping,
Will you dare to open the door?
DEATHCEMBER, is a holiday-themed horror anthology series soundtrack, with an international ensemble of renowned composers, directors, and actors. Produced by Dominic Saxl, Ivo Scheloske, and Frank Vogt, DEATHCEMBER brings to life a feature-length advent calendar – each door a portal to terror and demented holiday fun! So, will you dare to open the door?
The DEATHCEMBER “Main Theme” and “Suite” are composed by award-winning composer Andrew Scott Bell, performed by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra with Péter Illényi conducting, featuring oboe soloist Judit Borzsonyi, and clarinet soloist Gyorgy Ree. The melodic and sweeping opening theme adds the perfect sense of enchantment and wonder for the advent season. In addition, Andrew Scott Bell composes the transition suites that wind through the score like a snake in the guise of holiday ribbon. Segment scores are a brilliant mix of amazing international talent from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Serbia, UK, and USA. among others, showcasing the talents of composers Andrew Scott Bell, Stephan Nicolas, Nemanja Mosurovic, Jeffrey Peter Mayhew, The NightStalker, Michael Kaufmann, Eduardo Daniel Victoria, Steffen Britzke, Dag Lerner, Nikola Nikita Jeremic, Medhat Hanbali, Erik Lutz, Peter Litvin, Dirk Steffan Buro, and Michael Kohlbecker.
The DEATHCEMBER soundtrack comes with a 32-page booklet including a foreword by producers Dominic Saxl, Ivo Scheloske, and Frank Vogt along with a note from segment director Sam Wineman about his friend and collaborator, Andrew Scott Bell. In addition, the booklet features notes by composers Stephan Nicolas, Jeffrey Peter Mayhew, Michael Kaufmann, Eduardo Daniel Victoria, Nikola Nikita Jeremic, Medhat Hanbali, and Dirk Steffan Buro, all beautifully packaged in a jewel case with exquisite artwork by Adrian Keindorf (booklet cover), Flavio Greco Paglia (booklet back), and art direction and designs by the magnificent Luis Miguel Rojas.
And whilst you are ordering this ominous horror soundtrack why not take a look at other festive horror scores that we know Yule love…
Silent Night Deadly Night,2 CD set.
You’ve made it through Halloween, now try and survive Christmas.
This two-Disc Set for the 35th Anniversary of SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Disc One is the complete score by Grammy-winning composer Perry Botkin and Disc Two contains the songs written for the film by renowned songwriter and singer Morgan Ames. This is a very limited repressing available for a limited time …these will not last long!
On November 9th of 1984, a mentally-tortured and deranged Santa was unleashed on an unwitting public, and the result was a mayhem of whimsically evil holiday fun that thrills horror film lovers annually. The film also provoked the ire of those who wanted to censor the concept of an unhinged Santa. Screenwriter Michael Hickey sardonically recalls, “America’s moral guardians decided that nobody of any age should be permitted to see any entertainment that was not suitable for a six-year-old child.”
The concept for a killer Santa was the creative muse of film producers Scott Schneid and Dennis Whitehead and brought to life for celluloid by screenwriter Michael Hickey and director Charles E. Sellier, Jr. ..The film follows Billy Chapman from his disturbing encounters with malevolent grandfather Chapman through the horrific murders of both of his parents by an evil Santa on the lam. Afterwards Billy and his brother are sent to an orphanage with a stern disciplinarian Mother Superior (brilliantly played by Lilyan Chauvin), and Billy finally lands at the toy store with the bumbling Mr. Sims, who after having him dress up as Santa, finally sends Billy over the edge as a Santa who has EVERYONE on his “naughty” list!
The score by composer Perry Botkin is a classic electronic score from the ’80’s that is truly one of the most celebrated elements of this perennial cult classic. The composer recounts, “I’d never seen a slasher movie in my life until I watched SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, so I had no preconception about what a slasher/horror score should sound like, or what other horror composers had done in the past or were doing at that time. I just sat down with my Mac Plus, banged away, and out came the score.” …And what came out is a brilliant mash-up of frenzied horror cacophony blended with melodious euphony, and a virtual carnival funhouse of electronic holiday madness. As an added treat, the release features a second disc with all of the songs written by Morgan Ames, which throughout the film add just the right touch to contrast the merriment of Christmas against the backdrop of a horror film.
For the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 35th Anniversary Edition, sound engineer Ian Zapczynski sourced Perry Botkin’s score from the 192 kHz direct transfers of the composer’s original analog master tapes, with the tape-to-digital transfers supervised by Howlin’ Wolf Records at Avatar Studios in NYC. It was important to salvage every piece of audio that would be of interest to soundtrack collectors, and at the highest audiophile-grade quality possible, securing this as the definitive edition of the complete SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT soundtrack set on CD. All tracks for Perry Botkin’s score were fully remastered from the flat tape transfers, and digital restoration techniques were used where necessary, with care to remain faithful to the high quality of the master recording. In addition, two short tracks that were not previously released are added to the tracklist, including the film’s opening “Santa’s Watching.” The construct for this soundtrack edition centers around the original mixes used in the film and the alternate mixes prepared for an ’80’s LP release that never came to fruition. Each alternate mix contains audible differences from its corresponding track, most notably a heavier use of reverb and stereo separation on the tracks mixed for the never released ’80’s LP.
Howlin’ Wolf Records’ 35th Anniversary Release for SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is a pressing of 300 CDs, featuring the unforgettable original poster art for the film, a 20-page deluxe booklet with liner notes by Co-Executive Producers Scott Schneid & Dennis Whitehead, Screenwriter Michael Hickey, and Composer Perry Botkin, all balanced against a canvas of beautiful designs and vivid imagery by graphic artist and long-time Howlin’ Wolf Records Art Director Luis Miguel Rojas.
GOOD TIDINGS.
JeanMichelNoir’s wickedly delightful score for GOOD TIDINGS is filled like a Christmas stocking with mayhem and menacing holiday cheer. Evil Santa’s everywhere, beware, there is a new and more terrifying breed of unremorseful and sinister Santa à la the Christmas shocker GOOD TIDINGS! To up the ante, there is not one, but three, twisted masked killers to flee – a trinity of terror! The most malevolent Father Christmas of the troupe is none other than composer JeanMichelNoir, indulging one of his other creative passions as an actor, filmmaker, and storyteller. He discusses the intent to make a film that was “straight-up unapologetic horror” with a performance as the “scariest bad guy” possible. There is no spoiler in proclaiming, mission accomplished!
JeanMichelNoir, self-described as the “playful demon,” is one of the creative entities who live within Liverpool artist, composer, musician, filmmaker, and actor Liam Ashcroft. Ashcroft is a prolific artist and creator who moves seamlessly between the inner creative forces that drive him. Be it JeanMichelNoir (the composer), Mugsmasher (the political activist), or Liam Ashcroft (the master for channeling all internal creative forces), the output is always an unbridled fury of fierce originality!
GOOD TIDINGS has the progressive operatic feel of Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells,” and JeanMichelNoir credits Goldsmith’s “Ave Satani” as an influence, using his voice to chant woeful Latin-translated phrases to fashion a “scary carol.” Whatever the influences, they are molded, twisted, and contorted into a form that is distinctively JeanMichelNoir.
GOOD TIDINGS features a 16-page booklet with liner notes by composer JeanMichelNoir and beautiful original cover art by Austin Hinderliter (Creepy Carves). The packaging is exquisitely designed by acclaimed Howlin’ Wolf Records Art Director Luis Miguel Rojas weaving a tapestry of psycho-Santa promo shots from the film with vibrant imagery of the composer in a colorful giallo-infused style.
SILENT NIGHT.
Silent Night – Scary Night.
Chime in the holidays in style with SILENT NIGHT by award-winning composer Kevin Riepl (CABIN FEVER: PATIENT ZERO, CONTRACTED, ABCs OF DEATH). Featuring dark ambient chills, orchestral thrills and holiday sleigh bells, Riepl’s score puts a foreboding spin on the perennial classic “Silent Night.” Commenting on Riepl’s music for SILENT NIGHT, director Steven C. Miller heralds, “Kevin’s score is visceral, emotional, and straight up brutal. Working with him has clearly elevated the film.”
SILENT NIGHT is a loose remake of the horror classic SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. The film’s stellar cast includes Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), Jaime King (SIN CITY, MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D), Donal Logue (SHARK NIGHT 3D, BLADE), Lisa Marie (SLEEPY HOLLOW), Brendan Fehr (FINAL DESTINATION, X-MEN FIRST CLASS), and Ellen Wong (SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD). McDowell and King star as a small-town sheriff and deputy on the hunt for a murderous Santa Claus terrorizing their community on Christmas Eve. But with the streets full of Santas for the annual Christmas parade, the killer is hiding in plain sight. He’s made his list, checked it twice, and the naughty are going to pay with their lives.
The score is expanded and remastered by David McConnell at Thread Audio.
SILENT NIGHT features an 8-page booklet with liner notes by composer Kevin Riepl and wickedly festive designs by Luis Miguel Rojas. For a limited time orders placed on the Howlin’ Wolf Records website will ship with an additional insert booklet autographed by composer Kevin Riepl. This offer is available while supplies last.
Better Watch Out.
You might be Home, but you’re not Alone.
The score for BETTER WATCH OUT is the work of the acclaimed composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Brian Cachia. The score is performed by the Bratislava Studio Symphony conducted by Vladimir Martinka and concludes with a somber arrangement of “Carol of the Bells,” featuring Mark Buys on guitar.
BETTER WATCH OUT is a horror/dark comedy written and directed by Chris Peckover, which has been described stylistically as a HOME ALONE inspired romp in the mold of a Tarantino film. The film stars young Australian actors Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, and Ed Oxenbould, and features performances by well-known Hollywood actors Patrick Warburton (SCREAM 3) and Virginia Madsen (CANDYMAN). DeJonge and Oxenbould delivered standout performances in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE VISIT, and again in BETTER WATCH OUT, now with another remarkable young actor Levi Miller (PAN). Rounding out the cast of impressive up-and-coming actors are Aleks Mikic and Dacre Montgomery (STRANGER THINGS).
The music for BETTER WATCH OUT embodies everything that is wonderful about Christmas-themed horror films with orchestral music that ranges in musical texture from melodic and sentimental, to whimsical, to dark and foreboding. Brian Cachia sparingly and effectively accents with sleigh bells and chimes to ring in the wicked holiday mayhem.
BETTER WATCH OUT features a 12-page insert booklet with liner notes discussing the composer, director, cast, and score, all beautifully packaged with designs by Howlin’ Wolf Records Art Director Luis Miguel Rojas.
A Cadaver Christmas.
Ring in this Christmas season with William Campbell’s lively and entertaining score for the yuletide zombie romp, A CADAVER CHRISTMAS, directed by Joseph Zerull. William Campbell is a composer, pianist and improviser whose music has been performed throughout North America by orchestras, chamber groups, vocalists, in theater productions, and can be heard in the documentary, “Finding Face” (Spin Film). As a pianist he has performed with multiple new music groups including the acclaimed Sonoran Consort. His first solo piano CD, simply titled, “Piano Songs,” was released in 2011. Campbell is the recipient of numerous composition awards, as well as a member of ASCAP and CCLI, and is a board member of the Iowa Composers Forum, helping to organize festivals of contemporary music. He earned degrees from the University of Arizona (B.M.), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and the University of Oregon (Ph.D.).
A CADAVER CHRISTMAS features a fun, rhythmically-brooding score that takes the listener on a journey through a demented holiday soundscape blending the aura of classic horror and science fiction with the sounds of Christmas!
A CADAVER CHRISTMAS is beautifully packaged featuring an 8-page booklet showcasing cover artwork by The Dude Designs with colorful and haunting designs by graphic artist Luis Miguel Rojas. For a limited time orders will ship with an additional insert booklet autographed by composer William Campbell.
Hurry and get your Christmas Horror lists in, Santa and his elves are already busy.
Many of you like me remember the great movies of the 1950’s and the 1960’s and categorize many of these as classics with iconic scores by composers who went onto become household names, if you were a soundtrack collector that is. One composer who I remember because of just one score is Russell Garcia, who wrote the music for the George Pal movie The Time Machine. The movie which was produced and directed by George Pal was released in 1960. At first the film was entitled H. G. Wells, The Time Machine, because it was based upon the 1895 novella by the author, its, a movie that attracted the attention of many, and I can also remember seeing it in the cinema when it was re-released a few years after its initial run.
It’s a movie that also shows up on TV regularly and each time I just must sit and watch it from beginning to end. I think it was more the movie that I was firstly attracted to but as my interest in music for film grew, I discovered the music that Russell Garcia had penned for the film. I suppose it is also a good thing that my focus on the movie and its storyline was not distracted by the musical score, it was something that I took for granted because it was not only good and supportive of the movie but was an important and integral part of the unfolding and ever-changing storyline. They often say that if you notice the music in a movie then it is not really doing what it is supposed to. So, I guess that Garcia’s music for The Time Machine, was working with and for the movie. His rich and dramatic symphonic compositions were to become a regular listen for me when I finally added the soundtrack to my collection.
Russell Garcia.
In 1987 the composer recreated his atmospheric and breath-taking score when he conducted the Graunke Symphony Orchestra in Munich. The result of these sessions was a re-recording of the score. Now some thirty-five years on we are once again to be treated to this brilliant score, which has been superbly re-mastered from the original digital stereo elements, this latest edition of the score contains previously unreleased material. With Garcia’s suite from Atlantis, The Lost Continent included which he also re-recorded.
This stunning compact disc release is packaged in a jewel case and contains an informative and colourful twenty-page booklet. The booklet contains an interview with the composer and background information on the movie and its score written by the producer of the disc Arnold Leibovit. It also has attractive cover art which has been designed by Jim Titus.
It’s a limited-edition release and one that every film music fan should own and is available now. The Time Machine, the movie I think stands out as one of George Pal’s most accomplished pieces of cinema, and as a fantastic slice of science fiction in film full stop. The film is one that you just cannot stop watching, and stars Rod Taylor, as a Victorian scientist, who I have always assumed was H. G. Wells? He invents a machine that hurtles him through time to the far distant future world in the year 802,701 where we find that mankind has evolved into two species.
A gentle surface-dwelling, vegetarian, childlike, pacifist race called the Eloi, and the brutal, beastly, meat eating, Morlocks who live beneath the Earth and prey upon the weaker and more subdued race that live on the surface, feeding on them.
The movie also starred Yvette Mimieux and Alan Young, Young. I think was probably the most liked character in the story and we see the relationship between his character Filby and Rod Taylor’s time traveller develop and grow over the years and at various stages of the film, with Taylor moving back and forward in time experiencing the past and being shocked at times by the future of the earth.
Gene Warren and Tim Baar received the Oscar for Best Special Effects which was mainly due to the time-lapse photographic sequences, that effectively and convincingly show the world rapidly altering, most effectively via a tailor’s dummy in a shop window, where we see the fashions changing as the time traveller journeys to the future accompanied by Garcia’ music which has a slightly more comedic tone to it in places during this sequence.
The imagery and the sets are wonderful, and the direction is nothing short of brilliant. Russell Garcia’s score fuses the dramatic with the romantic and adds much to the overall mood and atmosphere of the film. The composer captures the frightening and brutal world of the Morlocks, but at the same time underlines the beautiful and for the most part carefree world of the Eloi.
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It also provides a strong and slightly darker musical persona for the Time Machine itself, which is driving as well as melodic. Overall, the music has to it full and rich sound that is lavish at key moments within the movie, with the composer utilising the string section to great effect. .
Garcia’s lilting theme for Filby is subtle and filled with melancholy and tenderness. Which conveys the warmth of the friendship between him and George (Rod Taylor’s character )throughout the movie.
Australian actor Rod Taylor as H George Wells .
The theme that the composer created for Weena, which is the Love theme from the score, is beautiful and gracious. Again the string section is utilised to maximum effect. Garcia’s driving and highly dramatic action cues for the movie are fairly typical of the style that many other composes employed when scoring films during this period, but work wonderfully punctuating and adding tense and nervous support to the time travellers violent encounters with the Morlocks.
Percussion is combined with rasping brass flourishes and swirling strings to underline the ferocious creatures as they attempt to kill the time traveller. The score is wonderfully expressive and sensitive, and I am pleased that this glorious music has at last been re-issued in its re-mastered and complete form. The soundtrack is available now from, The Time Machine – Puppetoon ProductionsBe quick though it is a limited edition.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 