RIP Wes Craven 1939-2015

2015 has been a rough year to be a Horror fan, hasn't it?  We've lost way too many of our heroes this year and, unfortunately, we just lost another Great yesterday.

Wes Craven passed away from brain cancer at the age of 76.

When I saw the news dropped in as a comment on a Facebook thread, my heart sank.  After googling Wes to confirm my worst fear, I was immediately heart-broken and am still having a rough time dealing with his loss.  As I typed out a quick acknowledgement on Facebook last night, legit tears streamed down my face.  Some celebrity deaths are met with a sigh and a frown, but this one hit me really hard. 

It's no secret how important Freddy Krueger and the entire A Nightmare on Elm Street phenomenon has been in my life, but the first time I actually remember seeing Wes Craven speak on-camera about it goes back to when I was at least 5 or 6 years old.  The moment was part of an interview segment on the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors VHS documentary where Wes, along with Robert Englund, was seen on-hand signing autographs for eager fans and talking about the then still relatively young beast that he had birthed only a couple of years earlier.  

While I still have my original VHS, this copy is actually my wife's.

Wes, discussing the surreal nature of the Nightmare films.

On that initial introduction to the man -- and to this day -- I didn't think he looked like the type of guy who made Horror movies.  In fact, given his past career as an English teacher, he always reminded me of one of my own favorite professors.

I could watch and listen to a Wes Craven interview for hours, just to hear the man talk and wax philosophical about the genre I love.  As far as I'm concerned, Wes was the Thinking Man's Horror Filmmaker.  He brought depth and, quite frankly, the discussive nature to the genre.  

Recently on Twitter, Wes tweeted out these words of wisdom to aspiring filmmakers:  

"Take the 1st job you can in the industry you want to get into. The job doesn't matter, getting your foot in the door does."

From what I've read about his early interest in film, he took his own advice, getting his foot in the door with rougher and cruder (in every sense of the word) fare before making the leap to mainstream success with A Nightmare on Elm Street and eventually becoming a household name with the Scream series.  It's worth noting that he made a helluva an impact in 3 separate decades with his work -- Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes struck nerves in the 70s, Nightmare pretty much defined the 80s, and Scream revitalized a genre that was almost on life-support in the 90s.  That's three generations that his work reached!

Back in 1995, my parents took me to my first ever Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention in Manhattan.  As a 13yr old kid, I was mainly there to see and meet Ken Foree from Dawn of the Dead, though the bill also had Angus Scrimm, Heather Langenkamp, Clive Barker (apparently...though I don't remember that at all, but I just saw a flyer for the show today on Facebook), and of course, Wes Craven.  It goes without saying how starstruck I was meeting Ken Foree, so it's no surprise that I couldn't muster up the courage to meet anyone else at that show, even Heather and Wes!  Although, I do fondly recall giving a wave to Wes as he was out in the hallway, signing for courageous fans . . . and he waved back.

Finally, even though I've shared this pic on Facebook, it deserves to be shared here.  A couple of years ago, my wife and I did a joint Halloween costume as Freddy and Nancy.  Kudos go to Wife for her level of detail in creating her Nancy costume, which I'd like to think got some attention on Instagram from Wes . . . 

Even though my pic was probably one of hundreds he saw that day on Instagram, the fact that he took a second to not only take a look, but also"like" it . . . incredible!  The closest I've come to holding court with the man.  Speaking of the presence that Wes had on Instagram, I will really miss his posts, dropping little hints as to where he currently was or was on his way to in the world.  His photos were humorous, often sharing silly memes or showing off his animals.  The man also had some great Throwback Thursday photos that he'd tease his followers with to guess what the film was!  In short, his posts were always a great time!

In a couple of weeks, Horror Hound Weekend will be celebrating one of the largest Nightmare reunions ever, gathering members of the Nightmare family from the original and all its sequels in Indianapolis.  I look forward to sharing Nightmare memories with fellow fans and the alumni who will be there that weekend!  It's ironic that I just saw someone requesting Wes to be added to the guest list, literally, on Saturday . . . he'll be there with us for sure.

With that said, it deeply pains me to bid farewell to someone who has helped shape me and my interests ever since I was a little kid.  He leaves behind an incredible legacy of fear, scares, chills, and laughs.    

Sleep peacefully, sir.  RIP Wes Craven.

RIP Sir Christopher Lee 1922-2015

Christopher Lee, perhaps the most famous portrayal of Count Dracula.

Somewhere beyond the pearly gates, the ultimate Hammer horror film is finally under production . . . co-directed by Terrence Fisher and Roy Ward Baker, filmed by Freddie Francis and a cast including Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ralph Bates, Ingrid Pitt, Kate O’Mara, Madeleine Collinson, Thorley Walters, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Vincent Price, and the star they’d all been waiting for…Sir Christopher Lee.

When Sir Christopher Lee passed away at the age of 93 on June 7, 2015 the film world lost one of its true legends, though this loss stings the horror world the most.

My earliest Christopher Lee memory goes back to elementary school and, although it’s a bit foggy, it still stands out.  While I’m not sure exactly what grade I was in – though it was probably 2^nd grade – I vividly remember coming home with my parents from some event at school in the evening.  It was around Halloween so, naturally, television stations were showing old horror films and, as luck had it, we came across Dracula:  Prince of Darkness!  At my age, since it wasn’t Freddy Krueger, I wasn’t exactly impressed, although both of my parents talked up Hammer Films and Christopher Lee himself.   I have faint memories of watching the film, though probably not in its entirety, as my young mind had an extremely short attention span in those days!  While it didn’t exactly make me a Hammer fan overnight, the seeds were still sown and, truth be told, it ended up being the very first Hammer film I would purchase years later on DVD (on a double bill with Satanic Rites of Dracula, no less!).

Being a kid in the late 80s/early 90s, my first real introduction to Christopher Lee would have to have been his appearance in Gremlins 2!  At the time, I thought he was just an uptight old geezer being mean to Billy and Gizmo!  Years later, of course, all the in-jokes and winks to his previous iconic  role as Dracula finally caught hold of me!

I’m embarrassed to say that, initially, I dismissed Hammer as nothing more than a retread of the Universal Monster films; of course that assessment couldn’t be further from the truth, as I now almost exclusively prefer Hammer over Universal!  As I became an adult, I got deeper into Hammer and their star actors and directors, many of whom I’d seen and loved in other projects like Peter Cushing in Star Wars and Tales From The Crypt or even Lee himself in The House That Dripped Blood. 

Christopher Lee is a certified legend.  There, I said it . . . and everyone should know it!  The man has close to 300 credits in his nearly 70yr career!  That fact in and of itself is an incredible feat that I’m not sure will be matched by any modern actor in or outside of the horror genre!  He could play them all . . . Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy, Rasputin The Mad Monk, a Bond villain, a evil wizard, an evil Sith Lord, a good guy, a bad guy, even an annoying pain in the ass (see his hilarious bit role in Raw Meat where he delights in pushing the buttons of Donald Pleasence).

They certainly don’t make them like this anymore.  We lost a great one, folks!

For a rare chance to catch a bunch of Lee’s most famous horror titles on television, make sure you tune in on Monday 6/22/15, as TCM will be dedicating a half day of programming to our fallen hero!  Starting at 6:15am, TCM will be airing The Mummy, Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, Dracula:  Prince of Darkness, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, and Horror Express!

MANIAC: NYC's Grindhouse King

 

Would you just LOOK at that poster art?!  If ever there was a Horror movie poster that accurately described to the viewer exactly what they were in for, it's this one!  Genre favorites Joe Spinell and William Lustig came together to leave a very unique (and very bloody) mark on Horror movies with this 1980 shocker.

I'd first heard about Maniac sometime in the early to mid 90s as I was diving head long into Dawn of the Dead and everything Tom Savini!  I clearly recall a review of Elite's special edition laserdisc in an issue of Fangoria and found myself wondering aloud "how did I miss this one?!"  I quickly found a copy of Anchor Bay's VHS port of that special edition (you know the release...the one with the white box) and immediately fell in love with the lurid tale of Frank Zito:  super for a low-rent apartment building by day and Night Stalker by, er, night. 

If you know Joe Spinell's story, you know how close he famously was with Sylvester Stallone -- hence his appearence in the first two Rocky films.  Bill Lustig has often stated that Maniac was "Spinell's Rocky" in that it was the actor's pet project, much in the same way of his famous friend.  Spinell researched newspaper articles and clippings about real-life killers to come up with a composite that would eventually be the script for this film. 

The story follows Frank Zito as he deals with some severe mother issues and, much like the shark in Jaws, hunts and kills innocent women on the streets of New York City, circa 1979/1980. On the surface, this could have been just another exploitative piece of garbage; a guy hacking up women just because.  But no...because of the heart that Spinell and Lustig poured into this one while shooting it guerilla-style . . . it's got something more to it. 

I imagine this is probably what it looked like while Spinell was writing!

 One of my favorite elements to Maniac is its portrayal of New York's seedier side in its locations; Old New York, if you will . . .  a place that I can never visit thanks to "flippin' Giuliani".  Even though it wasn't exactly the safest place to be, I'd love to spend just a few hours on 42nd Street sometime in the early 80s, checking out all the Grindhouse movie theaters (the Horror ones of course). 

Forget going back to the future, give me Old New York any time!

 The other standout here is, of course, Tom Savini's incredible special effects work.  Here, Savini found himself the equivalent to a Michael Jordan Three-peat:  Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, and Maniac!  The guy was simply on fire and quickly earning the many fan and press-appointed titles bestowed upon him throughout the 80s. 

Here, Savini sees George Romero's first draft for Day of the Dead!

One thing that has always made me sort of scratch my head about Maniac though is the budding romance that occurs during the picture's second half between Spinell's Frank ZIto and Caroline Munro's Anna D'Antoni.  A guy who could be Ron Jeremy's stunt double meets (and woos) a beautiful fashion photographer who was probably once a model herself.  Not only does the physical attraction seem odd, but the way that Frank sleezes his way into Anna's life . . . the creepo factor is definitely at an 11! 

Caroline Munro:  Maybe I should take him to the zoo?

Let's go back to that poster art shall we?

 

 

 THIS is how they used to make posters for Horror movies back in the day kiddos!  You won't find any of that "floating heads staring back at you" or "generic font for the title" BS on this classic poster!  No sir...this is straight-up and in your face about what this film is all about.  In fact, it's art like this that really makes me yearn for the old days of having actual art on a poster instead a Photoshopped collage combined with the other two tropes I mentioned. 

 

When it comes to Maniac, it's also worth mentioning the 2012 remake helmed by Franck Khalfoun (of High Tension fame) and starring Elijah Wood in the titular role.  While it transplants the action from seedy New York to the brighter lights and bigger city of Los Angeles, on paper, this combination may sound silly...but it actually works.  There are some really great nods to the original (including a great shot replicating the classic poster image) and the film's first-person POV style amps up the grizzly factor.  Surprisingly, it's a worthy successor to Lustig's original!

 

Even though the days of seeing (and making) films as brutal and filthy as the original Maniac may be long gone, we still have countless VHS, laserdisc, DVD, and bluray releases (and the odd midnight screening in your local theater if you're lucky! to pour over.  Not just a typical "slasher" film, this is one that gets up under your skin and leaves a stain that stays with you forever!

The Blind Dead: Some of the Coolest Zombies Ever

Seriously...would you LOOK at these dudes?

If you're into zombie movies, chances are that you've seen these guys before.  If not, you're about to read up on a cool little film series that you probably haven't heard of...

Between 1971 and 1975, Spanish director Amando de Ossorio wrote and directed four creepy little films featuring some of the most original zombies ever put on film.  Of course, I'm referring to the titular Blind Dead (or Knights Templar) featured in Tombs of the Blind Dead, Return of the Evil Dead (aka:  Return of the Blind Dead), The Ghost Galleon (aka: Horror of the Zombies), and Night of the Seagulls (aka:  Night of the Death Cult). 

In 1998, I first discovered the original film, Tombs and the first sequel, Return via Anchor Bay's long OOP double feature release.  The original film is presented in its native Spanish language with English subtitles, while the sequel is dubbed into English. While I haven't watched this disc in forever, I can't recall whether the films as presented are uncut.  The disc itself has had mixed reviews over the years, as it the image quality is a bit weak and the lack of extras -- though the inclusion of Return of the Evil Dead could be considered an extra right?) turned a lot of fans off.  However, at the time, this was the only way to see these films in the digital age!  If you're a completist, search out this disc.

This disc is worth searching for...

After falling in love with the Blind Dead, I next collected the other two sequels via VHS copies from conventions over the next several years, which were more than fine for me as far as I was concerned. 



Your basic "official" bootleg release.

Not too long after picking up those VHS copies, however, I came across one of those multi-movie sets called Horror Rises From The Grave.  This is your basic bootleg release of films perceived to be in public domain (or not...the companies usually don't care either way) and in poor presentations usually just VHS transfers.  Included in this set is Zombie Flesh Eaters -- which is NOT to be confused with Lucio Fulci's Zombie.  In this case, it's a VHS transfer of The Ghost Galleon/Horror of the Zombies.  Also included in this set are a letterboxed version of House By The Cemetery (reportedly lifted from one of Anchor Bay's original releases) and two other cheaply released pictures. 

Finally, in 2005, Blue Underground announced an incredible boxset that would include all four Blind Dead films in their original, uncut forms.  Extras included trailers, photo galleries, alternate footage, a book, and even a bonus disc focusing on Amando de Ossario!

THIS is how you do a box set!

Included in this awesome set -- inside a tiny, friggin' coffin no less! -- is the following:

• Tombs of the Blind Dead
• 97 minute Original Spanish version
• 82 minute US Theatrical Edit (dubbed)
• Return of the Evil Dead
• 91 minute Original Spanish version
• 87 minute US Theatrical Edit (dubbed)
• The Ghost Galleon
• Original 90 minute Spanish version
• Night of the Seagulls
• Original 88 minute Spanish version
• Amando de Ossorio:  Director (bonus disc)
• The Last Templar (2001 documentary)

When it was first released, this set was pretty expensive and I've seen it vary in price on the secondary market.  The films themselves were released individually around the same time, However, I recently saw that Blue Underground released another set of them together....

 

...not sure of the extras included, though I'm sure it's just the movie discs and nothing new.  This looks to be more affordable than the coffin, so if you're looking for them, give this set a try!

Now, with all that out of the way, let's get into each a film a bit, shall we?

Tombs of the Blind Dead introduces the Knights Templar who, in the 13th century, practiced some black magic and witchcraft...human sacrifice, etc.  They were condemned, executed and had crows peck the eyes out of their rotting corpses.  Flash-forward to modern day Portugal and a group of travelers stumble into the Templars' resting place -- a creepy and rotting old graveyard.  Naturally, this brings the Templars back from the dead to seek out their new victims.  The coolest and most original element is that they're obviously blind, so they hear their prey...even the faint sound of a pounding heartbeat will bring the Templars out!  Another standout feature in this film -- and in all of the films actually -- is that they ride their horses in slow-motion!  To be honest, when the slow-mo is combined with the echoed sounds of their horses' hooves, it's creepy as Hell!

Also worth noting is the look of the Templars themselves . . . rotting robes, hollowed out skeletal faces with cool facial hair, and creepy skeletal hands reaching out like the arms of a T-Rex!  Why hasn't a toy company like NECA released at least one action figure based on these guys yet?!

While not necessarily a direct sequl, Return of the Evil Dead focuses on a small village celebrating the 500th anniversary of the defeat of the Templars.  Of course, the celebration is cut short when a handful of Templars show up and completely massacre the village!  While this first sequel reuses quite a bit of footage from Tombs, it's still a great film and worthy sequel, adding in elements of Night of the Living Dead even!

In The Ghost Galleon, a boat full of models disappears in the equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle -- actually the appearance of the titular Ghost Galleon, which happens to be carrying buried treasure as well as travel coffins for the Templars!  Back on the mainland, associates of the missing models form a search party and soon find themselves aboard the Ghost Galleon, where they inadvertantly wake up the Templars.  This sequel is probably the cheapest-looking of the series, displaying some painful special effects such as toy boats floating in a bath tub!  However, the Blind Dead themselves are in fine form here and do not disappoint!

Finally, in Night of the Seagulls, the Templars become local legends of sorts to a coastal fishing village.  Every seven years, they return for seven nights to re-enact their human sacrificial rituals.  In return for their safety, a small cult of Blind Dead worshippers kidnap nubile, young ladies to offer up as sacrifices -- which the Templars happily accept of course!

Even if you might be turned off by having to read subtitles, I cannot recommend these movies enough!  Yes, they might be a little slow in spots, but when they finally deliver the goods, they do so in spades! 

It's Just A Dream....a review of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Looking back at the early entries in the Nightmare series, one might argue that Wes Craven's original was comparable to, say, Metallica's Kill 'Em All record in that it was the rough, unpolished blueprint for an entire new genre. Although groundbreaking, it was still considered underground and independent -- certainly anything but mainstream. Those who were fans knew it by word of mouth and spread the gospel to their friends alike.

 

So, by this rationale, Nightmare 2 would be the equivalent to the Ride the Lightning record; a follow-up that was certainly up to the challenge of not only being in the same league as its predecessor, but also possessing the intent of trying to surpass it in some way. Obviously the first Nightmare sequel had its fans and naysayers alike for various reasons (believe it or not, there are folks who abandonded Metallica after the first record), however it still brought the series that much closer to the mainstream and, in doing so, set events in motion for Freddy Krueger to become a household name.

This notion, of course, leads to the inevitable comparison of Nightmare 3 to the Master of Puppets record; easily at the top of the indie scene, breaking sales records, growing in popularity, and bringing the mainstream closer to the series and Freddy as a whole . . . all from just outside the fences of not quite being a household name. 

Released in 1987, Nightmare 3 begins my favorite story arc in the entire series -- the last of the Elm Street children -- while also continuing the continuity of the original film by bringing back Nancy Thompson and her father Donald.  Speaking of continuity, this is one of the aspects that I've always felt set the Nightmare series apart from its biggest contemporary, Friday the 13th.  Throughout the entire Dream Trilogy started by Nightmare 3, close attention to detail is paid to the characters who come in and out of each film.  There's also, of course, the haunted version of 1428 Elm Street that makes its first appearance in this sequel, continuing through the remainder of the series (of course, with little continuity on the interiors of the house, but that's another matter in and of itself).

Also worth noting this time around is the return of series creator Wes Craven, receiving story and screen-writing credit along with Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell, among others.

This time around, the last of the Elm Street children have been institutionalized after their parents deem their attempts to stay awake as some sort of suicidal group psychosis.  Naturally, the adults in the film don't believe the kids and aren't phased in the least that they were all dreaming of the same boogeyman long before they met eachother. 

Freddy returns to the screen, once again, chasing the film's heroine Kristen Parker (played by Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette in her first role) without skipping a beat from the mixed reviews of Nightmare 2 two years earlier.  After a particularly rough nightmare, Kristen is admitted to the institution where the rest of our story takes place.  Once there, of course, she's introduced to the rest of the Elm Street children and, with the help of Freddy's greatest foe Nancy Thompson (with Heather Langenkamp returning once again to give Freddy the ol' one-two), they all become the titular Dream Warriors.

Speaking of the kids, there's short-fused Kincaid (Ken Sagoes), mute Joey (Rodney Eastman), aspiring TV starlet Jennifer (Penelope Sudrow), puppet maker Phillip (Bradley Gregg), wizard in training Will Stanton (Ira Heiden), and of course, everyone's favorite badgirl, Taryn White (Jennifer Rubin).  Also along for the ride as skeptical adults are Craig Wasson, Priscilla Pointer, and a young Laurence Fishburne.

As Freddy invades the dreams of and stalks the Dream Warriors, this is where the series really came into itself and became known for its outlandish special effects sequences!  Everything from a phalic-looking giant Freddy snake to a TV that kills, and even a tribute to Ray Harryhausen stop-motion animation is thrown at the viewer!

In the special effects department, you've got Kevin Yager returning for the make-up duties (creating what is pretty much the definitive look for Freddy) and pioneers like Mark Shostrom, Greg Cannom, and Screaming Mad George contributing to some of the outlandish special effects sequences.  Some of the standout sequences include the aforementioned Freddy Snake and killer TV set, along with a character having his veins and ligaments ripped out as Freddy controls him like a marionette!

Going back to, what I consider the definitive Freddy look, this was actually the very first time I'd seen Freddy, so this one is special.  However, there's also a plethora of promotional photos for Nightmare 3 that were used on merchandise, posters, packaging, everything from the time of the film's release right up to the present day.  My favorite image, of course, is the promo poster that I've talked about on here before...it's just simple, effective, and so damn cool! 

Most Nightmare fans consider this to be the best of the sequels and I can't say that I disagree!  It's got some of the most memorable sequences and one-liners (that are still effective, cruel, and not completely corny like some of the later sequels), a great cast of likable characters to root for, and it perfectly sets up the next film in its final reel.  Along with the new characters to root for, Nightmare 3 also sees the return of Nancy and her father from the original film; when it comes to Horror heroines, Heather Langenkamp is easily right at home next to Halloween's Jamie Lee Curtis or Friday the 13th's Adrienne King.

All in all, Nightmare 3 is a roller coaster ride of a sequel . . . it brings back familiar characters, expands on a story that we think we all know (adding the depth of the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs), and leaves the door open for yet another sequel!

 

 

The first time I saw Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE and didn't quite know it

Back in the mid-90s, I was cutting my teeth as a young Horror fan.  I was getting more and more access to films I'd heard or read about in the pages of Fangoria or from word of mouth.  Again, this was all pre-internet, so I could only learn about this films by word of mouth and what I'd find at the local video store . . . I hadn't even gone to my first Horror convention yet!

One of those films was Lucio Fulci's classic Zombie (or Zombie Flesh Eaters, Zombi 2, etc depending on what side of the pond you're from).  I'd heard stories about it being an "unofficial sequel" or blatant ripoff of Dawn of the Dead and I'd even seen the VHS big box release from Wizard Video during my almost weekly treks to the video store. 

But I'd never actually seen it.

Flash forward to 8/18/95, my 13th birthday.  My Gram -- who was the greatest grandmother a kid could ever have asked for btw -- took me on a trip to the Palmer Mall in Easton, PA.  You see, Palmer Mall had a great Suncoast Video store that I loved browsing and this birthday trip was no different, as Gram was letting me pick out some presents.

Now, any time I walk into a record/video/toy store, my eyes are HUGE, right Jack?  For some reason, I immediately went for the THX widescreen boxset of the Star Wars trilogy.  Dubbed as my "last chance to own the original Star Wars trilogy on video" my interest was peeked . . . how could I resist?  I mean, it's not like George Lucas was going to screw with the movies we all know and love . . . right??

With a sizeable VHS boxset (which I still have mind you) under my arm, I had some spar birthday money left over . . . what to get, what to get . . . the constant question hanging over a young Horror fan's head in a video store.  It must have been about $10 that I had leftover because I was searching through the Horror VHS and I distinctly remember the one I picked being $9.99. 

"What about Lucio Fulci's Zombie?!"

Sure, why not!  I immediately went to the end of the Horror section, looking under "Z" for, well, ya know . . .

"Hmmm . . . I don't see Zombie, but I see Zombie 2 and Zombie 4:  A Virgin Among The Living Dead"

Not exactly what I was looking for, though seeing the word "virgin" in one of the titles was waving a huge flag to this particular pubescent young gentlemen!  I looked at the cover of Zombie 2 which was billed as "The Lucio Fulci Classic!"

Seems legit.

"What now?" I thought. "Fulci made the first sequel, too?"

I scanned over the back of the box which gave a brief plot summary . . .

Shredded corpses are discovered on a boat adrift in New York harbor.  A note tells of a strange plague on the remote island of Matool.

 

A pretty woman journeys there to see that her father is all right.  He's NOT all right!  The island is infested with RAVENOUS ZOMBIES -- Zombies with a BIG TASTE for flesh!  They're bad to the bone!

 

Lucio Fulci's graphic masterpiece!

Okay . . . at this point, I was REALLY confused.  But, the label in the bottom, right of the box stating "WARNING: Viewer discretion advised.  This film contains violence & nudity" ultimately sold me on it!  I had to have it!

"Hell," I thought to myself, "the zombie dude with the worms in his eye is on the cover of this, so it's gotta be related in some way!"

Later that afternoon, we got back to Gram's house and I was itching to check out this Zombie 2 business . . . friggin' Star Wars could wait!  I popped that VHS into the VCR as fast as I could and I clearly remember the warm, summer air that day as the tropical setting of the movie seemed to resonate with me and, honestly, kinda freak me out about watching it.

The movie started with voodoo drums and a shadowy English fellow blasting a sheet-wrapped zombie in the face -- right in the goddamn face -- with a revolver before announcing "The boat can leave now.  Tell the crew."  Instant gore!  I loved it! 

"Hmmm...the title says Zombie 2, but it looks like it's been superimposed over something else . . ."

Man, the print on this particular version of the movie is in terrible shape!  Shitty full-screen cropping and a filthy picture made it feel like I was watching something I wasn't supposed to be watching.  All these years later though, it's still fun to give this particular version a view simply for the nostalgic feelings it brings back.  One of my favorite memories of this version was sitting in my friend's kitchen on a Sunday afternoon, post-sleepover Saturday, watching the tape on a tiny TV/VCR combo simply because his little brother wanted to see the nudity! 

Of course, not long after watching the film, I realized that it was your basic bootleg release of what is commonly known as Zombie, which I would see a few years later when Anchor Bay released their Widescreen Presentation collector's edition in 1998.  Seeing Fulci's masterpiece in its correct aspect ratio made it a lot more enjoyable, as it appeared to have been made by someone with talent (which the fullscreen transfer clearly doesn't). 

Ever since that fateful day, almost 20 years ago, Zombie has become a definite favorite.  It opened up the world of the late, great Lucio Fulci to my young eyes.  In fact, at my second ever Horror convention, a Weekend of Horrors as a matter of fact, I managed to pick up an original Zombie one sheet, which hung proudly displayed in various locations of my old bedroom before taking its rightful place in Crypt's bathroom.

I do a lot of my thinking here.

Dawn of the Dead: My Soundtrack Holy Grail (Goblin edition)

At the risk of letting this blog become dedicated to All Things George A. Romero (hey, besides this entry here, I've got a couple of other cool ideas I'm digging up from the Crypt) . . . I wanted to share, with you, the story of my hunt for the once elusive Dawn of the Dead soundtrack.

You see, in the days before the internet, there was a time a where people actually went out and purchased CDs, records, or cassettes of soundtracks they were looking for.  The main spark for this entry here at Constriction Pictures stems from an old friend asking me to burn a copy of the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack for them; matter of fact, I think I may have, but I don't remember.  The point is though, right now, you can google the soundtrack and instantly download it from pretty much any message board or blog similar to this one.  For me, the thrill of the hunt, and ultimately the glory of actually finding it in the flesh, has always been more rewarding than a quick and easy download. 



Just look at this cover art.  Stark, simple, and amazing.

The year was 1993 or early 1994 at the latest.  A random, after school hang session with some of my buddies resulted in talk of Dawn of the Dead. Can’t really say how or why it crept into our conversation, but the end product saw us renting the film and me rediscovering something that I had first seen at the impressionable age of 5.

Of course, when Mom came home, I got busted for having people over when no one was home and I had to deal with Dad later. But, needless to say, the damage was done and on that fateful evening, I was set on a path that I'd follow for the rest of my life.

I was now a fan of Dawn of the Dead.

Now, what had a very unique effect on me was the score that the film contained. It was haunting and eerie, yet the coolest music I had heard in a long time. The fact that it was instrumental appealed to me even way back then; in fact, I still stand by the fact that Horror movies need a good, strong instrumental score! At that point in time, I was going by what the film's credits stated "Music by The Goblins with Dario Argento" . . . um, excuse me, who and who?  I could barely pronounce Argento's name at this point, but my interest was peaked, to say the least!

I'm not sure where I first discovered that there was actually a soundtrack album available, but so began an almost ritualistic journey to the mall to search every single soundtrack section in the hopes that I'd find the CD of my dreams. In fact, back in those days, on the East coast we had a mall music store known as The Wall (which is now commonly known as F. Y. E.); one of the cool things that The Wall was known for was their lifetime music guarantee . . . whenever you purchased a cassette or CD at one of their stores, you were given a square, blue sticker that you could place on the case of your recently-purchased music. Should anything happen to your item -- be it a scratch or your car's cassette deck got a little hungry -- The Wall would replace it for you. For free. For life. Or until they got bought out.


But, I digress . . . The Wall also had a special order program where you could go to a little kiosk in their stores and look up pretty much anything. If you found it, you could print out a little receipt-like piece of paper that was your special order form. As luck would have it, the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack by Goblin was listed in their database! Score!

So, there I was, barely 13yrs old printing out a special order ticket for the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack and walking it up to the counter. I was told to come back in a week or so. Was it REALLY this easy?? Nah...no way it was.

Of course it wasn't.

What was an incredibly foreign concept to me at the time was that the soundtrack was out of print. WHAT?? Not one single employee of The Wall ever told me it was out of print; all they ever told me was that it was on back order. Dammit. Seriously, I can't tell you just how many different malls I'd gone to printing out special order forms at The Wall for this record . . . and always coming up empty.
Okay, damn you . . . so this was to be a foot chase. No problem. Like The Wall, I would eventually hit every mall or independent record store in the remote area (courtesy of my Mom and her mini-van). If it wasn't a store, then it was a flea market where I'd search through dusty old milk crates of records I cared nothing about, but still, I always came up empty.

What's a kid to do when he REALLY wants to listen to the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack in the car or in his headphones when he's walking to school? Obviously, he sits in front of the TV with a tape recorder and records the audio of the movie . . . only momentarily lashing out at people who might unknowingly call the house, thus interrupting the afternoon's recordings. Seriously folks, if you thought the mullet geek with the dirtstache in Trekkies was horrible to his friend when their phone call disrupted his precious interview time . . . you didn't know me as a kid!

So, the quality was incredibly poor and there may have been the occasional phone ring or parental interruption, but it was something...

Some time later, Mom and Dad took me to my first Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention in 1995 -- where, again, I was unable to locate the Dawn soundtrack, though I did see a vinyl copy of the soundtrack for Day of the Dead. But it was what I discovered after that convention that made an impact . . . shortly after that show, while thumbing through a recent issue of Fango, I stumbled across a personal ad that read "Dawn of the Dead garage kit" . . .

"What the hell is that?", I thought to myself.

Anyway, I sent away for a mail order catalog from the address, which was listed in Michigan.

A few weeks later, I received what basically amounted to a Horror collector's zine in the form of a photocopied catalog, detailing various -- and quite costly -- items for sale. The company was called Classic Horrorz and it was run by a guy named Ron Causey and his buddy Terry Prince. As I thumbed through the catalog, feverishly scanning for anything Dawn of the Dead-related, I quickly came across a CD titled "Zombi/Tenenbre", a split collection of selected tracks Goblin had recorded for both Dawn of the Dead and Tenebre (a film I hadn't seen at that point).

The price was a whopping $75 . . . hey, that’s a lot of money to a 13yr old who has no income outside of being a good kid to his folks! This, of course, ended up being the first version of the Dawn soundtrack that would wind up in my collection.

I don't know many times I traced that 'bald head' image!

Released by Cinevox Records in 1990, the split release compiles tracks that Goblin recorded for Dawn (aka: Zombi) as well as Tenebre.

The tracklist is, as follows:

Dawn:

1.) L’Alba Dei Morti Viventi

2.) Zombi

3.) Safari

4.) Zaratozom

5.) La Caccia

6.) Tirassegno

Tenebre:

7.) Tenebre

8.) Gemini

9.) Lesbo

10.) Flashing

11.) Waiting Death

It’s interesting to note that, had I not also ordered a dubbed copy of the Dario Argento cut of Dawn of the Dead shortly before I ordered this CD, I would have only known three of the Dawn tracks! Still, I finally had some of the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack in my possession!!

Being that the titles were in Italian, I was desperate to know what they meant . . . so, I headed over to my local, favorite pizza place and asked my good friend and owner, Tony, if he could translate, which he happily did!

April 1997 saw me attend my second Chiller Theatre convention in East Rutherford, NJ. There, I picked up yet another split release of the Dawn soundtrack! This version featured all ten tracks of the Dawn soundtrack – with the inclusion of “The Gonk” (here labeled as “Mall Muzak”) as well as Goblin’s complete score for the Australian shocker Patrick.

A decent bootleg featuring the entire Goblin score

There's been some speculation about this release and whether it's some sort of promo or just a bootleg . . .if the horrid print quality of the cover art and the hissy quality of the audio weren't dead giveaways, it's definitely the latter.

Sometime in 1998, as Dawn of the Dead was celebrating its 20th anniversary, Cinevox released a really cool special edition of the soundtrack on CD.  I picked this one up at a Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention for $15 or $20; this particular release includes the original 10 tracks, as well as 6 additional -- and highly sought-after -- unreleased tracks.  There's also a throwaway bonus track entitled "Zombi (The Living Dead's Voices)" which sounds like someone messing around with a guitar effects pedal.

This is pretty much the definitive edition of the soundtrack!

Simply put, this release rocks!  To FINALLY have the complete Goblin score in collection was a dream come true.  Of course, there was also the search for the De Wolfe Library cues that were pain-stakingly assembled by Romero during the film's post-production...but that would be a separate quest in and of itself.

Sometime in 2000 or 2001, I managed to win an original Varese Sarabande vinyl LP off of eBay.  I've gotta say, on my iPod, a rip of this particular vinyl version gets the most airplay without a doubt.  Also around this time, I picked up a vinyl copy of the original Italian release from Cinevox as well.

In 2004, I picked up yet another vinyl re-issue, this time from Dagored, with an interesting (and creepy) cover.  Nothing too special about this release, as it's merely the a repressing of the original version, though this time on 180gram vinyl.  Still, a cool addition to the collection.

Well, I think that about does it for my Dawn of the Dead soundtrack collection in terms of the Goblin score.  I don't have too much in the way of the De Wolfe tracks outside of the 2004 Trunk Records collection of "unreleased" library cues.  Other than that, I've got mp3 versions of fan-made "Ultimate Edition" collections. 

Thanks for checking out another entry here . . . stay tuned for some more A Nightmare On Elm Street stuff coming up!