Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood

Label: Silva Screen              
Catalogue No: FILMXCD 357 

Release Date: 9-Apr-2002

Total Duration: 2CD - 68:10 & 68:34 

UPN: 738572035723

This latest compilation from Silva Screen is a mix of the old and the new. In addition to new recordings of DRACULA, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. and HANDS OF THE RIPPER, there are various Dracula film scores, and music for Hammer’s pre-historic romps, assorted Frankenstein, Werewolf, Ripper, and Mummy films, all recorded between 1989 and 2001, and all refurbished in Silva’s stunning Surround Sound and HDCD.

In the main, this compilation is a tribute to the horror talents of James Bernard, who died on July 9th of last year. (Readers will recall that, as recently as 1997, he had composed a new score for the restoration of the 1922 silent classic NOSFERATU.) CD1 of this two-CD set is devoted to the work of Bernard beginning with “The Dracula Suite” that embraces music from five Hammer Dracula films. Just savor all those deliciously creepy atmospherics and mournful woodwinds, rasping brass, echoing gong strokes, cymbal crashes and shrieking strings. But there is also some relief from the general mayhem in the shape of the tender “Love Theme” from SCARS OF DRACULA, and the beautifully plaintive “Romance: The Young Lovers” from TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA. From FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, there is also a lovely, idyllic string interlude, “Christina.” But the standout selection on this first CD is Bernard’s score for THE DEVIL RIDES OUT – here is devilry at its most intense. The music reaches right out at you and overwhelms you. Its central “Dance Frenzy,” a sort of crescendo for drums, makes the hair stand on end. One has to admire how Bernard achieves all his effects through inspired orchestrations, without recourse to special effects. CD1 ends with another remarkable Bernard score for KISS OF THE VAMPIRE – “Vampire Rhapsody” that is a parody of the Liszt- style of music for piano and orchestra.

On CD2 James Bernard is represented by his scores for SHE and QUATERMASS II. SHE was one of Bernard’s favorite scored, as it took him away from the usual gothic horror into the realms of romantic adventure and fantasy. For Queen Kuma he created a romantic theme redolent of passionate yearning and yet also of frustration. Very fast drum beats, in crescendo, feature in the “Bedouin Attack and Desert Quest;” while the majestic “Processional” impresses with its power as do the rasping brass and huge, overwhelming drum rolls of “The Cruelty of She.” “The Destruction of She” has a voluptuous charge as Kuma attempts to entice the young adventurer she favors through the eternal flame but then the whole musical texture shatters horrifically as she passes through the flame a second time and she crumbles to dust. For QUATERMASS II, Bernard created an eerie “alien from outer-space” type score, very effectively using strings and timpani in tight compelling rhythms that create great tension. Bernard’s final work is also included; themes entitled VAMPIRE HUNTER – 2000 that he had composed for a wildlife documentary about the nastiest bloodsuckers on the planet.

Turning to other composers’ music, CD2 begins with sound effects of crashing thunder, shrieking gales and volcanic eruptions that introduce three prehistoric scores by the late Mario Nascimbene, one of Italy’s most innovative composers; ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH and CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT. Nascimbene creates striking colorful music, using voices and striking instrumental effects, to evoke the often-dangerous lifestyle of primitive man. Carlo Martelli scored CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB, Humphrey Searle is represented by THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN, and Christopher Gunning contributes a darkly macabre score for HANDS OF THE RIPPER. The bloodletting returns with VAMPIRE CIRCUS adroitly scored by David Whitaker who takes a new, often sensual as well as horrific look at the creepy gothic genre. This is another highlight of the compilation. The collection is rounded off, with Benjamin Frankel’s more adventurous music for CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF. It begins in idyllic pastoral mood, all cheerful, innocent birdsong and loping lambs but then all hell breaks loose with wild atonal wolf shrieks amid a thunderous hunt. Thrilling but exhausting; recommended in small doses.

Originally published in Soundtrack Magazine Vol. 21/No. 81/2002 - With permission of the editor, Luc Van de Ven