ow should a modern motion picture venerating 1950s horror comic books sound? That was the question faced by director George Romero in 1982 when he crafted Creepshow, an unusual cinematic anthology recounting five separate "tales of terror." To achieve the ideal audio accompaniment, the filmmaker turned to composer John Harrison, who, utilizing primarily a piano and a single synthesizer, penned a superbly suggestive soundtrack. His music for the movie serves as the foundation of a brand-new CD that highlights not only that score but also previously unreleased melodies from the Tales From the Darkside TV series and two unfinished projects, Mansions of the Moon and Shoobie Doobie Moon.
The initial cut, "Prologue—Welcome to Creepshow," provides a stirring prelude, forming a surprisingly cohesive composition from terse snippets of the production's key motifs. Each of the seven subsequent pieces also vividly captures the terror conveyed by the macabre movie. The chilling echoes and wails of "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" supply a superlative blend of creepiness and comedy, with "The Crate" delivering more traditionally spooky sounds intermingled with soft electronic moans. "Until the Next Time (End Title)," the film's final cue, revives the mélange of themes introduced in the opening sequence, concluding the score in a solid and decidedly scary fashion.
All three Tales From the Darkside suites are freshly re-recorded, with "Satanic Piano" spotlighting sultry keyboards, a forlorn trumpet dominating "Everybody Needs a Little Love" and charming synthesized tones enlivening "Sorry, Right Number." Sparse manufactured noises evoke anticipation and alarm on the solitary selection from Mansions of the Moon, with "Main Title Song" and "You Make Me Feel Like a Monster," two frivolous vocal jingles from Shoobie Doobie Moon, ending the album with a light rock 'n' roll air.
Old-fashioned, but altogether chilling
During the 1950s, a handful of so-called "experts" successfully argued that the images and storylines within comic books—particularly those titles published by E.C. Comics, such as Tales From the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear—were so lurid that they corrupted young minds. A similar claim is often heard today concerning heavy metal and rap music, which some ill-informed pundits contend pollutes the psyches of modern-day adolescents. Romero could have capitalized on this parallel by augmenting Creepshow with rough-and-tumble hard-rock songs; instead, he opted to supplement his production using a more traditional approach. It was a shrewd choice, as Harrison's soundtrack, although a bit dated, perfectly enhances the film's time-honored horror storytelling style while remaining captivating and comparatively contemporary.
"Father's Day" brilliantly balances anxious and arresting moments, with gentle notes that mimic a toy piano filtering through murky, artificially generated noises. Synthetic squeals and terrifying tones also ebb and flow within the work, appending even more unsettling features to the already disquieting melody. "Something to Tide You Over" is equally spooky, with gossamer electronic elements fusing with a powerful keyboard motif, just as "They're Creeping Up on You" is driven by an aggressive piano overlaying hushed hums.
Though not fully fleshed out—the tune is only a "demo" for a possible score—the "Overture" from Mansions of the Moon also shows promise, ingeniously building upon themes from Jacques Offenbach's famed opera, Les contes d'Hoffmann, while the two Shoobie Doobie Moon pieces, albeit stylistically behind the times, are full of fun lyrics. Despite a few relatively minor shortcomings, all of the works on the disc, especially the Creepshow compositions, are gripping, gratifying and appropriately gruesome.
