Kritzerland: BLACK SUNDAY - Les Baxter

[Beaverhausen]

Nachschub von Kritzerland:

Kritzerland is proud to present a new limited edition soundtrack:

WE FEEL A MORAL OBLIGATION TO WARN YOU THAT THE PICTURE YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE WILL SHOCK YOU AS NO OTHER FILM EVER HAS

BLACK SUNDAY

Music Composed and Conducted by Les Baxter

The moral obligation warning came at the head of the American International Pictures US version of 1960s Black Sunday, which was actually released in the US in 1961. And for once that kind of hyperbolic hype was true and you knew it right from the get go first, with a woman being branded with an S (for Satan) in extreme close-up, with the sound of the brand searing her flesh, and second, having a mask of spikes hammered into her face by a huge masked man with a huge mallet. That alone was enough to send impressionable young people running up the aisle, and there was more to come, a lot more a whole plethora of nightmare-inducing images. American International actually trimmed the most violent moments (a spike through someones eye, melting flesh, spurting blood), but what was left was still pretty potent for its time. Add to that, Bavas mist-shrouded exteriors and beautifully shot interiors, and you had atmosphere to spare. But the most brilliant bit of atmosphere a filmmaker could ever have was the ethereal presence of the absolutely stunning Barbara Steele in her dual role of Princess Asa and Katia. Steele would go on to become one of the most iconic faces in 60s horror cinema. And also aiding the atmosphere incredibly well was the wonderful musical score by Les Baxter.

One of the first decisions American International made for the US version of the film, was to replace the original moody score of Roberto Nicolosi with a more conventional horror score, which they assigned to composer Les Baxter. Baxter had just finished scoring Roger Cormans House of Usher, and he was a perfect choice. He delivered a classic score, which was occasionally moody like the original Nicolosi score, but also delivered the kinds of musical horror moments to which American audiences were accustomed. Right from the start, with the warning logo, you get that wonderful Baxter sound shrieking brass that was literally warning you to watch out. Theres a beautiful love theme for Katia, theres ominous, brooding music, theres music for beer drinkers, theres music that brilliantly punctuates a couple of the films scariest sequences, and the score just does what a score for a horror film should underline the horror in the best and most visceral way it can .

Black Sunday was hugely influential on an entire generation of filmmakers, and continues to be to this day. Its combination of brilliant and moody photography, horror, and poetry, has been paid homage by many directors, including Francis Ford Coppola and Tim Burton the latter noted that One of the films that remain with me probably stronger than anything is Black Sunday. You can see that influence throughout most of Burtons film, Sleepy Hollow.

A thirty-four minute suite from Black Sunday was originally released on LP, where it was rather ludicrously mislabeled as Black Sabbath (another great Bava film whose US release also carried a score by Les Baxter). That suite was assembled from a 7½ ips tape of not great quality. The suite received its first CD appearance on Bay Cities and then subsequently on Citadel, both releases from that same tape. Missing from the suite was not only good audio quality but also an awful lot of the films best music. The suite also was assembled in no particular order and didnt really reflect the way the music was used in the film at all, not to mention that it was one long track.

For this release, we found the original mixed two-track session masters in the MGM vaults, which were in excellent condition. The best news was that those tapes contained every note of music Baxter wrote for the film. The only piece that was missing was the little thirty-second solo piano piece played by the character of Katia in the film. The sound on those original tapes is, of course, miles ahead of the previous version it is pristine mono sound and finally allows the score to be heard in the way that it should be. Weve assembled the score in precise film order, which is how it plays best.

So here, at long last, is Les Baxters great score to one of the all-time classic horror films, Mario Bavas Black Sunday. Be afraid, be very afraid.

This release is limited to 1000 copies only. The price of the CD is $19.98, plus shipping. Additionally, we are offering a special deal with the purchase of this release.

CD will ship the third week of May however, preorders placed directly through Kritzerland usually ship one to five weeks earlier (weve been averaging four weeks early).

Warning / Prologue / The Mask

Main Titles

Carriage Ride / Strange Noises

The Chapel and The Legend /

The Bat / Lifting The Mask /

A Drop of Blood

Meeting Katia / Revivifying Blood

The Painting / Vision of the Mask /

Asas Eyes

Drinking at the Inn / Scary Woods

Kruvajan Outside The Inn / Rise Yavuto

Prince Vajda Sees Yavuto / Mysterious Carriage & Ride Through The Woods

Kruvajan / Asa Alive

Kruvajan and Vajda, Kruvajan and Katia / Daybreak

Andre to the Castle / Dead Boris /

Andre and Katia

Thats The Man / Find Her

Bleeding Dogs / Fiery Drapes / In the Garden / Strangled and Secret Passage

The Grave / Stake Through The Eye

Katia Alone and Afraid / Katia Meets Asa Andre and Yavuto / Katia and Asa /

Save Katia

Villagers To The Castle / The Cross /

The Burning / Katia Alive

End Titles

Rare CD release of soundtrack by Les Baxter "Black Sunday"

Bearbeitet 15. April 2011 von Marcus Stöhr

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Was ich schon vor anderthalb Wochen gesagt habe, gilt immer noch.

http://www.soundtrack-board.de/13832-die-label-veroeffentlichungs-und-geruechte-kueche-teil-2-a-58.html#post205138

Toller Film, insbesondere mit der Originalmusik von Roberto Nicolosi, die es auch auf CD gibt.

Maschera Del Demonio, La (Black Sunday) / Ragazza Che Sapeva Troppo, La (The Evil Eye) - Roberto Nicolosi - soundtrack (CD)

Zumindest nett, dass Kimmel die Originalmusik und dessen Komponisten im Promotext erwähnt. Bei den ähnlich gearteten Baxter-Veröffentlichungen von Intrada war das nicht der Fall.

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Business as usual ohne Überraschungen....

Sold out at Kritzerland. If you want it, I wouldn't wait too long with the other dealers.

[Mephisto]

Und was ist das hier?

I Tre Volti Della Paura (1963), Roberto Nicolosi / Les Baxter (Score-CD) im Soundtrack-Club

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Äh, verstehe ich nicht ganz. Die CD ist zu I tre volti della paura (in Amerika als Black Sabbath gelaufen). Noch ein Fall, wo Baxter eine Nicolosi Musik ersetzt hat. Passt aber hier nicht rein. Völlig anderer Film.

[Mephisto]

Ah, okay, ich hab's nämlich auch nicht verstanden und kann kein Italienisch...moment!!! Soll das hei0en, es gibt eine CD mit ZWEI Musiken zu EINEM Film, so wie etwa bei einer abgelehnten Filmmusik?...

[Gast Stefan Jania]

Habe die CD nicht, aber soweit mir bekannt: nein. Die CD ist komplett Nicolosi. Einmal der komplette Score in mono, dann der alte LP-Schnitt in stereo.

[Fred C. Dobbs]

Was mich erstmal interessiert, ist die Gesamtlaufzeitdauer dieser CD.

Kennt einer die zufällig?

Ich jedenfalls fand im Web keine aussagefähige Adresse.

Und vor Kenntnis der Laufzeitdauer möchte ich über einen Kauf nicht nachdenken, egal wie "wertvoll" die Scheibe auch sein mag.