The Brood (1979)



While not technically Shore’s first film score*, The Brood is the most well known of first two projects and also has the distinction of being the beginning of a beautiful composer/director friendship with fellow Canuc David Cronenberg. For those not up on their cult horror pictures, Brood follows a father (Art Hindle) as he attempts to uncover what exactly is going on with his wife (Samantha Eggers) and the experimental psychiatric doctor (Oliver Reed) she is in the care of. As with all of Cronenberg’s work there’s multilayers to this bizarre tale but probably most people remember it for either the strange kid-monsters or that disturbingly iconic shot of Eggers “giving birth”. If you’re into horror or monster flicks, The Brood is worth a watch though it resides in the lower middle tier of Cronenberg’s work… at least for me.



But what about the score??



Well, Shore’s score is effective within the picture but doesn’t translate as well to a standalone experience (this will be a recurring theme, mind you). The whole work is a strings-only affair which immediately brings to mind Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho which is reinforced by a slashing string motif for the killings throughout the picture. That said, most of the conservatively spotted music is 100% Howard Shore as we know him now including several instances that foreshadow some of the mysterious passages in The Fly (1986). Given this was only Shore’s second feature production, it’s interesting hearing his style for these types of films already so fully formed. Oh, and the central theme here was most likely used as temp-tracking for Roger Corman’s Humanoids from the Deep (1981) as Horner’s music from that film is eerily close to Shore’s material… though I have no official word on if this was the case or not.



The only currently available, official release of The Brood that I could find is a 2015 LP release from Howe Records (Shore’s personal label) that also contains Scanners (1981) with a slightly over 12 minute suite from the score titled “The Shape of Rage: A Suite for 12 Strings” that I’m pretty certain is taken from the 1979 recordings (the sound quality is appropriately archaic like in the film). It’s a good overview of Shore’s efforts, and might actually be the entire score honestly, though I wouldn’t recommend investing in a record player and picking up the vinyl just for this (and especially not for Scanners….). That said, if it ever becomes available digitally then check it out (or find the fan upload on YouTube) as The Brood is a slight, though interesting sophomore beginning to Shore’s illustrious career… and a highly fruitful composer/director friendship.



SCORE:

2/5

*technically the Canadian drama-thriller I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978) is Shore's first film work, but I couldn't find any uploads of the score on YouTube. Might do an addendum at the end of this series if I can watch the flick.



--------

Scanners (1981)



Aka “the one where the dudes head explodes thanks to Michael Ironside”.



David Cronenberg’s seventh film, Scanners is a Sci-Fi thriller with some iconic “body horror” moments thanks to the plot involving psychics (Scanners) fighting each other with some being rogue freedom fighters and others working for a shady government organization (basically “The Company” archetype). The film boasts some well known actors including Jennifer O’Neil and Patrick “I am not a number! I am a free man!!” McGoohan and was a modest hit in ’81 ending up spawning a franchise independently of the involvement of either Cronenberg or Shore. Can’t really give a personal review of the film itself as it’s been years since I watched it (like… early 2010’s). My memory is that it was fine but clearly on a budget that didn’t allow Cronenberg to really stretch his ideas out like the script really wanted to. It’s in the Criterion collection and is one of those “to get” titles that I’ve yet to actually pick-up during a sale. One day….



As for Shore’s second collaboration with Mr. Berg… yikes. 



So the positives out first: the main theme is a direct lift of Dies Ire, the lumbering dirge version that Wendy Carlos used for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980), not the Verdi or Mozart variation. As one can imagine it’s a creepy yet mournful primary theme that nicely captures the underlying tone of the film (from what I remember) though only appears a handful of times and in largely copy-and-paste fashion. Also we get our first hybrid score by Shore mixing orchestra and a bevy of synths.



Now for the negatives: we get our first hybrid score by Shore mixing orchestra and a bevy of synths. The electronic presence in Scanners is omnipresent and also highly dated with what sounds like less than high quality machines. This actually ruins some cues including the closing showdown where the main theme is repeated over an incessant bed of synth effects that build to an obnoxious level (there’s a psychic battle going on). Overall this is not the best example of what Shore can do with electronics… unless sonic torture is what you’re after. Oh, and there’s a bizarre carnival music piece that appears in the opening cue but then is never returned to.



Between the dated and obnoxious synth work and a repetitive primary theme, Scanners is the first full misstep in this Shore Journey series. My vague memory of the music within the film was that I barely noticed it, which for a film score nerd is probably not the best endorsement. As mentioned in The Brood review, the only official release of Scanners is on an LP with the aforementioned score on the B-side though neither effort is worth becoming a vinyl collector over. EDIT: Apparently the contents of the 2015 LP is taken from a 1992 Silva Screen compilation that also includes Dead Ringers (1988). The Silva album is not available digitally, unfortunately.



In closing, the “Main Title” cue is really the only part of Scanners one needs to check out (odd carnival rhythms and all) as the rest falls squarely into either obnoxious experimentation or material Shore would explore in better form later. And you can trust me on this, I’m a horror score fan.



SCORE:

1 1/2 out of 5



——————



Videodrome (1983)



Oh look, another Cronenberg/Shore collab.



Trying to describe Videodrome ultimately sounds like your going nutty in the process, which to be fair, is kinda the point. So to sum up: this is a film where James Woods is a sleazy (heh, imagine that?) CEO of an underground television station who stumbles upon an extreme channel known as “videodrome” which prompts him to investigate its source leading to mind-bending nightmares of the flesh and sordid conspiracy theories. Despite having the backing of a major Hollywood studio, Universal Pictures, Videodrome was a commercial flop upon release though it received critical praise eventually becoming a cult hit and labeled with the dreaded “it was ahead of its time” moniker. As for my own take on the film, it’s a wild and goopy trip (the latter thanks to some gnarly Rick Baker effects) that doesn’t entirely hang together but is also permeated by a twisted and seductive allure. It’s classic Cronenberg with a budget… for better or worse.



Fortunately the score by Shore is a major improvement over his prior work with Cronenberg, especially in the realm of blending acoustic and electronic instruments. Like with Scanners, Shore centers the score around a variation on Dies Ire, though this time tweaked enough to pass as an original theme. In a move that will either be well received or not, Shore takes the “theme and variation” approach with Videodrome having every cue feature some permutation of the main theme. Likewise the majority of the soundscape this time seems to be electronic with some choice use of strings though thankfully Shore has upgraded the former since Scanners… including a synclavier! There’s also breathing effects (both normal and “aroused”) that appear periodically throughout the work typically relating to the more trippy sequences of the film… which also happen to be the more psycho-sexual scenes (hey, this is a Cronenberg film after all).



An interesting element when discussing Videodrome as a standalone experience is the two different album presentation available (or at least used to be available). A soundtrack album was created back in 1983 and released on vinyl, CD and eventually digital that combined Shore’s material along with some audio from the film into seven “album tracks” totaling roughly 33 minutes. This presentation was ultimately superseded in 2022 with La-La Lands “the complete restored score” album that presented the music in film order and added in two source cues (“Cable 83”, “Samurai Dreams No. 13”) for a total of around 38 minutes. Given the prevalent availability of the LLL release and its “in-film” presentation, I’d recommended going with that album though the ’83 album is definitely more of a “trip” and features material not in the film.



It feels kinda strange to say that the third entry in this series that is essentially one theme in multiple variations is the first truly “good” score, but here we are. Videodrome perfectly captures the heavy, inescapable dread of Cronenberg’s film while giving us a darkly melodic central theme to latch onto. The use of synths is well handled and makes intellectual sense given the cold, detached technological and voyeuristic nature of the story. While those with an aversion to synth-only works or “theme and variation” scores should approach with heightened caution, for everyone else I’d recommend Videodrome as a very solid entry in the Cronenberg/Shore relationship… arguably their first real success.



SCORE:

3 1/2 out of 5