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| Horner |
Deadly Blessing: (James Horner) A lesser horror
project in which female flesh was a priority for display, 1981's
Deadly Blessing remains one of interest to fans of director Wes
Craven's early works, his first attempt to break into studio ranks.
Often considered extremely promising but underperforming in its
haphazard red herrings and indecisive dual endings, the plot involves a
rural American farming community of devout Hittite zealots and
non-believers who both come under attack from a deadly force (or maybe a
single maniac?) that torments them supernaturally and murders
indiscriminately. It's a way that contemporary babes in outfits not
approved by God could be slaughtered in a slasher environment set
amongst 1800's settings and values, not the kind of publicity that the
Amish or anyone else of that inclination wants to ponder. Even Craven
dismissed the movie's script as ridiculous and long ridiculed his own
product, though he strongly believed that he did the best he could with
the material. The main problem with
Deadly Blessing is evidenced
in the differences between the final two minutes of the international
and domestic versions of the film. (In the former, a normal killer is
the culprit and, in the latter, a demon bursts through the floor to drag
a woman to hell... no kidding!) It's a silly, old-school religious
horror flick that falsely pits the pious against the sinners and throws
the great acting of Ernest Borgnine against the incompetent posturing of
Sharon Stone. Composer James Horner was recommended to Craven after his
success with a pair of low-budget science-fiction scores and competent
horror entries in the prior year. He was still using projects like
Deadly Blessing to boost his nascent career, and working with
Craven was an important step in that journey. His approach for
Deadly
Blessing is an awkward blend of his most hearty Americana tones of
the early 1980's, a slew of mostly string-based horror techniques, and
blatant rip-offs of Jerry Goldsmith's
The Omen, resulting in a
score that requires a significant amount of track rearrangement to enjoy
out of context. Aside from a mixed adult choir, his ensemble consisted
of a large string section augmented by woodwinds, chimes, harp, piano,
and percussion. The heavy lifting is handled by the strings while the
woodwinds convey the themes, chimes are applied as tolling bells and
sound effects, and timpani pound away during killings.
The Satanic element and associated suspense in
Deadly Blessing comes in the form of deep, menacing choral tones
(almost like throat singing at times) that incorporates religious power
in solemn chime-banging that could have informed
The Name of the
Rose if the latter film had enjoyed a more ambitious budget. This
material opens and closes the score and largely defines its ambient
character. On the other side, the protagonists' pastoral theme for
strings and woodwinds heard in the early cues is simply beautiful,
evolving from "Main Title," "Martha and Jim," and the end of "Gluntz's
Demise" into a similar love theme as a variation in "This Century is
More Peaceful" that is a blatant rehearsal of material destined for
The Spitfire Grill and
Deep Impact. This idea never
reestablishes itself at the end of the picture because, well, everything
goes to hell without resolution. The mass of suspense and horror moments
is tackled with extremely high range plucking and tearing on violins
with disturbing effect, standard thumping stingers also applied
liberally. Ultimately, though, the most memorable parts of
Deadly
Blessing are the direct references to Goldsmith's
The Omen.
When Goldsmith later made a much-publicized wisecrack about Horner
"helping himself to the work of others," it's hard not think about
Deadly Blessing, for its several cues of Latin chants (heard most
impressively in "Trouble in the Convertible") use unconventional choral
techniques, including the battling of vocal genders and crying,
shrieking, and wailing females, that owe everything to
The Omen.
Horner's predictable handling of these sections makes
Deadly
Blessing an eye-rolling event, sending most listeners back to the
lighter pastoral theme. Not many other highlights adorn this work,
though Horner collectors will appreciate the more urgently tonal opening
to "Faith Leaps Out" as a fascinating moment of foreshadowing for later
works. Included with
Wolfen on a longstanding 1997 "Pony Tail"
bootleg,
Deadly Blessing was finally released officially on an
Intrada Records product in 2023. Due to the poor quality of the
surviving tapes, expect significant variation in the sound from track to
track. Some cues are substantially muted, but at least Intrada's source
was complete. Luckily, the pastoral highlights sound fairly crisp.
(Don't miss John Beal's ambitiously outrageous trailer music for the
film at the end.) Hardcore Horner collectors will be intrigued, but
don't expect more than academic appreciation from this blatant nod to
Goldsmith.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.15
(in 108 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 203,346 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts of the 1997 bootleg and its derivatives include no extra
information about the score or film. That of the 2023 Intrada album contains
notes about both.
