: (Craig Safan/James Horner) One of three
major cinematic depictions of werewolves in Hollywood during 1981 was
, a film with an aim that did not equate with either studio
or audience expectations and therefore suffered an undeservedly quick
death. While advertised as a standard werewolf film, a topic that was
obviously extremely popular at the time,
was actually a
spin-off of that subgenre, exploring the mystical relationship between
wolves and Native Americans in contemporary New York City. When the
wolves' habitat in an abandoned section of the city is threatened by new
development, they channel the thoughts of the Native Americans in their
pursuit and killing of those who are responsible for this threat, namely
politicians and other powerful scum. A detective played by Albert Finney
is charged with solving the mystery, and while he slowly reveals the
unlikely truth, director Michael Wadleigh provides audiences with
thrilling shots of New York life through the eyes of the wolves, the
images made psychedelic and shimmering by effects company Praxis to
represent their sense of smell. This "Alienvision" technique, of which
20 minutes made the final cut, garnered the movie considerable praise
within the industry's tech-whiz community but didn't receive the respect
it truly deserved from others. Unfortunately, the radically altered
adaptation of the story from the Whitley Strieber novel was considered
too cerebral and was thus cut and rearranged by various editors several
times in post-production; no less than four editors were eventually
involved, leading to problematic, abrupt cuts and scene shifts that were
unnatural. In this process of hacking the film to pieces, and after
Wadleigh was fired, composer Craig Safan's original score for
Safan was a television music veteran just breaking into
big screen assignments at the time, an effort in which he experienced
limited success later in the decade. His excitement about landing the
job for
yielded an intelligent, non-traditional approach
to the concept (inspired by Krzysztof Penderecki's opera, "The Devils of
Loudun," and John Corigliano's
) that was met with
praise from Wadleigh. Rather than utilize melodic or linear methodology
to represent the mystical and action portions of the plot, he narrowed
in on the ambient horror of the premise. While Safan wrote for a large
orchestra in
, he used perpetually experimental performance
methods to create a horrifically dissonant result. Members of the same
section of each group were instructed to play on different notes at the
same time, the brass and woodwinds slurring their pitches purposefully
and two pianos tuned apart, all in an effort to produce unsettling
effects. To hear this mastery of orchestral elements is interesting,
especially given that synthesizers have become the de facto tool to
general such noise in the decades after this score. While some motifs do
recur, none is particularly attractive, instead dominated by chaotic
atmospheres from start to finish. Even his theme of romance in "The
Dream and Love Scene" is whiny and highly disturbed. As such, Safan's
work for
, though admirably intriguing, is largely
unlistenable on album. It likely did not impress the studio looking to
streamline the appeal of the film in post-production, either, and
budding composing star James Horner was hired to produce a replacement
score. It was the first of several replacement assignments that would
yield some of Horner's most interesting work of the early to mid-1980's.
Graduating from the fun but pointless schlock of Roger Corman's New
World Pictures at this time, Horner was beginning to take a variety of
assignments for major studios and lesser known filmmakers of future
stardom.
Horner only had less than two weeks to write 40 minutes of
replacement music for
Wolfen, and he cut the deadline so closely
that the team of editors was forced to use some of the composer's
just-previously recorded score for
The Hand in several
placements, despite the fact that the Horner would eventually fulfill
his obligations to write his full, balanced effort for
Wolfen.
Regardless of the outcome, this toil played a major role in leading to
his hiring on
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the pivotal
turning point in his career. The majority of Horner's version of
Wolfen is tense and suspenseful, not as terribly dissonant as
Safan's work but still effective at creating a mysterious atmosphere. A
well-rounded orchestra is accompanied by an exotic percussion section
(and even a blaster beam) that was synchronized with the sound effects
track in the film's final mix. Horner's title theme is a clear (and
potentially obnoxious) precursor of the motif for the titular villain in
The Wrath of Khan the following year, the opening notes identical
but explored to a conclusion that suggests early incarnations of the
theme from
Aliens. This primary identity is introduced in the
"Main Title" on lonely trumpet and woodwinds, and like several other
Horner scores of the era, it represents some influence from Jerry
Goldsmith's
Alien. Often performed by harsh brass in its fuller
forms, this theme is translated to sensitive flute in "The Indian Bar,"
in which case a spin-off melody begins to provide a sense of decency in
the otherwise ominous narrative as there is some redemptive element
introduced for the wolves. The most notable performances of the idea
come in the slapping rhythmic cues "Van Der Veer's Demise" and "Wall
Street and the Wolves," both of which very similar to Khan's material in
brutal tone and instrumentation (and understandably popular with fans of
the forthcoming
Brainstorm). A melodramatic, more harmonious
version of the theme from "The Indian Bar" heard at the end of "The
Final Confrontation" is a highlight.
Like the film, Horner's score is generally more
interesting than it is enjoyable, a representation of fledgling ideas
yet to mature in other works (led by the sharp, singular, six-note motif
that would resurface in
Vibes). The combined "Epilogue and End
Credits" contains the score's most accessibly tonal passages and, along
with the sampling of the rhythmic Khan-like action, could yield about
ten minutes of entertaining material in sum. Most of the score was
summarized on a longstanding "Pony Tail" bootleg album also containing
another Horner horror venture from 1981,
Deadly Blessing. The
first official release of
Wolfen on album came in 2011, when
Intrada Records presented Horner's full replacement score without
attempting to add the portions from
The Hand heard in the film or
emulate the often senseless edits to this score in context. Sound
quality on this product is as good as could be expected, the percussion
not a satisfying as it could have been with modern recording
capabilities. The presentation does include a notable alternate version
of "Rebecca's Apartment" with a strikingly metropolitan trumpet
performance that was ultimately removed for the final film version of
the cue. While this album of
Wolfen is great to see, it will
appeal to only hardcore Horner collectors. For those seeking information
about the aforementioned, widespread bootleg, brief information about
Deadly Blessing follows. This movie was a lesser project but 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 both
Hittites and non-believers who both come under attack from a deadly
force (or single maniac) that torments them supernaturally and murders
indiscriminately. 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 ridiculous horror
flick that falsely pits the pious against the sinners and throws the
great acting of Ernest Borgnine against the incompetent acting of Sharon
Stone.
Horner's score for
Deadly Blessing is an awkward
blend of his most hearty Americana tones of the early 1980's and blatant
rip-offs of Jerry Goldsmith's
The Omen, resulting in a score that
requires a significant amount of track rearrangement to enjoy. The
pastoral theme for strings, woodwinds, and harp heard in the early cues
is simply beautiful, evolving into a similar love theme and a variation
in "Vicky & John" that is a blatant rehearsal of material from
The
Spitfire Grill and
Deep Impact. The suspense of the score
comes in the form of deep, menacing choral tones (almost like throat
singing) that incorporates religious power in its solemn chime-banging
that could have informed
The Name of the Rose had the latter film
had a more ambitious budget. Extremely high range plucking on violins is
a disturbing effect. The most memorable parts of
Deadly Blessing,
however, are the direct references to Goldsmith's
The Omen. When
Goldsmith later made a wisecrack about Horner "helping himself to the
work of others," it's hard not think about
Deadly Blessing, for
its several Latin chants (heard most impressively in the latter half of
"Unwelcome Visitor/Fiery") 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. On the bootleg, that material amounts to about six minutes in
length, ultimately pushing the mass of interest back to the previous
Wolfen portion of the product. Once again, Horner collectors will
be intrigued, but don't expect too much from it. Wrapping up the album
situation for
Wolfen in 2012 was Intrada, which once again
revisited the film but this time give Safan's rejected work its own
treatment. The hour of this material is extremely arduous to tolerate,
and its appeal will be very limited, but for film music intellectuals,
Safan's work illuminates an intelligent and risky approach to a concept
that, at the very least, shakes industry norms. Much of this material
had, like Horner's score, floated about the market in bootleg form for
years, but Intrada brings total closure to this rather unappreciated
film with its comprehensive pair of limited albums.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written by Craig Safan for Wolfen: **
- Music as Written by James Horner for Wolfen: ***
- Music as Written by James Horner for Deadly Blessing: **
- Music as Heard on the 1997 Horner Bootleg: ***
- Music as Heard on the 2011 Intrada/Horner Album: ***
- Music as Heard on the 2012 Intrada/Safan Album: **
| 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.
|
