Scored to Death – The Documentary!

Back in 2016, a book came out called Scored to Death: Conversations with Some of Horror’s Greatest Composers, which I finally got around to reviewing in 2018. And then two years after that, in 2020, author J. Blake Fichera released a second volume, continuing his goal of bringing attention to these talented musicians who help enhance the scares and atmosphere in the movies we love. But now, Fichera is taking this one step further, by making a feature length documentary on these composers.

Scored to Death: The Dark Art of Scary Movie Music will be the first feature-length documentary that “explores the fascinating relationship between music and horror cinema.” Starting today, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign that will run through Halloween, hoping to raise the funds to make this project a reality. Production has already started, so fans of movie music need to make sure that it is able to continue.

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Scored to Death 2!

Regulars to the Krypt know my love of soundtracks, especially in the horror genre. Back in 2016, J. Blake Fichera put out a book of interviews with different composers that had worked in horror genre, entitled Scored to Death. This was an amazing read because we got to hear from the people behind these incredible scores that we’ve enjoyed while watching the films, sometimes not even aware of the effect it was having on us! Composers tend not to get the attention that actors, directors, or even special effects people get, but Fichera wanted to change that and he did.

And now, he continues to do it with Scored to Death 2.

With this new volume, Fichera has interviews with 16 more renowned composers such as Richard Band, Charlie Clouser, Brad Fiedel, John Harrison, Bear McCreary, Robert Colbert, Disasterpeace, and many more, covering movies like Martin, Creepshow, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Terminator, Burnt Offerings, just to name a few.

Published by Silman-James Press, this new 492 page volume will be priced at $24.95, and is set to be released on Dec. 1st, just in time to order your copy to make a great gift for the holiday!

Soundtrack Review: From Beyond

From_BeyondFrom Beyond
Released 2003 by La-La Land Records
13 Tracks, with a total running time of 46:06 min.
Music composed by Richard Band

At my very first horror convention, back in 1988 which took place in California, I had picked up the soundtrack for this on LP and I immediately fell in love with it. Composer Richard Band created a score that has a perfect combination of a science feel but still being able to create some very creepy elements to it. I was very bummed when I got rid of my albums and had to wait more than a few years for this to get an official release on CD, which I picked up right when it came out. Continue reading