Friday, September 08, 2006

The Power of Chris Compels You

One of the best and busiest current American score composers, Christopher Young has churned out an amazing body of work for films such as Hellraiser, The Grudge, Species, and Flowers in the Attic. However, he got his start with two low-budget genre films for Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow, 1982's The Dorm that Dripped Blood (a.k.a. Pranks) and 1984's The Power; while the former has subsequently appeared on CD, The Power has remained out of reach for most listeners. It's very strong for a second score, from the melodic opening water music theme to the driving suspense cues at the end. Note that Track 16 also offers an early example of Young's fondness for goofy puns in his track titles. The film itself, basically a more violent remake of that Brady Bunch Hawaiian episode, follows the mayhem caused by an evil Aztec doll that controls its owners. Tough to find on video now, it's an interesting artifact from the days of homegrown theatrical horror films.

The Power
1. Theme From The Power
2. Main Title
3. Desert Twilight
4. Transformation
5. A Secret Revealed
6. Quest For The Idol
7. Innocent Obsession
8. Evil Passage
9. The Possessed
10. Destacatyl
11. Desperate Search
12. Julie's Magic
13. Night Magic
14. Midnight Excursion
15. Tombstones And Talismans
16. Jerry's Gold Myth
17. The Power

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you so very much for posting this. I remember catching this back in the late 1980's - the flick was a mixed bag to these eyes but I was stunned by the high quality of its musical score. The main theme and the opening titles music remind me of vintage Goldsmith. It was clearly a sign of great things to come for Chris Young and I'm thrilled to have a copy of it now.

8:53 PM  
Blogger Jessica R. said...

If you have the Flowers in the Attic soundtrack or even a few tracks from it please post it. I have a soft spot for that silly film and its music box score which was one of the first films I saw that the music stayed with me much longer than the story.

9:26 PM  
Blogger pooter said...

Another excellent choice yet again. Parts of it sound like a very famous Classical piece whose name escapes me at the moment. I love these obscure 70s and 80s horror/ sci-fi/disaster scores. Keep 'em coming!

9:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

great site you have !! impressive! sorry to hear somebody is messing with your files!! ive been tryin to find that out of print ,hard to find sound track from Wes Cravin film "" SWAMP THING"" ..ive looked high and low ,its a tuffy to find , u got it by chance?

10:06 AM  

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