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Examples of great Italian soundtracks that aren't by Goblin

caseyscott | 05/06/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When Italian horror films come to mind, the music of Goblin certainly accompanies them. But what other composers or musicians have provided good soundtracks to Italian horror films? There are lots of great examples here. While the previous collection "Horror Films Collection" centered primarily on the 1960's and early 1970's, this volume centers around the mid to late 1970's through the early 1990's. Synthesizers and rock runs rampant after the influence of Goblin's "Deep Red" score. The first several films are hold-outs from the first volume, representing the early 1970's. The best of these are "An Open Tomb...An Empty Coffin" (master composer Piero Piccioni), "The Vienna Strangler" (Alessandro Alessandroni), and "In Search of Pleasure" (Teo Usuelli). "An Open Tomb" is strangely reminiscent of the music from Mario Bava's "Lisa and the Devil" and "The Vienna Strangler" is like "Baron Blood", another Bava film's score. Of the later period, "Zombi 2" (Fabio Frizzi), "New York Ripper" (Francesco De Masi), "Conquest" (Goblin member Claudio Simonetti), and "You'll Die at Midnight" (also Simonetti) are the highlights. The famous Zombie March from Lucio Fulci's "Zombi 2" isn't here, but there's a great tropical style synthesizer score. "New York Ripper" is my favorite Fulcio film and I love all the music from the film, so I am a bit biased when I say that I wish there weren't just two tracks here. I love the rock beats of the score, the rampant horns, the great guitar riffs, and the synthesizer use. The title track from Fulci's "Conquest" is very monotonous, but "Night Creatures" from the same soundtrack is great! "Nichola's Death" from Lamberto Bava's "You'll Die at Midnight" is fast-paced and suspenseful! Fulci's "Door to Silence" score by Franco Piana is a pretty good jazz score as well. (I think it's rather interesting that Fulci films are most of the best scores on here.) So do check this out if you're interested in other non-Goblin scores of Italian horror films. It is well worth it!"