John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
Music Composed And Orchestrated By Ennio Morricone
Additional Music By John Carpenter
In Association With Alan Howarth
Re-Recording Produced And Arranged
By Alan Howarth & Larry Hopkins
Buy Soundtrax BSX 8895
Limited Edition of 1500 Copies
16 Tracks - Running Time: 60:41
Released On October 5, 2011
Just in time for this weeks highly anticipated release of the prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing, Buy Soundtrax has released and re-recorded the original memorable score to Carpenter's brilliant horror who's who thriller. The Thing which was a remake of the 1951 film, The Thing From Another World directed by Howard Hawks, was a modern update of the storyline which was critically dismissed much like Blade Runner which also came out that same summer which was way ahead of its time and now like Blade Runner, is a brilliant acheivement both visually and storywise. The film had a ecclectic cast which included Kurt Russell, Wilfred Brimley, Keith David, T.K.Carter, Charles Hallahan, Joel Polis, Thomas G.Waites, David Clennon, Richard Masur, Richard Dysart and Donald Moffatt which takes place in Antartica in an isolated Scientic Research Facility when they receive unexpected visitor in the form of a dog who appears normal at first glance, but then turns out to be an alien lifeform that is able to replicate itself into any form it seems to adapt and hide in. It turns out that the "dog" had just come from a Norwegian camp close by (which that portion of the storyline will be explained in the prequel) after they made two discoveries. Soon, the camp starts to unravel as each person may or may not be who they clam to be as an atmosphere of paranoia and distrust starts to build more and more as the "thing" starts to wreck havoc as it tries to survive, but not without the crew trying a stand to combat their unseen shape shifting advisary.
With a bigger budget and almost free reign to hire any composer he felt comfortable with, Carpenter hired his musical idol, the legendary Ennio Morricone to write the film's score and by many was an inspired choice. However during that time, Morricone usually scored his films without having seen the film itself in rough or final cut. He would work with the script for the most part and score it this way which he had on lot of his films during his distingushed career. Carpenter at one point asked Morricone to listen to his score to Escape From New York and get the tone and style music which he was seeking out. Morricone obliged and returned with a thumping and brooding synthesizer motif that was the central basis of the score established in "Main Theme/Desolation" The rest of the original score by Morricone which was mostly unused in the final cut of the film, was definitely in Morricone's style. Brooding, non-melodic at times and full aggressive string, piano and organ work. Carpenter had to really edit Morricone's score to where he saw fit to use the score and when the film needed extra music, he and Alan Howarth composed about ten extra minutes which practically blended in with Morricone's brooding effort. Buy Soundtrax has brought their brilliant efforts back to life on this special re-recording of the score by Alan Howarth and Larry Hopkins. To my surprise, this is a terrific release and the more you do listen to it, it not only echos Morricone's original vision but also Carpenter's solid contributions as well.
Carpenter's efforts which fans of the movie and the score have wanted for years now are represented on this terrific re-recording of the score with "Main Title", "Burn It", "Fuchs" and "To Mac's Shack" The "Main Title" is terrific Carpenter at his best with simplistic synthesizers that lead into Morricone's "Main Theme" after the terrific opening sequence to start the film. "Burn It" is a pivoital cue where one of the crew is almost assimilated into an imitation and is exposed to everyone else. Brooding synths and a bit of an organ bring an air of disolate and ice cold mood adding a suspenseful atmosphere much in line with Morricone's music. Morricone's original score does get to shine in parts through out the film in the tracks "Despair", "Humanity" played during a pivotal scene in the film with stark ice cold strings, harp and brooding flutes.giving way to synthesizers and organs. "Solitude" is a striking piece as the crew is now in total distrust and Russell is the lone soldier trying to make sense of it all. The music is brooding, atmospheric and filled with a sense unrest as Russell's character is much of the film. The strings have feel of melancholy and bleekness to them while the clanging piano adds jolts to the nerves. The rest of the music on the album is alot of the material from Morricone's score that for the most part was wisely left off the film because I think it would've actually worn down the film and taken away alot of the suspense and mystery if the score had stayed in the film as Morricone recorded it. The material he did write was inventive and different, but it definitely wears you out after a little while.
Give credit to both Alan Howarth and Larry Hopkins for this solid re-recording and arranging the score to rediscovered again. Varese Sarabande reissued the soundtrack on CD in 1991 after MCA Records released it when the film had come out on LP and cassette and the CD with Morricone's original tracks go for a healthy sum of money after going out of print ten years ago. Buy Soundtrax has now released this very comprehensive and affordable release which should please alot of the film's fans and who have wanted the score for a while now. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about this release since I have the Varese CD and listening to this a few times, it really is a dead on match to that album and the best thing is that it features John Carpenter's contribution to the film which is very vital and somewhat missed on CD. Now here it is finally.
John Carpenter's The Thing is one of the genres now classic films and Ennio Morricone and John Carpenter's contribution to the film have withstood the test of time. This is a solid re-recording that Alan Howarth, Larry Hopkins and Buy Soundtrax should be proud of and easily one of their best.
John Carpenter's The Thing is available directly from Buy Soundtrax's site (www.buysoundtrax.com) as well as Screen Archives (www.sae.com) and MovieMusic (www.moviemusic.com)
01. Main Title* 1:45
02. Main Theme - Desolation 4:29
03. Humanity 2 2:42
04. Despair 4:46
05. Humanity 6:51
06. Shape 3:18
07. Burn It* 1:27
08. Solitude 5:32
09. Fuchs* 2:27
10. To Mac's Shack* 2:52
11. Wait 6:21
12. Sterilization 3:42
13. Eternity 5:26
14. Contamination 1:01
15. Bestiality 2:55
16. Main Theme - End Credit 4:34
Total Time: 60:45
Original Score Composed by Ennio Morricone except *Music by John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth
- Danny Gonzalez
Film Music Examiner NEW YORK - NYC
