October 2, 2015

One of the biggest advantages of the recent horror soundtrack vinyl revival is that long sought after scores are finally becoming available for the first time, much to the satisfaction of many savvy genre fans. A perfect example would be the soundtracks to two of the most notorious movies of all time CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and CANNIBAL FEROX.

Despite the shocking nature of the things depicted in those two pics, they both sport some of the most gorgeous, beautiful music you’re bound to find. Since Eli Roth’s THE GREEN INFERNO is meant to be a loving homage to this somewhat forgotten sub-genre of horror history, we not only wanted to shine the spotlight on “cannibal” films, but their incredible soundtracks. One of my personal favorite rediscoveries was the CANNIBAL FEROX soundtrack, put out by One Way Static Records last year.

Shortly after that title’s release, One Way Static teamed up with Death Waltz Recordings and put out CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, the holy grail of horror movie soundtracks. We reached out to One Way Static’s Sebastiaan Putsey to discuss the “cannibal” sub-genre and get the details on how these two amazing releases became a reality!

Blumhouse.com: First and foremost, do you recall when you first discovered the “cannibal” sub-genre of horror? I have a very strong memory of seeing CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST for the first time and the effect it had on me. What was that experience like for you? Did you have any idea what you were getting into with those films?

Sebastiaan Putseys: I recall watching CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST in my teens, I’d seen a lot of ‘horror’ movies before at this point but this one had quite the impact on me, this was something else I had the same experience with THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. I was pretty much in awe, I could not believe what I just saw and that such a thing existed. Also you have to know that I’m from Belgium there is no censorship here and video stores did not really care about your age, so every VHS we rented or got in our hands was uncut, exposing our young minds to the most horrific scenes know to men! (Laughs) I tracked down a couple of other Cannibal genre movies after that but they weren’t quite the same. Later when I revisited them they all grew on me and you start to love them for what they are, but CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST surely deserves the title of ‘The mother of all cannibal movies!’

BH: When did you first become aware of the soundtracks to both FEROX and HOLOCAUST, because I think they’re so different from anything we normally hear in a traditional “horror” film. I didn’t come to appreciate them until much later, but was the music something that always stuck out with you from the get go upon seeing them? Or did you too develop an appreciation for them later on?

SP: I became aware of the soundtracks (and the impact they made) instantly. I could not believe such beautiful music was paired to such extreme graphic images but it sure worked. The soundtrack is half of the impact of the movie, take those away and you have a completely different experience. Most horror movies I watched up to that point had electronic or library scores. CANNIBAL FEROX and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST have these epic scores but not in a big orchestral way. It made the movies more legit, it made them stand out. Again, the music was half of the experience for me, not just something that went on in the background.

BH: How difficult was it to obtain the rights to put out CANNIBAL FEROX on vinyl? Had the Roberto Donati score or any of the music ever been available in any format before?

SP: Compared to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, this was pretty easy to get released. Roberto is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, so talented, it’s a shame he wasn’t used in more films from that era. Highly diverse and highly underrated composer. We worked with the right-holders and Roberto directly and then got Giovani Lombardo Radice and Robert Kerman (and other members of the cast) on board for some liner notes and that was it. There were some CD’s around and some remixes/compilations but it never came out on vinyl before. I’m still thrilled that we had the chance to do it and it became one of our most respected releases.

BH: I love it! It was my favorite release of that year! Once One Way Static set its sights on releasing “FEROX,” how much work went into designing the cover. Because of the graphic imagery of the movie, was it a given you’d do multiple versions of the album art work?

SP: We did two versions of the cover because we knew our bigger and more traditional retailers would not stock the extreme graphic release, leaving a big part of our audience hanging. We did a version based on the classic poster art and an “uncensored” version that basically has all the gore from the movie collected. This “uncensored” version raised a lot of eyebrows with our printers and general audience. We got a lot of emails telling us people loved it but had to black bag it to hide it from their children. (Laughs) Both versions were done by our in-house designer ‘Silver Ferox’ who does graphic work for all our releases, he knows what we are looking for and has become responsible for the style that our fans have grown to love.

BH: Currently every version of the CANNIBAL FEROX soundtrack is now sold out. I think you can get the CD if you buy the Grindhouse Releasing Blu-Ray here in the States. Are you surprised by the overall enthusiastic response that this particular release has garnered?

SP: Yes, like all our releases these sell out pretty fast. The limited version sold out in a matter of weeks and the regular version in a couple of months. It can still be tracked down for acceptable prices so there’s no need for a repress at this point. Like I said it became one of our most respected and sought after releases, I’m not surprised by the enthusiastic response, the score is great and the packaging kills. If you are into horror movie scores this is a total must have.

BH: Why was the CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST score never previously available, and how did that release become a joint release with Death Waltz?

SP: Spencer Hickman (from Death Waltz Recordings) and I are good friends and started our labels around the same time. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST was on top of both our want-list and thus we started working together on it in 2012 and promised each other that if we ever got the rights we’d release it together. This is Riz Ortolani we are talking about, one of the most respected composers worldwide, you just don’t release this without getting approval from all parties involved. There is the Ortolani family/foundation and rights are scattered between Italy, Europe and North America. It helped a lot that we got Rugerro Deodato’s blessing from the get-go. Three years later we finally made it happen. It took a long time but the result was everything we envisioned from the start. Lots of people tried to get it since the eighties for a vinyl release but we bundled our forces and made it happen, it was a long and difficult path but it paid off in the end.

BH: CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST also has multiple editions, including different covers and different variations on colored vinyl depending on the market it was intended for. Can you talk about what goes into these discussions, how to decide on what artwork to use, which artists you want, etc? Are there ever issues using the original theatrical posters, rights-wise?

SP: Not going for the classic “poster” art was a decision we made early on. It is lovely but has been used to death on various sources since the beginning. There were 3 editions made in the end. Mondo released their North American version using their trade mark style and it came out amazing. Here in Europe we made two versions. For the regular version, we commissioned the legendary UK artist Graham Humphreys who has been doing art for these type of movies since like forever. Graham did the original posters for EVIL DEAD, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, etc. back in the day. An iconic release like this deserved an iconic artist, so working with Graham on this made perfect sense. The deluxe version we did is kind of an “ultimate” edition with two art prints, a poster, gatefold jacket + a booklet with liner notes from all major players involved in the movie. We made sure to press enough copies to make sure everybody had the chance to get an edition of their choosing, we are down to our last ones, but people can still grab it on our website or local record store.

BH: Personally, I love the NYC theme in the CANNIBAL FEROX soundtrack. I’d just love to walk around town with that as my soundtrack theme song.

SP: Yes, exactly! That’s some funky stuff… and in this you see why Roberto Donati is such an excellent composer. He composed tracks that fit the NYC scenes and ten minutes later you hear tracks that work perfectly against the jungle settings.

BH: So great. What are your favorite tracks/cues from both your FEROX and HOLOCAUST releases?

SP: I love the ‘Cannibal Ferox Theme’ it has that epic feel you can also hear in Fulci’s THE BEYOND (composed by Fabio Frizzi) I’m a sucker for these types of arrangements. As for CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, it’s a favorite from beginning to end, not a single lesser track on the whole record. Pure perfection!

BH: Those 2 titles seem to be the big two when it comes to this sub-genre of horror. Are there any other “Cannibal” films you’d personally recommend or that you like? Or soundtracks for similar films?

SP: The Cannibal genre is a jungle (no pun intended), you have to crawl your way through it. From Lenzi to Deodato via D’Amato. There are good ones and there are (a lot of) bad ones…but that doesn’t matter, track ‘em down and see them all! Even the bad ones grow on you. It’s one of the craziest sub-genres but at times one of the most rewarding if you’re looking to experience terror, thrills and utter disgust. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to listen to that suiting music in the background, it might just help you get through it!