December 31, 2014

Holy smokes, was this an incredible year for horror soundtrack releases on vinyl, both old and new! Last year saw a tremendous rise for collector’s firing up their old turntables and rediscovering some of their favorite horror movie scores. This year, fan favorite labels such as Death Waltz Recording Company, Waxwork Records and One Way Static upped the ante and offered some incredible re-issues (a good chunk of which were being released for the first time on vinyl) as well as a handful of contemporary soundtracks. I pretty much loved and relished in every release from all these companies, but there’s too many to list! So I’m going to pick one stand out release from each company, right after I gush about a few of my fave modern soundtracks below.

STARRY EYES by Jonathan Snipes

There were things I enjoyed about the documentary ROOM 237, but what stood out the most was the incredible original score by Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson. And so I was excited when the first buzz started circulating about STARRY EYES and the fact that Snipes had tackled this feature as well. I got my first sample of the film by hearing a few snippets of Snipes score via the Waxwork Records Soundcloud page and was sold. By the time I got to see the movie, I was already anticipating the themes I was familiar with and thankfully the movie itself lived up to the hype I’d created in my head. (It’s one of my top picks of 2014.) Although it’s not commercially available just yet, Waxwork Records will be releasing the full soundtrack on vinyl in 2015.

THE BATTERY by Ryan Winford 

If you’ve visited Icons Of Fright in the last year or heard me on Killer POV, then you already know how much I love THE BATTERY. I’ve been a huge advocate for the film since I first caught a screening of it at the Cinefamily here in Los Angeles. But what I love the most about it is the music! There’s some truly incredible artists on here I was unfamiliar with beforehand such as Rock Plaza Central, Wise Blood and Sun Hotel. But what I was really longing for was Ryan Winford’s score. Thankfully it’s now available for a mere $5 bucks via Ryan’s own Bandcamp page. And it’s as beautiful as I remembered. Stand out’s include “The Battery” theme (track 2) and “Unraveled,” the dark and somber closing version of the main theme. Overall, it’s just a fantastic instrumental album and gets my strongest recommendation. Especially for all you writers out there that just like to have something soothing on in the background as you work.

THE GUEST (Various Artists)

I’m not sure if there was any other genre movie I had as much fun with in the theater than THE GUEST. And the stand out for this film (besides Dan Stevens star making performance) is the soundtrack! I love the usage of tracks by LOVE & ROCKETS and THE SISTERS OF MERCY, but the real stand out are the tracks by “SURVIVE,” in particular HOURGLASS. That piece of music alone is my favorite thing I’ve heard in a movie all year, and the context in which it plays in the movie is perfect. Without doubt, my favorite soundtrack of the year belongs to THE GUEST. You can find it on Amazon or iTunes!

DEATH WALTZ 2014 PICK: THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL 

Death Waltz absolutely killed it this year with their releases. Stand outs included GODZILLA, LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN and all of their Record Store Day releases such as 1990: BRONX WARRIORS and THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK. But if I had to pick one release of theirs as my favorite of the year, then it’s got to be THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL by Jeff Grace, originally intended to be their first ever release when the company launched! It was worth the wait. Grace has done a lot of terrific scores for the Glass Eye Pix gang, but his stuff with Ti West in particular is a stand out. The instruments are slightly out of tune for HotD, which only add to the uneasy vibe of the film and if you were lucky enough to snag the special limited edition version with the liner notes from West, actor AJ Bowen and Grace himself, you can attest that the packaging is just gorgeous. Here’s hoping Jeff Grace’s score for THE INNKEEPERS isn’t far behind!

WAXWORK RECORDS 2014 PICK: TRICK ‘R TREAT

Waxwork Records was another company that continued to grow and impress, despite minor snags on their website when it came to pre-orders on some of their releases. The demand was high for such things as FRIDAY THE 13TH, CREEPSHOW and CHOPPING MALL, but once you got the record in your hands, it was all worth the hassle. But the stand out? Hands down: TRICK ‘R TREAT by Douglas Pipes. I’ve already loved and celebrated Pipes score for years now, but it’s a real treat (pun intended) to have it in this impressive package. The added bonus that makes this my fave Waxwork release? The inclusion of the spooky sound FX on Side 4, a tradition carried over from old Halloween themed records at director Michael Dougherty’s request. Next year begins the collector’s club for Waxwork Records and upcoming releases include NIGHTBREED, PHASE IV and CHUD!

ONE WAY STATIC RECORDS 2014 PICK: CANNIBAL FEROX

I love that One Way Static continues to release more oft-kilter types of soundtracks. Everything from THE HILLS HAVE EYES to WOLFCOP. But hands down, their best release this year was for a movie I’ve only seen once and had forgotten just how great it’s soundtrack was. I’m talking about CANNIBAL FEROX. I love all of Roberto Donati’s themes for this soundtrack, but I could seriously groove to the “NYC Main Title” theme every morning to kick my day off right. Hear a sample for yourself at the One Way Static Records Soundcloud page! They’re teaming up with Death Waltz to bring us CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST in the New Year. Also on queue? Philips Glass’ classic CANDYMAN score lands in January!

NOTABLE MENTION: SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT 

Unfortunately, a lot of us got this limited edition release (along with the CHRISTMAS EVIL 10 inch) a few days after Christmas here, but it doesn’t even matter! It was worth the wait. A lot of the interior package include a montage of all the newspaper articles chronicling the controversy surrounding SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT’s original theatrical release. This soundtrack has never been properly released, so we finally get Perry Botkin’s ominous score. But the stand out? Holy smokes… the 2nd LP is all unreleased Christmas themed songs written by Morgan Ames and it’s worth it alone to finally have these songs. Association or not to a notorious horror movie, these songs will be in my December rotation for life now!

Also worth noting, keep your eyes peeled on the Lunaris Records website. These guys put out the WITCHBOARD 7 inch and STREET TRASH soundtrack this year and they’re got NIGHT OF THE DEMONS on queue for 2015!

What were some of your favorite soundtrack releases this year? And what are you most looking forward to in 2015? Sign off in the comments below!