The Thing From Another World/Take The High Ground
(Limited Edition CD
soundtrack)
Sound: C+ (Thing)/B-
Music: A-/B-
“And now, before giving you the details of the battle, I
bring you a warning: Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world.
Tell this to everybody wherever they are: Watch the skies everywhere! Keep
looking! Keep watching the skies!”
When I first received this soundtrack, I must admit I was
a bit taken back. Here was the
soundtrack to The Thing, and not the John Carpenter remake, but the
original. I did not even know this
“thing” existed on CD, let alone as a nice soundtrack double feature along with
the score to the war film Take The High Ground! As part of the Golden Age Classics
Collection from Film Score Monthly’s FSM soundtrack series, this nice CD is a
perfect companion for fans like myself of black and white B-Movie horror scores
and of the films themselves.
The original Thing From Another World, which came
out in 1951, has never seen a soundtrack version. At the same time Warner Home Video is issuing a double DVD set of
the film, this CD is a rousing nugget of nostalgia from one of the most
inspirational horror/science fiction films ever made. The soundtrack is the ultimate in B-Moviedom with loud trumpets
and a swirling orchestra. The cues are
nice and the melodies are eerie and fun with everything from wild out action
‘The Alien Is Attacking’ music to ‘The UFO Has Just Landed’ music when
it was not a cliché yet. Some notable
tracks from this release are the “Electrocution Sequence” and “The
Thing at the Door.” The original
monophonic acetate disc was obtained from the estate of composer Dimitri
Tiomkin and though much work was done to fix it, it shows its age. The soundtrack for The Thing From Another
World score runs approximately 26:50 and is worth every glorious second.
Take The High Ground! is the other score
available on this disc with far more music than The Thing, running in
around 51 minutes. The score is another
fun work by Tiomkin and captures the essence of that era of War genre
filmmaking as much The Thing does in its realm, if not as memorable,
influential or innovative. Some of the
more notable tracks off of this score include “Julie’s Theme” and “Neon
Lighted Love,” but there is just something not as compelling about it. Maybe we can find out why if Warner ever
issues it on DVD. The total track
listing for this release is thirty-six songs totaling out at seventy-eight
minutes.
Ironically, PCM 2.0 sound quality is the flip of the music
quality, with The Thing coming from those old acetate tracks and feeling
like one was listening to an old radio drama, while High Ground was in
the studio vaults and is more in line with monophonic sound music for film from
the era and this series. Once again, FSM
has included an exceptional booklet to enhance the release, but a particularly
collectible one considering it took over half a decade for The Thing to
get a full soundtrack release.
With that in mind, it is additionally shocking that only
3,000 copies have been pressed of this classic score, which is expected to be a
sell-out. Be sure to go to www.filmscoremonthly.com for
downloadable music clips and more details on the release and how to order,
because once they are gone, it will be out of print for good.
- Jamie Lockhart.
