Italian Horror Soundtracks

A few words about the new film: I’m long overdue in confirming the wonderful news that James Cargill is on soundtrack duties and has already been sending in some beautiful tracks. We’re in very safe hands.

More news about the film in general to follow at some point, but for now, I'm distracting myself with a rather rushed list of Italian horror soundtracks worthy of repeated listening.

Bruno Nicolai - Cry of a Prostitute, (La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte) – directed by Emilio Miraglia, 1972

Nicolai should also take credit for conducting Morricone's masterpieces such as 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage', but when he strikes out on his own, he can give the Maestro a serious run for his money. There is no shortage of wonders when it comes to Nicolai. I could have gone for the rasping synths and demented brass of Sergio Martino’s 'Case of the Scorpion's Tail', but 'Cry of a Prostitute' remains my favourite for its lush orchestration and dizzying harpsichord coda. You could wow someone on a first date with this soundtrack as long as you don’t mention the film it goes with.

Claudio Gizzi - Flesh for Frankenstein – directed by Paul Morrissey, 1973

Technically, this is the New York underground on honeymoon in Italy, but Gizzi's score firmly places this in Euro-romantic territory with a yearning score that elevates the film way above the knowing sleaze it revels in. I was a huge fan of the Morrissey New York films and was lucky enough to work with Holly Woodlawn several years ago, so this film has a special place in my heart; a delirious Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro trying again not to be fazed by all the ladies in a spin around him, and Gizzi’s score that could almost be a sordid cousin to Mahler’s 5th.

Ennio Morricone - Who Saw her Die? (Chi l'ha vista morire?) – directed by Aldo Lado, 1972

How does one choose a favourite Morricone soundtrack? Even when it comes to his horror soundtracks, there is a ridiculous amount of treats to wade through that incorporate all manner of musical styles within one genre – free jazz, pop, drone, musique concrete and often all these elements mixed together. The three classic soundtracks for Dario Argento come to mind as does the creepy music box treatments for Luigi Bazzoni's 'The Fifth Chord', the aching sadness of Massimo Dallamano's 'Whatever Happened to Solange?', the incredibly heightened breathing on Aldo Lado's 'Short Night of the Glass Dolls', and the demonic jazz opening to Lucio Fulci’s ‘Lizard in a Woman’s Skin’. The man is a formidable genius who has blown many a mind with such a staggering scope of music, and it would be obscene to be humble if possessed with such magical talent. Morricone’s collaborators also deserve mention; his stalwart singer Edda Dell'Orso has the voice of the spheres and her wordless, languorous lullabies single-handedly define a whole era of Italian soundtrack music. Morricone’s band, Gruppo Di Improvisazione Nuova Consonanza also made their foray into the dark night of Italian horror with their soundtrack to Enzo G. Castellari’s 'Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura'. The acronym-resistant Gruppo Di Improvisazione Nuova Consonanza could be seen as the Italian equivalent of the UK acronym-friendly outfit, AMM, but to my knowledge, Messrs. Cardew, Prevost, Rowe and Tilbury never got to make that Hammer Horror soundtrack.

The immediate Morricone signposts are absent from the ‘Who Saw her Die?’ soundtrack and we’re left with fairly sparse choral arrangements that are often strangely uplifting, and if you had no idea that this is a horror soundtrack, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine a twee film with Bavarian school kids singing on their way to the local candy store after church. I’m still yet to see ‘Who Saw Her Die?’ and almost feel that it might corrupt the euphoria that the soundtrack effortlessly conjures. This is Morricone at his purest and most melodic, but the tension builds towards the end when he starts applying a delay effect to a choral loop and pins it against a sturdy rhythm that wouldn’t be out of place on a Broadcast or Cat’s Eyes album.

Fabio Frizzi - The Beyond – directed by Lucio Fulci, 1981

Frizzi collaborated several times with the unrepentantly sleazy Lucio Fulci, a director who was often in danger of becoming the Benny Hill of horror. But here, both soundtrack and excessive visuals take off on a demented apotheosis of incongruous funk, creepy piano and choral overdrive. The highlight is the spectacle of a man’s face getting torn apart by marauding tarantulas set to music more akin to ‘80s corporate instructional videos.

Nicola Piovani - Footprints on the Moon, (Le Orme) – directed by Luigi Bazzoni, 1975

This would have to be one of my favourite Italian horror soundtracks, if it can be rightly termed horror or giallo. Piovani's central flute and string chord progression lulls one into the loneliest of reveries. Brooding and full of yearning for something that maybe never was, this is a tender and beautifully understated soundtrack.

Goblin – Suspiria – directed by Dario Argento, 1977

I have a deep fondness for Goblin even when they’re at their worst. On ‘Suspiria’, Claudio Simonetti and his prog-goth band reach the summit with a relentless, bombastic soundtrack that bombards the cranium, especially at full volume. The soundtrack works equally well whether with the film or on its own. Eerie and devastating in equal measure.

It’s great to see a new generation of bands paying tribute to Goblin, but nothing matches the power and audacity of their early soundtracks. Whether it’s conscious or not, Simonetti strikes me as someone brave enough to occasionally venture beyond the pale of good taste, which is something to be commended. Fantastic.

Stelvio Cipriani - Baron Blood, (Gli Orrori del Castello di Norimberga) – directed by Mario Bava, 1972

I imagine that Cipriani would be another composer to keep Morricone on his toes. Some of the most breathtaking soundtracks from ‘70s Italian cinema have been composed by Cipriani. The wonderful Belgian couple, Bruno Forzani and Helene Cattet used Cipriani’s music to thrilling effect in their giallo mix-around, ‘Amer’. Mario Bava’s ‘Baron Blood’ is probably his best soundtrack, bar what Morricone did for ‘Danger Diabolik’, but that doesn’t fall into the giallo or horror bracket. On ‘Baron Blood’, Cipriani treats us to a cheery and tuneful soundtrack about a sadistic Austrian Baron.

Bruno Maderna - Death Laid An Egg, (La Morte Ha Fatto L'Uovo Giulio Questi) – directed by Giulio Questi, 1968

Maderna’s background in Milan’s Studio di Fonologia might make him an unlikely or perfect candidate for a giallo soundtrack depending on your point of view, but it’s the avant-garde schooling that gives several of the soundtracks listed here their otherness. Maderna worked very closely with Italy’s greatest modern composers, Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono, not to mention the hugely inventive but overlooked Marino Zuccheri. John Cage was no stranger to Maderna either and all that shows on this, the most immediately ‘difficult’ soundtrack here. At times, Maderna’s jagged score sounds as if it could have been recorded at Derek Bailey’s Company Week.

Riz Ortolani - Cannibal Holocaust – directed by Ruggero Deodato, 1980

A subversively romantic soundtrack to a savage and sickening film, especially for animal lovers. I don’t think I’ve ever come across such an extreme counterpoint as this. The soaring main theme only highlights the brutality on display, and as effective and catchy as Ortolani’s music is, I still regret having seen this film.

Nora Orlandi - The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, (Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh) – directed by Sergio Martino, 1971

An eerie, sinister soundtrack that floats around the corners of the room like a poltergeist with its disembodied electronics and echo effects. It’s hard to discern what is soundtrack and what is sound design, which is definitely a good thing. The musicians were probably having a ball messing around with echo effects, but it doesn’t come across that way.

Other composers worth searching out are Fiorenzo Carpi, Gianni Ferrio and Amedeo Tommasi. I’m sure there are others missing from this list, but I’m just procrastinating today and should be getting on with actual deadline work, so I’ll sign off now.