Release Date:

Downloads include choice of MP3, WAV, or FLAC

Includes Digital Booklet
Click Here for CD Release

DDRDG790

Dragon’s Domain Records presents the world premiere release of the original motion picture soundtrack for THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, featuring music composed by Ken Thorne (A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, JUGGERNAUT, HANNIE CAULDER) for the 1982 horror film directed by Kevin Connor (FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, MOTEL HELL), written by Robert Suhosky from the novel by James Hardiman, starring Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure, Amy Barrett, Henry Mitowa, Tsuiyuki Sasaki, Toshiya Maruyama and introducing Mako Hattori.

1840, Kushiata region, Kyoto, Japan... Shigero, a samurai, returns to his home to find his wife, Otami, in bed with his friend, Masanori, another samurai. Enraged, Shigero maims and kills Masanori, next Otami and finally commits seppuku, taking his own life. The wind blows through the house and time passes...

In present day Japan, American writer Ted Fletcher (Edward Albert) arrives with his wife Laura (Susan George) and their young daughter, Amy. They are greeted at the airport by Ted’s best friend, Alex (Doug McClure), a U.S. diplomat. Alex takes the Fletchers to a home he has secured for their stay in Japan. By chance, this is the still-standing home of Shigero and Otami... Alex tells them he got a great deal on the rental of the house because it has a history of being haunted.

Even as the family has barely moved in, they start to experience incidents of hauntings and possession... The ghosts of Shigero, Otami and Masanori still haunt the house and begin to subject each member of the family to episodes of harassment and mischief that begin to increase with frequency each day and ultimately become malicious... Through the actions of the ghosts taking turns to possess Ted and Laura, it is revealed that they seek to recreate the savage act that ended their lives so that their souls can be released from the confines of the house...

Ken Thorne (1924-2014) was a veteran English composer for motion pictures since the mid-1960s. He gained a successful career as a big band pianist during the 1940s, and later took up studying composition at Cambridge, which led to scoring films, starting out with a 1948 musical but began earnestly in the early 1960s. Thorne so impressed director Richard Lester on one of his early films that he became Lester’s composer of choice, writing the instrumental underscore for HELP!, starring The Beatles, then winning an Oscar for best adapted music for Lester’s film A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, and reworked the music of John Williams from SUPERMAN for Lester’s two sequels, SUPERMAN II and III. Over his career, Thorne composed, orchestrated or conducted more than 100 feature and television movies.

Director Kevin Connor collaborated with composer Ken Thorne many times over the course of their careers, on films such as ARABIAN ADVENTURE, THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, the mini-series GREAT EXPECTATIONS, SUNSET GRILL, the mini-series RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE, LETHAL EXPOSURE, AGE OF TREASON, THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR STORY, THE APOCALYPSE WATCH, MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS, IN THE BEGINNING, SANTA, JR and MARCO POLO.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, featuring music composed by Ken Thorne, conducted by Richard S. Kaufman, appearing for the very first time on Digital. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by Mike Joffe.

 

Reviews

The House Where Evil Dwells (1982) ***

KEN THORNE
Dragon’s Domain DDR790
11 tracks - 39:11
B-Movie director Kevin Connor helmed this Eddie Albert horror film based on a popular novel, The House Where Evil Dwells. Set in Japan, the story involves a tragic tale of a samurai discovering his wife in bed with his best friend, a past event that somehow infests the home that Albert’s character and his family are currently renting. Having released The Protector (1985) a while back, Dragon’s Domain now offers Ken Thorne’s score for this minor horror entry. The British composer is perhaps best known for his conducting and orchestration work, but his original music for Superman II and III is an exception to that rule. Furthermore, the 1980s were a particularly fruitful decade for his composing gigs, and he collaborated on other films by Connor (Arabian Adventure, Return to Lonesome Dove).

Thorne sets up the ancient component of The House Where Evil Dwells with Japanese gestures as the “Kyoto Prologue” begins. This haunting quality continues into the main title music, where strings add a level of warmth. This gives way to a gentle, lyrical theme in “Drive to and Tour the House,” which places flute and piano against a string background.

The flute offers a haunting quality as the horror elements of the plot begin to emerge in “First Night—The Ghosts Appear.” The album overall features a nice balance between the scares and the lyrical main theme. When it comes to the former, jagged string punctuations provide much of the tension, with various percussion and Japanese gestures adding color as needed. It’s the Asian-specific fare that makes the music somewhat distinctive.

The premiere release of this brief score includes two alternate, cursory cues that pad the running time a tad. The House Where Evil Dwells is a solid genre effort from Thorne, with the ethnic elements lending a macabre, Kabuki-esque quality to the proceedings. But more important is the fact that the main theme is both prevalent and appealing. Fans of horror scores of the ’70s and ’80s will likely want to check this one out. For additional information and to hear samples, head to BuySoundtrax’s website. —Steven A. Kennedy

Comments regarding this review can be sent to: stev4uth@hotmail.com.

THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS: Original Motion PIcture Soundtrack

Ken Thorne

$8.95

Downloads include choice of MP3, WAV, or FLAC

Includes Digital Booklet
Click Here for CD Release

DDRDG790

Dragon’s Domain Records presents the world premiere release of the original motion picture soundtrack for THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, featuring music composed by Ken Thorne (A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, JUGGERNAUT, HANNIE CAULDER) for the 1982 horror film directed by Kevin Connor (FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, MOTEL HELL), written by Robert Suhosky from the novel by James Hardiman, starring Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure, Amy Barrett, Henry Mitowa, Tsuiyuki Sasaki, Toshiya Maruyama and introducing Mako Hattori.

1840, Kushiata region, Kyoto, Japan... Shigero, a samurai, returns to his home to find his wife, Otami, in bed with his friend, Masanori, another samurai. Enraged, Shigero maims and kills Masanori, next Otami and finally commits seppuku, taking his own life. The wind blows through the house and time passes...

In present day Japan, American writer Ted Fletcher (Edward Albert) arrives with his wife Laura (Susan George) and their young daughter, Amy. They are greeted at the airport by Ted’s best friend, Alex (Doug McClure), a U.S. diplomat. Alex takes the Fletchers to a home he has secured for their stay in Japan. By chance, this is the still-standing home of Shigero and Otami... Alex tells them he got a great deal on the rental of the house because it has a history of being haunted.

Even as the family has barely moved in, they start to experience incidents of hauntings and possession... The ghosts of Shigero, Otami and Masanori still haunt the house and begin to subject each member of the family to episodes of harassment and mischief that begin to increase with frequency each day and ultimately become malicious... Through the actions of the ghosts taking turns to possess Ted and Laura, it is revealed that they seek to recreate the savage act that ended their lives so that their souls can be released from the confines of the house...

Ken Thorne (1924-2014) was a veteran English composer for motion pictures since the mid-1960s. He gained a successful career as a big band pianist during the 1940s, and later took up studying composition at Cambridge, which led to scoring films, starting out with a 1948 musical but began earnestly in the early 1960s. Thorne so impressed director Richard Lester on one of his early films that he became Lester’s composer of choice, writing the instrumental underscore for HELP!, starring The Beatles, then winning an Oscar for best adapted music for Lester’s film A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, and reworked the music of John Williams from SUPERMAN for Lester’s two sequels, SUPERMAN II and III. Over his career, Thorne composed, orchestrated or conducted more than 100 feature and television movies.

Director Kevin Connor collaborated with composer Ken Thorne many times over the course of their careers, on films such as ARABIAN ADVENTURE, THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, the mini-series GREAT EXPECTATIONS, SUNSET GRILL, the mini-series RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE, LETHAL EXPOSURE, AGE OF TREASON, THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR STORY, THE APOCALYPSE WATCH, MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS, IN THE BEGINNING, SANTA, JR and MARCO POLO.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS, featuring music composed by Ken Thorne, conducted by Richard S. Kaufman, appearing for the very first time on Digital. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by Mike Joffe.

 

Reviews

The House Where Evil Dwells (1982) ***

KEN THORNE
Dragon’s Domain DDR790
11 tracks - 39:11
B-Movie director Kevin Connor helmed this Eddie Albert horror film based on a popular novel, The House Where Evil Dwells. Set in Japan, the story involves a tragic tale of a samurai discovering his wife in bed with his best friend, a past event that somehow infests the home that Albert’s character and his family are currently renting. Having released The Protector (1985) a while back, Dragon’s Domain now offers Ken Thorne’s score for this minor horror entry. The British composer is perhaps best known for his conducting and orchestration work, but his original music for Superman II and III is an exception to that rule. Furthermore, the 1980s were a particularly fruitful decade for his composing gigs, and he collaborated on other films by Connor (Arabian Adventure, Return to Lonesome Dove).

Thorne sets up the ancient component of The House Where Evil Dwells with Japanese gestures as the “Kyoto Prologue” begins. This haunting quality continues into the main title music, where strings add a level of warmth. This gives way to a gentle, lyrical theme in “Drive to and Tour the House,” which places flute and piano against a string background.

The flute offers a haunting quality as the horror elements of the plot begin to emerge in “First Night—The Ghosts Appear.” The album overall features a nice balance between the scares and the lyrical main theme. When it comes to the former, jagged string punctuations provide much of the tension, with various percussion and Japanese gestures adding color as needed. It’s the Asian-specific fare that makes the music somewhat distinctive.

The premiere release of this brief score includes two alternate, cursory cues that pad the running time a tad. The House Where Evil Dwells is a solid genre effort from Thorne, with the ethnic elements lending a macabre, Kabuki-esque quality to the proceedings. But more important is the fact that the main theme is both prevalent and appealing. Fans of horror scores of the ’70s and ’80s will likely want to check this one out. For additional information and to hear samples, head to BuySoundtrax’s website. —Steven A. Kennedy

Comments regarding this review can be sent to: stev4uth@hotmail.com.