BASEMENT JACK - Original Soundtrack by Alan Howarth
CD Includes Digital Download / Digital Booklet
Click here for Digital-Only Download.
Dragon’s Domain Records, to be distributed through buysoundtrax.com, presents BASEMENT JACK, featuring music composed and performed by Alan Howarth for the 2009 horror film directed by Michael Shelton, written by Brian Patrick O’Toole, starring Eric Peter-Kaiser, Sam Skoryna, Michele Morrow, Joel Brooks, Noel Guglielmi, Billy Morrison and Tiffany Shepis.
Released in 2009, the film follows Jack Riley, just released after spending eleven years in the state asylum after killing fifteen people, including his own mother. Dubbed by the media as Basement Jack because of his penchant for hiding out in the basements of his victims before killing them, he was only seventeen years old at the time. But even though he has been released from the asylum, he hasn’t been cured and soon enough, he starts to kill again. But this time, someone is waiting for him… Haunted by the loss of her family during Jack’s murder spree, Karen Cook has been waiting eleven years for her revenge. She only has to get to Jack before the body count starts to climb again…
Alan Howarth, in addition to being a composer, is an accomplished sound designer and editor, having worked on films such as STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, POLTERGEIST, TOTAL RECALL, ARMY OF DARKNESS, BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, STARGATE and many others. He has been a frequent music collaborator with John Carpenter on his films beginning with ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK in 1980 and including HALLOWEEN II & III, CHRISTINE, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, THEY LIVE and PRINCE OF DARKNESS and Alan has scored many films on his own, including RETRIBUTION, HALLOWEEN 4 & 5, THE DENTIST, HEADLESS, BOO!, EVILUTION and most recently, HOUSE AT THE END OF THE DRIVE, SHINER and HOAX.
Dragon’s Domain Records presents BASEMENT JACK, featuring music composed and performed by Alan Howarth. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland.
BASEMENT JACK is a limited edition release of 500 units and is expected to begin shipping the week of November 1st, 2021. The first 50 copies sold through our website will include an autograph by the composer.
1. 11 Years Ago (6:01)
2. On The Road (0:59)
3. Do You Understand (3:37)
4. Parking Lot (1:15)
5. Basement Jack (1:32)
6. Kill A Whole Family (3:37)
7. Jack’s Upstairs (3:31)
8. Prime Suspect (5:09)
9. Electrocution (6:02)
10. Lover’s End (6:43)
11. Necropolitan Entry (4:08)
12. Super Jack (10:23)
13. I Messed Up (2:27)
14. Police Assault (7:24)
15. Jack’s Final Shock (7:16)
Total Time: 70:41
Visit Alan Howarth's Website Here:
https://alanhowarth.com
Review
ALAN HOWARTH
Dragon’s Domain 742
15 tracks - 70:41
Special effects artist Michael Shelton’s directorial debut came in the form of the straight-to-video serial killer film Basement Jack (2009). Terrorized by his mother with nine-volt batteries, young Jack grows up into an expectedly disturbed young man whose urge to kill comes out during electrical storms. Alan Howarth (Halloween) punches up the terror with his requisite electronic and effects-laden atmospherics.
Following John Carpenter’s original Halloween template, the title track introduces repeated patterns that will be familiar to fans of that franchise, played against a growing mélange of dense, textural elements that smash together. Howarth further uses minimal thematic motives to provide a tonal signpost amidst the multitude of electronic atmospheres that dominate much of the proceedings here. There’s also a recurring, ghastly sort of hollow sound that adds to the general sense of unease.
The score’s moments of sparse lyricism are clouded by hovering sounds that suggest the respite is temporary. These motifs are sufficient, but not particularly interesting when divorced from the film. There are also thrash gestures that lend the album a more contemporary feel, but overall this has the basic feel of a modernized low-budget ’80s horror score.
Howarth is the real deal when it comes to crafting these particular textures, so fans of his earlier classics co-composed with Carpenter will likely find some enjoyable fare here. That said, the album, limited to 500 copies, probably has limited appeal beyond diehard electro-horror aficionados. Sample clips are available at the label’s website. —Steven A. Kennedy
Comments regarding this review can be sent to: stev4uth@hotmail.com.
