{"id":2312,"date":"2011-02-14T01:16:53","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T06:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2312"},"modified":"2011-02-14T01:16:53","modified_gmt":"2011-02-14T06:16:53","slug":"cd-haunted-honeymoon-1986","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2312","title":{"rendered":"CD: Haunted Honeymoon (1986)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>H<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: November 23, 2010<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 14 tracks \/ (39:15)<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Notes: 16-page colour booklet with liner notes by Jeff Bond \/ Limited to 1200 copies.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Composer: John Morris<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Haunted Honeymoon<\/strong> marked another reteaming between Gene Wilder and composer John Morris, Mel Brooks\u2019 longtime composer, and although this particular haunted house spoof kind of bombed in cinemas (and arguably quashed star\/co-writer\/director Wilder\u2019s directorial career), the music stood out for its grand scope and tongue-in-cheek qualities reminiscent of the pair\u2019s best film, Young Frankenstein<\/strong> (1974).<\/p>\n

In the past, Morris didn’t seem to be particularly interested in releasing his music on CD; if one appeared, it seemed to be a contractual thing, and his scores for Mel Brooks were sometimes affected by sound effects and dialogue, or compacted on album due to songs (Spaceballs<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s due to the persistence of music producers and his ardent admirers that Morris\u2019 unreleased work is slowly emerging on CD. Haunted<\/strong> runs just a few hairs above 39 mins., but it\u2019s one of his best works, playing everything straight, but bending the dramatics every so slightly for a subtle tongue-in-cheek quality, such as the vintage doom and gloom tones (\u201cWolfington Castle\u201d), and the integration of cheesy organ chords without ridiculing the characters.<\/p>\n

Morris frequently switches between small and large scale sounds, but Haunted<\/strong> is a BIG score. The orchestrations illustrates the composer\u2019s potent talent that only a few filmmakers managed to exploit during his lengthy career.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Morris\u2019 musical gifts are most apparent in tender character themes, and writing a deadpan style perfectly tailored for genre satires without slamming the audience over the head with overstatements. Even Spaceballs<\/strong> \u2013 dreadful as it is, except to a devoted coterie of fans \u2013 is blessed with a grand, romantic score.<\/p>\n

There are repetitions of little motifs \u2013 musical images of skulking in the dark, frenzied sustained strings, and muted Herrmannesque brass (\u201cThe Drainpipe\u201d) \u2013 but the variations are quite atmospheric, and Morris pokes fun at a few genre classics, like the perfect Psycho<\/strong> tribute at the beginning of \u201cElectrical Switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the cues vary between 1 to 4 mins., and the album editing manages to hide most of the seams (except for the odd fadeout, such as the fifties string schmlatz \u201cSusan and the Dog \/ \u201cI Know, I Know\u201d which fades before any development). With the exception of Morris\u2019 arrangements some period songs due to rights issues, La-La Land\u2019s CD features the full score.<\/p>\n

Jeff Bond\u2019s dense liner notes again provide a backstory to the film, the score, and the music, and the mastering is first-rate, exploiting the composer\u2019s deft writing and the power of the London Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

Now, perhaps someone could release Ironweed<\/strong> (1987)?<\/p>\n

Anyone?<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0H<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ H . Rating: Excellent Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: November 23, 2010 Tracks & Album Length: 14 tracks \/ (39:15) . Special Notes: 16-page colour booklet with liner notes by Jeff Bond \/ Limited to 1200 copies. . Composer: John Morris . . Review: Haunted Honeymoon marked another reteaming between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[303,302],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-Bi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2315,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions\/2315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}