Review by Jean-Christophe Sommer
John Carpenter is an underrated film composer, probably because his movies are often more exciting than his scores. Since his first short film, The Resurrection of Bronco Billy (1970), he has composed almost all the scores of his own movies. In the beginning, he scored his own films because he could not afford to hire a film composer. On Dark Star in 1973 (his first movie), he played the synthesizer, even though he had never taken a single musical course. Then it became a kind of habit. Now, he seldom gives other composers an opportunity to replace him.
Ennio Morricone composed the score of The Thing in 1982 and managed to match the 'Carpenter style' so well, imitating the director's sense of rhythm and suspense, that the listener really gets the impression that the score was composed by Carpenter himself. Another composer who has had the chance of working on a Carpenter film is Jack Nitszche, who scored Starman in 1984 using synthetic music, except for the ending, for which he created a majestic theme. In other words, not the "Carpenter way." The only other composer ever hired by Carpenter was Shirley Walker (a conductor and orchestrator) for Memoirs of an Invisible Man in 1992, who composed a symphonic score.
John Carpenter's latest scores, Escape From L.A. (1996), Village of the Damned (1995) and In the Mouth of Madness (1995), were all three done with collaborators. Yet, he has most often worked alone these past years since he stopped working with Alan Howarth (who supported him on his early scores). With Vampires, Carpenter did not hire a collaborator, composing most of the score himself. He also confirms his talent as tunesmith (remember the beautiful "March of the Children" from Village of the Damned) and his skill as a guitarist (listen to the overture of In The Mouth of Madness). The Vampires score clearly illustrates these two gifts.
Before tackling the score itself, it should be mentioned that Vampires may be a vampire movie, but it is also a Western in the great American tradition (some shots are really tributes, of a sort, to John Ford and Sam Peckinpah). The mixing of both genres leads to a surprising motion picture and fascinating film music, possibly Carpenter's best composition so far.
On the one hand, are the vampire hunters (led by the excellent James Woods). They are personified by the guitar (as in the main title called "Slavers"). This theme was composed in the style of the "Snake's Uniform" track from Escape From L.A. and is quite an interesting reference if you consider the anti-hero personalities of Jack Burton or Snake Plisken from other Carpenter movies. Then, there are the vampires. Carpenter mixes synthetic music with orchestral music, conveying an original impression of what the vampires represent, especially their chief, Valek.
Carpenter underlines the brutality and stupidity of the vampire hunters, who love nothing but sex and beer (and killing vampires of course!), through harsh rock and roll tracks. Conversely, Carpenter chooses something very different to stand for Valek, using the synthesizer in an elaborate way and the orchestra in an almost sensitive way. This dichotomy lies in both the score and the movie and the viewer can feel it very well. At the beginning of the hotel sequence, when the hunters enjoy themselves at a party, Carpenter uses rock and roll ("Motel Sex"), performed in a harsh way, but with a very traditional style (it sounds like country/blues). Then Valek arrives, and coldly kills one of the hunters with his hands ("Night Attack") and Carpenter uses a strict rhythm and melody in the background, representing the cold and macabre style of Valek.
The myth of the vampire is not tackled in this movie in a romantic way; the creature is just a kind of "desperado" chased by a tough sheriff. The only romantic characters in the whole film are Sheryl Lee (who was bitten by Valek) and Daniel Baldwin (who falls in love with her). Carpenter dedicates a sweet theme to them, performed with a guitar ("Farewell Slaver"). The girl is not yet a vampire, but she is no longer human, thus Carpenter composes a theme that is a "mixture" of two styles, the rock and roll and the sweetness.
The third "character" of the movie is the Vatican, which has a rather ambiguous role here. Carpenter illustrates it with synthetic voices, authentic violins and some bells ("Valek's Portrait"). The composer, through this theme, tells us that it is difficult to know which side the Vatican is on, because it is represented by the same musical style as the vampires.
Carpenter's score is a pleasant surprise. It is better constructed than his previous compositions and you do not feel any redundancy, which is more or less Carpenter's worst flaw. But, more surprisingly, the score is sometimes almost moving, notably due to Carpenter's bright way of mixing the orchestra with the synthesizer. The score even reminds one, at times, of the scores composed by Hans Zimmer (who is also self-taught). To understand what I mean, listen carefully to the tracks "Headless Priest," "Night Attack" and, most of all, "Katrina Bites."
Carpenter has had an impressive career as a filmmaker and composer which has led him, in Vampires, to compose a very mature score; though his 'master' status has not prevented him from experimenting. The Vampires score (there are, in fact, 42 minutes of it released on the CD) is, to me, Carpenter's most interesting to date, in addition to being very enjoyable to listen to. The booklet is also very appealing: there are many pictures, comments by Carpenter, the film's synopsis, and a summary of the director-composer's career. In reading the booklet, one learns that John Carpenter plays not only the synthesizer but also the electric guitar on certain tracks. It says that Carpenter performed some of the score's tracks with a group of friends, calling themselves "The Texas Toad Lickers." I'm looking forward their world tour!
Translated from the French by Alexandre Tylski
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