Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

In the little fishing town of Noyo things aren’t going so well. Not only do all the boats and cars seem to be filled with oily rags (because they explode all the time), but there are a bunch racist jerks lead by Hank Slattery (Vic Morrow) doing everything in their power to bring a new cannery into town against the wishes of the local native American Johnny Eagle (Anthony Pena). Meanwhile another local fisherman Jim (Doug McClure) and his wife Carol (Cindy Weintraub) try to keep things from going overboard (pun totally on purpose).

But enough of the late 70s environmental message – bring on the MONSTERS. This movie has them rising up from the waters, all fishy and slimy. They attack half naked teenagers and take the females back to their lair to mate with them (ewwww). Seems like Dr. Susan Drake (Ann Turkel) has a theory about what is going on. But what can these helpless fishermen do against the Humanoids from the Deep?

Good Points:

• Hey, James Horner with one of his first movie scores! Cool!
• When it goes full grindhouse it is stupidly fun
• Creature effects aren’t too bad

Bad Points:

• Half the movie feels mired in the late 70s eco-horror style
• Pacing is all over the place with the movie dragging way too often
• Some suspect acting (but you knew that was coming)

Overall:

I heard of this movie for two reasons. First was that it is thinly inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft classic Shadow Over Innsmouth. But more likely it can be considered a remake of Horror at Party Beach. The other reason I knew about it was because of James Horner’s involvement early in his career (around the same time he did Battle Beyond the Stars). In any case, the movie is a mess. Director Barbara Peeters was making a serious horror flick with a message. Producer Roger Corman wanted more boobs and blood, and so the movie was reedited and reshot. This resulted in a movie that can be dumb fun when it wants to be, but the strange pacing keeps it from ever taking off. I’d say check out the creepier and gorier Dagon for a similar take but with a better grasp on the Lovecraftian roots.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals:  3

Sound: 3

Acting:  2

Script:  2

Music: 3

Direction: 2

Entertainment: 2

Total:  2

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

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Score Sample: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

When it comes to the music to the Star Trek films you actually have a great pool of music to enjoy. Of course my favorite work comes from Jerry Goldsmith and his scores for five of the films of the series (up to 13 films as of this writing). But you have a lot of other excellent composers chiming with some top notch work. Lately we've had Michael Giacchino giving us a thrilling new theme of for the Enterprise, as well as some propulsive action tracks.

One composer who really put his stamp on the series was James Horner, who unleashed an amazing score for The Wrath of Khan. This was early in his career and the young composer knocked it out of the park, creating some of the most accessible and engaging music of the film series. It was no wonder that the producers brought him back for the third film, The Search for Spock.

Horner revisited his heroic main theme, created some new material for the Klingons and evolved the sound he created for Spock into a vulcan motif for this film. The Vulcan material goes in the opposite direction from Goldsmith's "logical" approach. There is tremendous feeling and mystery in the Vulcan music in this score, and it creates one of my favorite tracks from the series called Returning to Vulcan. The film version covers our heroes return journey to the planet with the body of Spock to reunite his spirit with the flesh. The film version is excellent, but I love the additional emotion that Horner crafts in the concert suite version on the album.

So here is Returning to Vulcan from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock composed by James Horner. Enjoy!

Nostalgia Nugget: Movie Music of James Horner

In the 1980s you had three masters of film music. John Williams gave us Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Jerry Goldsmith was on hand for Gremlins, First Blood and Poltergeist. And then you had James Horner, the youngest of the three.  Man, did he have a run of hits in the 80s: Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan, Cocoon, Aliens, An American Tail, Willow and Glory. That was just the start of a career that would hit dizzying heights with Titanic and Avatar.

Horner has a signature sound - immediately recognizable. He was firmly rooted in classical style, often working with lush sweeping melodies and bombastic action music. But his style made him a divisive figure among film score fans. He often borrowed (or was heavily inspired if you prefer) by classical composers particularly the more romantic Russian ones. But this is hardly a unique fault. All film composers who work in a primarily orchestral style often gain inspiration from classical pieces.

I think the bigger issue for most film score fans was Horner’s tendency to borrow heavily from himself. The main theme from Glory (which is familiar to fans of a certain Russian composer) turns up again in Avatar with almost no changes. Khan’s wild theme turns up again as evil queen Bavmorda’s theme in Willow and that gets abbreviated down to what film score fans call Horner’s danger motif. And that sucker appears in nearly all of Horner’s film scores at some point. Some listeners find this annoying. Others find it like listening to one giant symphony filled with familiar traits and moments.

One thing no once can accuse James Horner of being is emotionally cold in his music. Of the big three 80s composers Horner was the most unabashed when letting the music just swell and take over. His romantic moments were passionate. His sad moments were devastating. His horror moments were terrifying. And while he could work subtly, most of us film score fans loved his ability and skill of going for broke and touching the listener and the viewer with his music.

One of my favorite scores by Horner, Glory shows off this skill so well. He runs the gamut of emotions in that score and nails each and every one of them. It’s a powerful score, one of my favorites from the 1980s.

And for me, that is where Horner’s best music resides, in the 1980s. The stretch form Battle Beyond the Stars to The Rocketeer (technically 1991, but has his 80s trademarks all over it) is filled with nostalgic memories.

When it came to the early 80s, I lost two of my favorite fictional characters. Han Solo was frozen in 1980 (and I was pretty convinced he was dead), and then Spock died in 1982. Horner’s score for the moving death scene and finale to Star Trek II make those moments resonate. As a kid I didn’t’ have a chance and was pretty shook up over the death of Spock.

The main themes to Krull and Battle Beyond the Stars were both lodged in my brain after viewing them over and over in my youth. But Horner’s gift of melody kept them there for nearly a decade long after I had forgotten all about the films. So when I revisited these two movies in the 90s, a huge wave of nostalgia kicked in based on the title music alone.

My sister was a huge fan of An American Tail and The Land Before Time. Those films had regular play on the VCR. Horner did some fine work for these animated films and hearing those scores takes me back to memories of watching these with my sister and plush versions of the main characters.

The soundtrack to Glory was one of the very first CDs my family owned (along with the Prince song compilation for Batman). We all noticed the music during the film and hearing it on CD was a real treat.

But it was Willow that had the biggest impact for me. In 1988, I had just started collecting soundtracks on cassette tape. I had two Star Wars scores, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Conan the Barbarian. After seeing Willow in the theater, I wanted that score. Hell, I thought John Williams composed it. I searched and searched for that score and I could never find it.

As the years passed, I would pick up the search off and on again. Even making it a regular goal when I hit the music section at Borders in the 1990s. I actually saw the CD, once in a Music Plus store, but I didn’t have any money on me (and this was before I had a credit card). I rushed to the ATM to pick up some cash and by the time I returned, Willow had vacated the premises. It became a holy grail of scores for me. And it wasn’t until 2007 that I finally added that score to my collection!

James Horner’s sudden death has shocked all us film score fans. His music,, so powerful and emotional, really touched people. Many folks are saying that it was Horner’s music that got them into film score collecting, or writing music, or inspiring them in other ways. It is a testament to his skill and the power of the medium that his music has such an impact.

Horner was a unique voice in the film music world. No one else’s music sounded like his did. Few approached films with such naked emotions. And in the current mindset of Hollywood studios, Horner’s approach was frowned on. His output had slowed over the years. But it made each new score a real treat when it did come along. For me, I will always enjoy his work, and enjoy the nostalgic memories those themes bring back.

Four of my favorite James Horner cues:

Genesis Countdown – Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan

Escape from the Tavern – Willow

Closing Credits – Glory

Rocketeer to the Rescue/End Titles – the Rocketeer

Score Sample - Krull - James Horner

Thanks to my pal Jon Broxton over at Movie Music UK, I've been listening to the score to Krull a lot. I've heard this championed as one of James Horner's best scores from the early part of his career. And if you love his sweeping adventure style, with great themes, lush romance and creative action music... well it's hard to argue. 

I've been thinking a bit about this movie. I realized that if it was remade as a Japanese anime, they pretty much wouldn't have to change a thing and it would be a popular show. Hell they could flesh out some of the characters even more (with a 13 episode series) and give the whole thing a bit more intensity when you start losing characters. But they would have to keep Horner's score. Check out the Main Title track that includes the main theme for the film as well as score for the opening moments when the evil Slayers arrive on the planet (cued by their electronic howl).