Composed by PINO DONAGGIO
First CD release of Pino Donaggio soundtrack from David Schmoeller horror thriller with Klaus Kinski as serial killer acting as landlord, peering into private lives of female occupants. Renter Talia Balsam proves to be tough adversary. 1986 film, shot in Italy, is product of Charles Band film production company Empire Pictures which later evolves into horror specialty film group Full Moon Productions. Pino Donaggio steps into his comfort zone, creates music with slashing strings, zigzag figures over pulsating rhythms, other scary musical trademarks. He balances with very attractive themes underscoring lives of occupants. Unusually interesting color is elegiac Hebrew lament, representing landlord Kinski’s family ties to Nazis and designed in director Schmoeller’s own words to “remind the viewer of the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust”. Album originally appears on Varese Sarabande label in 1986, prepared by composer at time of film’s release. Intrada CD premiere comes from pristine 1/4″ two-track stereo album master made at KM record manufacturing facilities, originally engineered by Michelle Stone. CD retains composer’s LP sequencing and audio preferences, including split-second pauses between certain tracks. Graphic booklet design by Joe Sikoryak includes informative liner notes by Andy Dursin plus Flipper artwork that allows you to choose your favorite cover. Natale Massara conducts.
The 1986 Empire production Crawlspace afforded composer Pino Donaggio the opportunity to create an exciting, tension-filled score. Donaggio opens the program with the score’s most striking composition: a haunting, elegiac Hebrew vocal, heard in “Falling From Grace With The World.” Most of Donaggio’s music in Crawlspace alternates between mounting-tension-and-suspense cues and occasional flashes of empathetic lyricism representing the relationships of the various young women living in Gunther’s apartment complex. The composer’s chaotic“Main Title” offers a sprinkling of electronics that adds additional color to the score.
This premiere CD release of Pino Donaggio’s chilling horror score for Crawlspace was mastered from the original ¼” 15 ips two-track stereo album master prepared at KM Records and engineered by Michelle Stone for the Varèse Sarabande label in 1986. The master tape was vaulted in pristine condition.
In the film, Karl Gunther (Klaus Kinski) is an apartment building landlord who peeps into the lives of his young female tenants. Crawling from vent to vent in order to observe their sexual activity, Karl isn’t just a Peeping Tom, but a serial killer—a former doctor who practiced euthanasia before moving on to other, less subtle forms of murder. Inspired by his Nazi father, Karl keeps a woman in a cage. He’s rendered her mute by cutting out her tongue, and he slays anyone who comes near his secret upstairs lair. Ultimately, his most recent renter, Lori—a Brown University graduate (Talia Balsam)—proves to be a pluckier heroine than her predecessors. Gunther’s series of brutal killings comes to an end when he gets a taste of his own medicine in the picture’s climax.
INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 279
TRACKLIST
01. Falling From Grace With The World (0:32)
02. Main Title (2:15)
03. The Chase (2:43)
04. Sorry, Kitty (5:25)
05. “Lovers Tonight” Rehearsal (1:44)
06. Voyeurs/Who’s Swimming In Your Bathtub? (4:13)
07. Martha’s Lament (1:40)
08. Rats (1:03)
09. I’m Coming (2:32)
10. The M & M Murders (1:01)
11. The Teaser (2:28)
12. Goodbye, Mr. Steiner (2:02)
13. I’m A Happy Man, Martha (2:01)
14. Blowpipe Blues (1:59)
15. Goodnight, Lori (1:20)
16. Martha’s Lament/End Titles (2:11)
