According to the press release, Mondo -- the collectible art division of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema -- commissioned original cover art from Australian Illustrators We Buy Your Kids for a two-disc vinyl of Jerry Goldsmith's score. Available for $25, a small portion of clear vinyl copies will be randomly included. Also, there will be five tracks never before released on vinyl.
The press release adds that "Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack for Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist formed a significant part of the 1982 film's conceptual strength ... Known for the intensity of his thematic exposition, Goldsmith designs the Poltergeist soundtrack to elaborately ground the film between the promise of suburban repose and the malevolent unknown."
Moreover, "Beginning in innocence with a classic rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,'" the soundtrack syncs with the "intrusion of angry ghosts into the California home of the film's protagonists with dreadful strings and eerie keys."
"Goldsmith then switches to airier strings and an ethereal flute to denote the family's fumbling after their daughter, Carol Anne, is abducted. Utilizing frenzied horn blasts and a sudden lapse into atonalism, the composer ominously signifies the emergence of the Beast. Goldsmith, seemingly effortless, concludes the frantic drama of 'Escape From Suburbia' in stark contrast with the sweet and child-like tones of 'Carol Anne's Theme,' elegantly illustrating the dignity and range that his orchestral scores for horror modeled within the genre."If that description, and the artwork above, doesn't make you want to listen in, then you can hardly call yourself a fan of horror or music.
And if you dig the Mondo approach, you'll also like the cool Friday the 13th poster from artist Francesco Francavilla. It went on sale Feb. 14 and is already sold out (it was limited to 345), but it's still groovy to look at.
-Andrew Peters