"Dr. Mastermind": another metal classic with "Deen Castronovo" on drums from 1986

Hi everyone. Here's the second metal album that I'm sharing in promise of them appearing occasionally. I bring you: "Dr. Mastermind" from 1986 (the 1st metal release on the unearthly virtuoso music label "Shrapnel Records"!). This is the infamous former singer of "The Wild Dogs","Matt McCourt", as he left to do this album - while "The Wild Dogs" got a new bassist & singer and made their 3rd album "Reign Of Terror" (the 1st metal album I shared with you). Yet, the genius prodigy drummer "Deen Castronovo" plays on "Reign Of Terror" & "Dr. Mastermind" (a trio). McCourt is your doctor, and he does all of the singing & rips on the bass. The astounding guitarist is the infamous "Kurt James" - searing, tapping & shredding. Kurt later dropped out of the scene to go to Spain and study the bass in the path of deceased virtuoso "Jaco Pastorius". He has recently returned to the states and recorded new shred guitar material with McCourt.

"Dr. Mastermind" will blow your doors and you guys will have fun with this one. I do multimedia production for a living and I added the 1st song "Domination" to a 19 year-old college fullback's highlight scouting tape along with some other music and he loved it! The doctor will see you now...heh...heh...heh...

This album is available from CDBaby.com as a rare re-release. So if you're convinced, and I know you are, go pay the paltry amount for the CD and crank it up!

"From Dusk Till Dawn" & "Dead Calm" RARE & UNRELEASED SCORES!

Howdy Folks! Here is a another fun & special exclusive treat for you: The "From Dusk Till Dawn" & "Dead Calm" RARE & UNRELEASED SCORES by Graeme Revell! I know these tracks may be out there somewhere, but if this is the 1st time you have come across (especially "FDTD") these fine scores then it makes me happy that I can give them to you! You know, I just love the film "From Dusk Till Dawn". It is so much fun without one single boring moment. I didn't quite appreciate how great it was back in 1996 when I saw it in the theatre. It has become one of my all time favorites now. It sure is nice to have this awesome score now as well as the cool soundtrack, eh? "Dead Calm" was a pretty disturbing flick back when it came out with the twisted Billy Zane. That may be more of a nightmare than FDTD! It's funny, I just watched "Critters" a few weeks ago for the 1st time since I was a kid and realized the teenage boyfriend in it was Billy Zane. I was so young at the time that I remember thinking his character was a cool older guy and I wanted to be like him - classic!
In "From Dusk Till Dawn" I can relate to The "Gecko Bros", having grown up with one older brother myself. Also, over the last few years I've learned a great deal about folks with mental illnesses, old wounds, pharmaceuticals, and just how crazy EVERY human mind is and its' struggle with the lonliness of a person in their sole, flesh containment. I've met siblings of some folks with strong similarities with "Richie Gecko" (not the homicide of course) and can see how his bro Seth tried all he could to give him some sort of peace in life, while battling to keep his own head straight. I also like Seth's mannerisms & sensibilites (much how George Clooney seems like) and of course the film is a classic! Right after I wrote this I'm now adding I just found out that George's birthday is May 6th - mine is May 3rd so no wonder I feel similar personality traits.
Santanico Pandemonium: "Welcome to slavery."
Seth Gecko: "No thanks, I already had a wife", and then he annihilates her ass.

Anyway, although FDTD had 2 sequels, the 1st one stands on it's own to me. I like that we don't know what became of "Seth Gecko" livin' as a free & hopefully not-to emotionally haunted man.

Hunt for the hidden link to the scores & enjoy people!
ATTENTION: This linked has been re-upped 1-5-2008!

Let's not forget poor ole SATURDAY THE 14TH!

Yes... we can't forget about the day after Friday The 13th - our good friend Saturday The 14th. So I thought I'd also mention this classic horror comedy from 1981. This film is whacky and weird and it actually was very scary in parts to me as a boy. I haven't seen it in years but I know that those parts are still freaky and who can forget the part with the daughter in the bathtub with a rag on her face while a gillman type creature rises up from between her legs through the suds? Lots of off-the-wall weirdness in this flick - check it out. So there you go just thought I'd give a little holler out before the witching hour. Beware of the MOON...

Happy FRIDAY THE 13TH! I give you the music from "DEAD HEAT"!

Hi everyone! Happy FRIDAY THE 13TH to all! To celebrate this glorius day, Nightchillers Rare Music brings you the RARE score of 1988's DEAD HEAT by Ernest Troost (Tremors). This is an EXCLUSIVE! These tracks originate from a digital transfer from the ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES! I just got my hands on a semi-bootleg CD of this just a few months ago. I'm presenting this to you for FREE and as a bonus I added as the last track my recording of the groovin' rock song "Dead Heat" by Phil Settle which plays over the end credits. I love this song! The lyrics are about the film, and the singing and musicianship rocks and are really a whole lotta fun - especially if you love this movie as much as I do. I wanted to keep all of the song's intro so it begins with the dialogue of partners Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) & Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo - he's comic genius in this movie) having their last conversation of the movie over the music - this is also a lot of fun! You have to see DEAD HEAT if you haven't already - it's an 80's "buddy-cop-black comedy-zombie-shoot 'em up-horror-sci-fi-action-fest" little cult masterpiece of a film. I don't want to spoil the plot or any scenes for those who have not seen it so I'll just give you this info: it was written by Terry Black (brother of Lethal Weapon writer Shane Black!), the cast also has: Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, A Christmas Story), Vincent Price (one of his last roles), and Robert Picardo (The Howling, Legend, 976-Evil, Matinee, Masters of Horror, etc.), This was renowned film editor Mark Goldblatt's 1988 DIRECTORIAL DEBUT and was nominated for the Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Best Film Award in 1990!

Look at the huge list of all of Mark's editing and other achievements of some of the most awesome and biggest flicks ever made:

Film Editor: Mark Goldblatt

Case 39 (2007) (post-production) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) Bad Boys II (2003) Bad Company (2002) Pearl Harbor (2001) Hollow Man (2000) Detroit Rock City (1999) Armageddon (1998/I) Starship Troopers (1997) Showgirls (1995) True Lies (1994) Super Mario Bros. (1993) The Last Boy Scout (1991) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Predator 2 (1990) Nightbreed (1990) ... aka Clive Barker's Nightbreed (UK: complete title) Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) Commando (1985) Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) The Terminator (1984) The Ambassador (1984) Over the Brooklyn Bridge (1984) Wavelength (1983) Halloween II (1981) ... aka Halloween II: The Nightmare Isn't Over! (USA: video box title) Enter the Ninja (1981) The Howling (1981) Humanoids from the Deep (1980) Spirit of the Wind (1979) Piranha (1978) The Rock (1996) (additional editor) Tombstone (1993) (additional editor) Universal Soldier (1992) (editorial consultant) Innerspace (1987) (additional editor) Get Crazy (1983) (supervising editor)

Director: Mark Goldblatt

"Eerie, Indiana" (1 episode, 1992) - Mr. Chaney (1992) TV Episode The Punisher (1989) Dead Heat (1988) RoboCop (1987) (second unit director)

There you go folks. I'll say it again: SEE THIS MOVIE! Then have fun and listen to the music afterwards. If you see it and don't like it you probably don't understand the mix of comedy, drama, sci-fi, action & horror that it masterfully achieves - although I don't know how you wouldn't. I can also personally identify with the characters of Roger & Doug (although I'm not a cop) as two good bros in their 30's just trying to be good guys and do the right things in their lonesome bachelor lives to get by. There are a few touching moments in this movie as well if you PAY ATTENTION you Attention Deficit Disorder motherf**kers and stop answering your cell phone and getting up to go to the kitchen every 5 minutes, rustling noisy wrappers to stuff your face with yet more food.This is one of my TOP favorite movies! My good bro Aaron Clifford Beebee loves this flick too. Hunt above for the music download link and Enjoy!

Here's an AWESOME '80's website where you can find all kinds of cool reviews and stuff including one for DEAD HEAT: http://www.fast-rewind.com/

UPDATE 2-12-2009: Hey folks I just re-upped this file for download, didn't realize it was gone. So hunt for the hidden download link in this post and enjoy! HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13th!

"Wild Dogs" - "Reign Of Terror": A 1987 metal masterpiece

Here's my first rare & obscure metal masterpiece album post - everyone download this, even if you don't listen to metal. It's especially for my friend "The Phelpster" from "The Manchester Morgue" who has posted some metal classics in between the film music on his blog.

This is the 3rd album release from the "Wild Dogs" from 1987: "Reign Of Terror" (7 additional demos recorded for the followup album never transpired - I didn't include them because their quality's pretty bad) which introduced a new lead singer & bassist. The 1st two "Wild Dogs" albums are great as well but this is the best one. All of the songs were written by the phenomenal guitarist "Jeff Mark" & the famous pioneer drumming virtuoso "Deen Castronovo". Jeff rules & Deen has been one of the most sought after journeyman drum wizards of all time as he has played on numerous metal & neo-classical metal albums, as well as non-metal releases for a wide range of artists including, Tony MacAlpine, Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, Cacophony, Social Distortion, Ozzy Osbourne, etc. He is now the drummer for Journey. Deen also plays on the former "Wild Dogs" singer "Matt McCourt's" project from 1986 called "Dr. Mastermind" - this is also an absolute metal masterpiece classic from "Shrapnel Records" that I will post on this blog soon as well.

"What Hendrix, Van Halen and Ywngwie were to modern guitar Deen is to drums. His over the top bombastic bass drum flurries soon made Deen the 16 YR OLD wonder kid of his band at the time. "The Enemy" went out as the opening act in front of Blue Oyster Cult and Foghat. Upon seeing an ad on TV for The Enemy, Kip Doran (Evil Genius), Matt McCourt and Ja Reynolds (Malice ) went to see Deen at a local nightclub. "He was playin' double bass in parts of "Shoot, Shoot" the UFO song, that actually made me like that song", remembers McCourt. "I was really into drummers especially Billy Cobham and Neil Peart and here is this (then) overweight kid takin' up the whole stage playing and singing, the others in the band had to stand on the dance floor because his kit was so big."

Here is another quote from Matt McCourt about the "Wild Dogs" and this 3rd release: "The Wild Dogs emerged in the nwobhm at the same time Metallica, Slayer, Metal Church, Iron Maiden, and Saxon came onto the scene. Signed to Shrapnel Records, they possesed drummer Deen Castronovo who has recorded with Ozzy Osbourne and Journey, and guiatrist Jeff Mark who styles himself after Eddie Van Halen and Uli John Roth of the Scorpions. He is a truly unique and innovative guitarist who if comparison HAS to be made I would say along the lines of Alex Lifeson in theory and originality and Uli Jon Roth for the speedy riffs. This was Mike Varney of Shrapnel Record's first real discovery long before the neo-classical invasion. This album was composed by Deen Castronovo and Jeff utilizing the world class drumming that prior releases did not contain. A drummers handbook of riffs and the notuion that drummers too can write songs! In an effort to be different this album definitely is not puppy mill speed metal and fits in with Racer X , or the other vocal based groups of this genre. You'll notice a few similarities on the production of "Dr. Mastermind", also released at this time. 16 months later Deen was picked up by Tony MacAlpine and shortly thereafter began his long career with Neal Schon, and became a member of the supergroup Journey. "Reign Of Terror" contains a highly modern prog rock approach to American metal. The album has been deemed a classic must own for budding drummers and guitarsits as a riffateria often inspiring talent."

Well there you go, that should get you salivating for some rare metal masterpieces to follow folks as I include some more revies here n' there between the film scores & soundtracks.

This album is available from CDBaby.com as a rare re-release. So if you're convinced, and I know you are, go pay the paltry amount for the CD and crank it up!

Here's a "Nightchillers" little 5-song bundle for you kiddies

Here's a "Nightchillers" little 5-song bundle for you kiddies ... containing:

• The 1979 theme from the "Salem's Lot" TV Mini-series masterpiece (done by The London Theatre Orchestra - *original score by Harry Sukman)

• "The Howling II" (also done by The London Theatre Orchestra) - you know where Sybil Danning is ripping her shirt off, torpedoing out her mammories, repeatedly edited over & over in the film's end credits for young 80's boys like myself

• "The Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew Mysteries" TV series (1977-1979) theme (Stewart Phillips) - I loved this show as a kid and the opening & this theme always entralled me at the start of each new episode (this theme reminds me symphonically of the "Salem's Lot" theme)

• "Too Bad You're Crazy" (Charles Bernstein) from the end credits of one of my favorite 80's horror films "April Fool's Day". I got this from another music share blog and can't remember which one right now

• "The Sacrifice" (Jonathan Elias *composer of the "Vamp" score) - I recorded this nice "Miami Viceish" tune from the beginning of a "Tales From The Crypt" episode called "The Sacrifice" so that's what I named the song

There we go. I hope you all enjoy these 5 rare and obscure songs folks, and that they make a nice little package to tide you over. Take care.

It's titled "Pumpkinhead III: Ashes To Ashes" - so burn to ashes all existing copies of this "film"

This post also should have been on April Fool's Day, because when I rented "Pumpkinhead III: Ashes To Ashes" that day, I was fooled big time! This steaming pile of excrement was actually covered in a multi-page spread in Fangoria - yaarrgghh! ... Bottom line: It's utter garbage with no redeeming value whatsoever. I realized it was terrible right from the get-go and then started to scan through it and then just shut 'er down and took it out of the player. I should have learned my lesson way back with "Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings" and just hung up the cleats with the Stan Winston first and ONLY masterpiece: "Pumpkinhead". Have I said enough? It's titled "Pumpkinhead III: Ashes To Ashes" - so burn to ashes all existing copies of this "film".
here's a link to a review of this trash:
http://www.cinematical.com/2007/03/30/dvd-review-pumpkinhead-3-ashes-to-ashes/

VAMP film score from 1986

Hi everbody! I have been busy and under the weather so I finally have another treat for you. This is one of my favorite film scores to one of my old childhood favorites. I first saw Vamp in 1986 when I was staying with my older cousin in Southern California and she took me to the video store. It was also one of the many VHS rental favorites of my best friend Eric and I. We always got our hands on Rated R VHS rentals, and of course HBO always had films like this on at night. Of course we mainly rented horror, action or comedies: Vamp, the Porkys flix, Stripes, Caddyshack, Red Dawn, Losin' It, Fright Night, Fletch, Risky Business, Sixteen Candles, etc. - you get the picture. Lots of these films were ALWAYS on HBO anyway.

Vamp was always a fun one for us and how can you go wrong with best friends Keith & A.J. (Chris Makepeace & Robert Rusler), their wealthy tag-along frat-mate wannabe Duncan (Gedde Watanabe), creepy albino gang leader Snow (Billy Drago) and all the other 80's fun & mayhem under the dark veil of Grace Jones and the vampire coven.

I digitized this Vamp 1986 film score from the vinyl LP back in around 2001. I also added-in an extra bonus track from a Vampire CD collection at the end. I have since realized that Jonathan Elias is an awesome composer and I love to chill to whatever music he creates. Vamp is for kickin' back in any situation, or for visiting that fun place of an 80's adolescent and imagining being a care-free, older college guy with his best friend, and then plummeting into that creepy labyrinth of shadows, mean albinos & thirsty vampires. Hunt for the download link above & Enjoy!