Original Soundtrack:
Witchfinder General:
De Wolfe Music:
Out Nov 18:
★★★★
Fans of British shock-horror film-soundtracks will be flocking to this, the fifth in a long line of reissues from the gargantuan De Wolfe sound-library set up over 100 years ago. 'Witchfinder General' itself was released in 1968 and stars Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy and Hilary Dwyer and was especially memorable for its of-the-time grisly torture-scenes and testy relationship between Price and director Michael Reeves. In fact, one listen to the tense, cliff-hanger passages on this newly-revived soundtrack may suggest its composer Paul Ferris might have been influenced as much by the off-screen antics as those on it.
Presented in a swish digi-pack with an informative libretto, this reissue comes with two extra excerpts, plus the full thirty-one track spread originally featured in the flick. Musically pitched somewhere between The Wicker Man, Juan Martin, Mike Oldfield, Greensleeves and Bernard Herrmann, Witchfinder Soundtrack is both pure tension and reflective idyll with the pretty key motif present on the opening and closing credits. The music belies the film's gritty content, sounding something like Downton Abbey in places and Cape Fear in others - a soundtrack of opposites and written specifically for the often bloody action on screen.
Cult soundtrack fans will be delighted to learn that more releases are planned for the coming months - if the attention to detail is anything like this example, De Wolfe's legacy should continue for some time to come.
Witchfinder General:
De Wolfe Music:
Out Nov 18:
★★★★
Presented in a swish digi-pack with an informative libretto, this reissue comes with two extra excerpts, plus the full thirty-one track spread originally featured in the flick. Musically pitched somewhere between The Wicker Man, Juan Martin, Mike Oldfield, Greensleeves and Bernard Herrmann, Witchfinder Soundtrack is both pure tension and reflective idyll with the pretty key motif present on the opening and closing credits. The music belies the film's gritty content, sounding something like Downton Abbey in places and Cape Fear in others - a soundtrack of opposites and written specifically for the often bloody action on screen.
Cult soundtrack fans will be delighted to learn that more releases are planned for the coming months - if the attention to detail is anything like this example, De Wolfe's legacy should continue for some time to come.