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Author	Topic: James Bernard and Universal Horror films

Gae Oscar® Winner	Last night I watched the documentary "Universal Horror" on BBC 2, narrated by Kenneth Brannagh. As the title implies it was a brief account of the old classic horror films starring Karloff/Lugosi/Chaney etc. Anyway, the music that was specially written for the documentary esp. some of the silent clips sounded uncannily like James Bernards Hammer film music. The pleasant surprise to me was that it was James Bernard!! I was thinking how cool it was that music composed for the British Hammer studios which appeared maybe 20-30 years later than the hey-day of Universal horror films had seeped into the unconscious of the horror genre so much so, that Bernards "sound" was now considered suitable for some of the old classics. I thought the music worked nicely throughout the documentary and all those mispent hours of watching hammer films and getting to know the music so well helped to consolidate the music's impact!! O.K. so maybe there was a little bit too much of the old cliched "repeating ascending chromatic motif" that has become a trademark of James Bernard but I still loved it. Anyone who knows and loves the Hammer horror films as I do would have had a real nostalgia trip hearing Bernard's music again which seems to have "risen from the grave to tingle our spines once more!! Great stuff!! Just found this interview with James Bernard which is a good read:- http://www.hammerfilms.com/interviews/jb/index.html It was nice to see how many people also were affected by the legendary Universal characters Frankenstein/Dracula/The Wolf Man/The Mummy when they were kids and still had a soft spot for them, dated though they may be. Ray Bradbury was amongst those terrified and inspired by them. I also grew up watching the old classic horror films as a kid and I can still watch them for there dark atmosphere and great sets even if the acting does seem wooden by todays standards. When I was a kid I was so obbsessed with these monsters that I collected all the "glow in the dark" models of them that were around in the '70's. Does anyone remember those? You had the choice of putting on the white glow in the dark heads and hands or the normal ones for painting. They were great. Very realistic too. I remember the Boris Karloff model stood on a gravestone, and the Bela Lugosi Dracula had a small tree with a bat. They also did a King Kong model and the "Invisible Man" I think. Does anyone know if they still make these or who made them originally? I'd love to find info on the models and take a trip down memory lane. Gae [Message edited by Gae on 12-29-2000]
posted 12-29-2000 12:03 PM PT (US)

Graham Watt Oscar® Winner	Gae, what a nice trip down memory lane! I had all those "Aurora Models". From what I remember, my brother and myself spent hours on end lovingly painting then assembling these things. Let's see if I can remember at least some of them (this is all completely spur of the moment): Frankenstein's Monster: Arms outstretched IN FRONT OF a gravestone (I think)! My brother rather overdid the green face, in retrospect. Godzilla: Crushing tower blocks underfoot. The Wolfman: Arms aloft, ready to strike. I think HE was on top of a rock. Phantom Of The Opera: In his lair. There was a poor hapless prisoner behind him in a dungeon. I think I made my prisoner luminous. Dracula: I think I put luminous bats on the tree. King Kong: Furious, with Fay Wray in one hand. I didn't bother to paint Kong as he was already brown plastic. The Fay Wray figure was one of the luminous options. The Creature From The Black Lagoon: In Wolfman pose. The Mummy: Dragging bandages behind him. His face seemed to be neither Karloff nor Chaney, but it didn't really matter because I think I gave him a luminous head, which wasn't the best way to appreciate his features. I'll probably remember more just after posting this. I too also love all that Hammer music. Is anyone getting those GDI releases? I've only got a handful so far, my favourite being The Mummy (I adore all of James Bernard's music, but the Franz Reizenstein score is awesome). Going back to the Universal/Hammer connection, there was an interesting discussion here or at FSM a while back about the pros and cons of having someone like James Bernard put a score to the early, almost scoreless, classics (all this because of some comments about his Nosferatu). You were probably there, Gae!
posted 12-29-2000 12:51 PM PT (US)

Graham Watt Oscar® Winner	Just remembered another one! The Witch (hey, what kind of movie monster was she?). Standing beside her bubbling cauldron. Lots of nice individual pieces in this one, pots and pans, bats etc. My brother chose the luminous option for most of those parts, plus her boiling broth. Christmas here is in January. This may be a sign of senile dementia, but I'd really like to go back and make these things again, though there's probably nothing as beautifully naive on the market anymore.
posted 12-29-2000 01:21 PM PT (US)

Stephen Lister Oscar® Winner	I didn't actually get any of the cool sounding models you've been describing, but I was always aware of them as a kid, in the ad pages of SUPERMAN comics or some such American publication. Me, I was too busy making Airfix models of Spitfires and Tiger Tanks - I was on a WW2 kick most of my childhood. I used to drill realistic looking bullet holes in the wings of aeroplanes with a red hot screwdriver! When I was a bit older - old enough to stay up later than my parents - I used to watch the Hammer movies, which always seemed to be on late night TV on the BBC. I found them immensely creepy, and used to have two table knives on the sofa next to me so I could whack them together into a crucifix in case a vamp tried sneaking up on me! I'm sure it was James Bernard's music that made me so tense - try watching those flicks with the sound muted. It's great after all these years to finally have CDs of his scores - though, being an adult now, the creep factor is sadly gone, and I find all that suspense stuff rather quaint - an anthem for my lost teenage years watching late night horror movies. The thing that surprises me most about James' music is the melodic, lyrical themes he composes - I was never aware of them at the time (too busy looking over my shoulder for vamps) but they're the most enjoyable aspect of the current CDs, I find. I've made myself a CDR called "A Symphony of Good and Evil" which combines a lot of his lyrical music with the darker material. When I play it to people, they think it's classical music - they're amazed when they find out it's by that Dracula guy!
posted 12-29-2000 02:17 PM PT (US)

Gae Oscar® Winner	"Aurora" models, thats it!! Thanks Graham. Those figures were so synonomous of my youth. The Frankenstein was indeed in front of a gravestone with arms out-stretched, I had that one. Also, I dont think I painted the King Kong model either as it was already brown as you mentioned. What I did do though was made my own king kong model out of clay. It was about 9 inches tall complete with a wire frame and fur which I glued on. I remember winning a couple of talent competitions with that one. The only problem was that the glue was so toxic that the clay stayed molten for a while before it finally went so hard that the model started to crack up and wouldn't bend. Wow, how I wish I'd kept that model! It was a very realistic copy considering I was only 10 years old and then I moved on to painting and drawing pictures of my favourite monsters. Those Aurora kits had lovely paintings on the covers. I always remember the Bela Lugosi picture where he had blood on his head..I think it was from "Mark of the Vampire". Remember,the "Jekyl and Hyde" picture was from the Frederic March version. Anyway, I progressed from making models into painting and drawing my favourite monsters. Do you remember the "World of Horror" and "House of Hammer" mags and comics. I remember the "World of Horror" being really gory, thats why I was fascinated by it. I'm sure it was only for sale to Adults at the time. I used to copy some of those brilliant paintings on the back cover of "The World of Hammer" done by..was it Roy Neary or Paul Nasch or someone? I entered one of the paintings in a local competition and the judge placed me 2nd, on the basis that he didn't believe I had done the painting myself. I've still got it somewhere. It was a scene of Boris Karloff holding Basil Rathbones arm from "The Son of Frankenstein". There was also one of Chris Lee snarling from "Dracula has risen from the Grave"?..maybe! When I get a scanner I'll have to scan them and post them somewhere. Oh, sweet memories. I'm gonna do a search on the net and see if I can find all these things again...I doubt it though. They've probably long since vanished off the face of the earth!! Gae
posted 12-29-2000 03:31 PM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	Gae, as a teenager, I painted and assembled ALL of the Aurora monster model kits! And just a year ago, I sold them all at eBay! I got quite a lot of money for them! I believe that you can still purchase those kits today, but I can't recall the name of the company that took over from Aurora. Anyway, if you check out the monster model category at eBay, I'll bet you'll find them all for sale there!
posted 12-29-2000 06:27 PM PT (US)

Gae Oscar® Winner	I'll have a quick look now Chris, thanks!! O.K. so the face is green but it doesn't look anything like Karloff
posted 12-30-2000 04:40 AM PT (US)

Graham Watt Oscar® Winner	Gae, I've still got all those mags you mention, stacked in a closet back home. World Of Horror was quite good quality, but I don't remember if it had any original artwork in it. House of Hammer (or something like that) DID have some very well-drawn adaptations of Hammer movies. Let's see if I can recall the names of any artists...Brian...nope, but I'll waken in the night shouting their names. Remember Monster Mag? This was one of the first British publications of its type, and folded out into totally splendiferous posters of all our favourite monsters. That could be quite gory at times.
posted 12-30-2000 07:07 AM PT (US)

Gae Oscar® Winner	Graham, thats the one I meant "Monster Mag". It was really gory and the pictures were really glossy. Loads of colourful pics from the "Hammer" films like "Twins of Evil" etc and "Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell". They were quite funny, looking back, because they always concentrated on the most "gory" scene from the movie as opposed to showing ordinary scenes, remember? I dont suppose you'd wanna trade/sell any of these would you?....esp. the "Hammer" comics. I used to love those comic adaptation of the films! I'll send you a list of my record/CD collection if you want and see if theres anything there you'd be interested in. Let me know! Gae
posted 12-30-2000 10:20 AM PT (US)

Chris Kinsinger Oscar® Winner	As a kid, my favorite magazines were Famous Monsters Of Filmland and Castle Of Frankenstein.
posted 12-30-2000 11:37 AM PT (US)

Graham Watt Oscar® Winner	Gae, let me know if you got (or didn't get) my e-mail. I don't trust all this technology! Chris, yes, I've got some of those American mags you mention, though they were notoriously difficult to come by in Britain. A horrorific New Year to you all!
posted 12-31-2000 08:21 AM PT (US)

Timmer Oscar® Winner	Chris, I remember once seeing the inside of Forrest J.Ackerman's house...All those posters and original film props made me quite jealous
posted 12-31-2000 08:43 AM PT (US)

Gae Oscar® Winner	While we're on the subject of "Hammer" I watched "The Reptile" on SKY last night and noticed the James bernard score was much more different to his usal Hammer scores. At first I was'nt even sure if it was Bernard until I heard of few of his trademark "sounds" coming through. Anyway, it was definately one of Bernard's more experimental and fresher scores...especially the "Indian" music played as a recital by Jacqueline Pierce!! He also scored "Plague of the Zombies" in that year as both films were released together as a double-bill. What a busy studio they were back then. Anyway, I always remember the music in the "dream" sequence of "Plague of the Zombies". What a brilliantly atmospheric piece of film-scoring...that scene is still eerie to watch. The music starts with an ostinato bass figure ( a precursor to "Jaws" perhaps?) and continues building up the tension with sporadic stabbs of dissonant brass chords. So simple and yet so complex and powerful at the same time. A great moment of music/film working succesfully in unison. Does anyone remember the scene and agree? Gae NW Where Eagles Dare ( on TCM) waiting for those distant Goodwin snare drums!!!
posted 12-31-2000 03:45 PM PT (US)

Graham Watt Oscar® Winner	Gae, that Hogmany binge has befuddled you! The Reptile was scored by Don Banks! You're right though, it is an interesting score, in fact Banks did a number of films for Hammer like Rasputin The Mad Monk, The Mummy's Shroud and Evil Of Frankenstein. Good music in all (these themes are on the GDI collections.) I don't quite remember the music for the scene you mention in Plague Of The Zombies, but I'm sure it was impressive: James Bernard rarely misjudged when scoring suspense.
posted 01-01-2001 09:48 AM PT (US)

Gae Oscar® Winner	Sorry Graham, I assumed it was James Bernard without really checking the credits...my mistake. Well, now I know why it sounded so different to his other scores...cos' it wasn't him!! Nice score though..and it still manages to sound like a "Hammer" score...whatever that means?? If you can catch "Plague of the Zombies" that dream sequence is excellent, really eerie...catch it if you can!! Gae [Message edited by Gae on 01-01-2001]
posted 01-01-2001 11:21 AM PT (US)

Mark Olivarez Oscar® Winner	Ahhh I remeber collecting Famous Monsters as well. Chris is right Aurora re-issued King Kong, Godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidora. The only difference is that they don't glow now. I had Godzilla when I was a young one but couldn't resist playing with him much like my model of the Hindenburg.....but that is another whole disaster..err.....story.
posted 01-01-2001 01:47 PM PT (US)

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