© 2007 Lawrence Tuczynski
All info about this CD courtesy of Robert Storch (except Track
translations courtesy of John Cassidy)
| Title | FIENDISH INVESTIGATION ~ THE WORLD OF MYSTERY MOVIES (NOTE: FIENDISH could also be translated as DEVILISH) |
| CD Label | Nippon Columbia Co.,LTD |
| CD Number | COCA-13095 |
| Music Composed by: | Tracks 1-4 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) Tracks 5-6 (Yasushi Akutagawa) Tracks 7-8 (Yuji Ono) Track 9 (Nobuhiko Oobayashi) Tracks 10-11 (Kunihiko Murai) Track 12 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) Tracks 13-15 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) Track 16 (Takashi Mizuki) Tracks 17-20 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) |
| Number of tracks | 20 |
| Running time | 70:37 |
| Number of discs | 1 |
| Year of release/manufacture | January 20, 1996 |
| REVIEW |
September 20, 2007 courtesy of Robert Storch
This rare CD features the best tracks from a series of horror/detective films that was released in Japan during the 1970's. I have not seen these movies but they revolve around a central character, private detective Kosuke Kindaichi and the mysteries he solves. The front of the booklet shows five album covers - the larger one is the original 1977 LP this CD is reissued from, and the smaller original soundtrack covers are from the following films: THE DEVIL'S BOUNCING BALL SONG (1977), THE DEVIL'S ISLAND (1977), THE HOUSE OF HANGING (1979) and QUEEN BEE (1978). This CD also contains music from three additional films, even though their album covers are not featured on the front of the booklet - THE INUGAMI FAMILY (1976), VILLAGE OF EIGHT GRAVESTONES (1977) and THE MURDER CASE IN THE STRONGHOLD (1975). Except for "Village" and "Murder Case", all of these films were released by Toho Studios, and the first of these Toho films, THE INUGAMI FAMILY, featured an effective score by Yuji Ono. The other Toho sequels were not scored by Ono, but surprisingly they manage to retain the same musical atmosphere and style as the initial film. Three of the sequels were scored by Shinichi Tanabe which helps lend some musical continuity to the series, and as a result, all of the tracks on this CD sound very much at home together. When I initially listened to this CD I was pleasantly surprised - the music on this release is thoroughly enjoyable as a stand alone listen and does not sound like typical horror music. Overall, I would say that most of this music has an almost European feel to it, sounding very contemporary for the mid-to-late 70's, with some tracks even having a late 60's vibe to them. Almost every theme is very catchy - Track 1 kicks off the disc with the main title from the second Toho sequel (composed by Shinichi Tanabe) and is probably my favorite track…it's very memorable, uplifting, and is really an excellent stand alone listen. Track 2 is another winner from this film as it features a rather soothing and haunting female vocal chorus throughout, and the result is really outstanding. Track 7 is the main title from THE INUGAMI FAMILY and is a fantastic theme, setting the standard musically for the series. Track 8 is an interesting one indeed...basically a takeoff on Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", even mimicking David Gilmour's guitar playing throughout the track. Track 9 seems to be the only theme from "Murder Case" on this CD and is very catchy as well. Track 17 is the main title from the fourth Toho sequel and is another winner from Shinichi Tanabe. The two tracks from "Village" are also excellent and the full soundtrack is worth seeking out (originally released on SLCS-5077 and reviewed elsewhere in this site). From what I can tell, tracks 5-8 are faithful re-recordings and are not taken from the original soundtracks (perhaps due to license issues), but they sound extremely close to the originals. All the other music on this CD seems to be taken from the actual soundtracks. Individual soundtracks for all of these films were released on CD in the early 1990's, and later reissued on CD in the late 90's (except for "Village" which was re-released in 2001). However, I cannot confirm if the score for THE MURDER CASE IN THE STRONGHOLD (1975) was ever released on LP or CD, I have never seen that soundtrack anywhere. All versions of these individual soundtrack CDs are now long out of print and very difficult to find. As mentioned above, this Columbia CD is an expanded reissue of a 1977 LP (catalog number AX-5015, which did not include the music from QUEEN BEE or THE HOUSE OF HANGING since those films were released after the LP), and is probably the rarest disc of them all - it's nearly impossible to find today. When it does show up for sale in Japan, a copy in good condition or better usually sells for between $100 to $300. Interestingly, a fifth Toho sequel titled THE INUGAMIS (a.k.a. MURDER OF THE INUGAMI CLAN) was released in 2006, and the soundtrack for the film is actually a 2-CD set which features the score for the 2006 film on Disc 1, and Yuji Ono's original 1976 score for THE INUGAMI FAMILY (remastered with bonus tracks) on Disc 2. THE INUGAMIS is actually a contemporary update of the '76 film, with legendary 91 year old director Kon Ichikawa (who made the '76 film and some of its sequels) back at the helm, and Koji Ishizaka (who played the original Detective Kindaichi in most of the 70's films) also returning to reprise his role. On a final note, the soundtrack for VILLAGE OF EIGHT GRAVESTONES (1977) was again re-released in 2007, along with two other Yasushi Akutagawa scores in a new 2-CD set. |
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FIENDISH INVESTIGATION ~ THE WORLD OF MYSTERY MOVIES
From THE PRISON GATE ISLAND (1977) From THE VILLAGE OF THE EIGHT GRAVES (1977) From THE FAMILY OF THE INUGAMI HOUSE (1976) From THE MURDER CASE IN THE STRONGHOLD (1975) From THE FIENDISH HANDBALL SONG (1977) From THE QUEEN BEE (1978) From THE HANGING HOUSE ON THE HOSPITAL HILL (1979) |