Musique Fantastique

January 24, 2023

Intrada Announces John Beal’s Complete Score to 1981 Fear Festival THE FUNHOUSE

In Tobe Hooper’s 1981 carnival of horrors, four Iowa teenagers (Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff, Miles Chapin) visit a local fun house for a night of innocent amusement, but soon become trapped in a dark ride. discovering nothing there is innocent or amusing as they become stalked by a deformed murderous carnie (Kevin Conway).

Intrada released an 11-track promotional CD of John Beal’s vivid orchestral score in 1998, but now they offer the complete score in a 33-track, 77.35-minute soundtrack CD which is sure to please the dark carnie within all listeners.

Beal’s “Harmonic vernacular continues throughout, and in one instance stands out in pure tritone major chords for French horn during closing bars of “All Alone No. 1,” a highlight,” writes the label. “When scares arrive, Beal unleashes in kind with intense fortissimo episodes of musical fury. Interestingly, while intensity is keynote, Beal relies on propulsive energy and exciting jabs of color rather than overt dissonance to underscore the thrills. Results are striking! First half of the score leads to the horror, second half provides the thrills.”

In addition to Beal’s gripping score, Intrada also includes numerous extra tracks featuring carnival music, calliope tunes, and assorted cues scored by Beal and used as source music as teens stroll throughout carnival. Even the bulk of these pieces play with an unsettling veneer. The complete score is presented courtesy of Universal, mastered from the 24-track session tapes recorded by Rick Riccio, mixed by Matt La Point. The CD package is designed by Kay Marshall and includes informative booklet notes by John Takis.

For more details and to order, see Intrada.

Watch the film’s 1981 trailer: