Musique Fantastique

July 17, 2023

Denny Zeitlin’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS Score Gets an Expanded Soundtrack

Intrada presents a completely restored and expanded edition of Denny Zeitlin’s score to the 1978 version of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. Zeitlin was an interesting choice to score Invasion, seeing as he had not scored films previously (or after), but his acquaintanceship with director Philip Kaufman led to the assignment. Zeitlin had a unique perspective on the project, and not just as a jazz artist – he was also a trained psychiatrist. While the main character played by Donald Sutherland was originally going to play saxophone with a jazz-styled score to complement, this was eventually abandoned in favor of a “20th-century electronic/acoustic score” for both symphony orchestra and electronics. While adept at jazz and electronics, Zeitlin had never composed for orchestra before. He ultimately composed a score bristling with avant-garde dissonances and effects, as well as a nod to 1950s horror in an alarming four-note “sting” for the pods, and a jazz/blues love theme.

For this new release, Intrada features the expanded program on disc 1, remixed, assembled and mastered from the 8-track session masters by Chris Malone, with Zeitlin’s unique presentation of the original LP master on disc 2.

Starts Shipping 7/19. For track listing and sound samples, see Intrada here.

Watch the 1978 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS trailer: