The Fly - The Fly II

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

David Cronenberg remains one of the cinema's most important directors. From his breakthrough film Scanners to his recent A History of Violence, Cronenberg has catapulted himself to the movie's subconsciousness and made fans all over the world, due to his graphic horror but equally innovating original design. And along for the ride still is composer Howard Shore who has become equally known as the dark composer surrounding the tales of Cronenberg. Long before LOTR, Shore was the dark composer and the one people weren't really interested in. Now things have changed and that's why perhaps Varčse re released their 2 Fly releases, the first composed by Shore, the second by the other famous horror composer Christopher Young, then fresh off his success of the Hellraiser scores. However, considering its about the same concept, the scores are still different in feel and theme. With Shore you have as he puts it the more operatic composition and while perhaps not important for some, its clearly how Shore takes a begin and an end and in the middle the more brooding elements that tie it together. What people will have remembered from the movie will naturally be the main theme, and I always liked Shore's theme from the second I heard it in the movie. Its then also one of those wonderful gothic 4 note themes that defies Gothicism, horror and monsters and it feels just perfect for a movie as this. And the perfect example is in fact heard in the begin, when Shore lets it grow to its gothic status. 'Main Title' begins with an opening brass fanfare and sinister strings, before a variant on the theme is heard, while in 'Plasma Pool' it grows from sinister strings to an excellent brass version. No better word for it then excellent. And then the dark brooding underscore kicks in, with many tracks surrounding either underscore, brooding dissonance or eerie mystery with parts of the theme. 'Stathis Enters' is dark ominous brass moving to shrieking violins, 'The Phone Call' plucking strings and a variation on the theme as one of its better tracks. With 'The Jump' we have a dissonant atonal piece for brass and flutes while eerie but slightly dramatic is the dying theme on strings signaling Seth's impending doom in 'Seth and the Fly'.

A weird moment perhaps is for 'Particle Magazine' with a piano and sax relaxing the mood while the tinkling in 'The Street' is too surprisingly mellow and sweet. Directly reverse is 'The Stairs' with shrieking violins and a growing theme rising but softly stating nonetheless its version. The somber mood in 'The Fingernails' reminds me of Alien while 'The Creature' is brass (trumpets atonally bringing forth their rise), moving to a brief pounding dissonant finish, signaling more Shore's creative horror music. 'The Ultimate Family' begins atonal but further displays ideas by certain instruments and the way the brass picks up that same structure is keen to notice, the way the opera is moving to its finish, naturally with 'The Finale' portraying the main theme with the eerie like Alien music. However the way Shore ends with the fanfare which begun the score shows the operatic effect he was talking about. That said, in all its effectiveness its however quite boring to notice much after several listens. The theme immediately picks up your attention (whether soft or strong) but the more eerie somber music doesn't impress more after a while, and frankly the same counts for The Fly II. I perhaps assumed Chris Young to take the gothic Hellraiser tour and show us a thing or 2 but frankly, not much of that is displayed on the secondary CD attached to the re release. However, its fair to say Young's similarities are showing, similarities that would distinguish him as the smart composer today. With touches heard in the expected Hellraiser and Hellbound but especially the eerie Species, its fare to say that Young captured the same eerie mystery and mood well of the science fiction horror music. 'The Fly II' shows those eerie flutes and a brass fanfare ala Hellraiser for the upcoming evil. That brass fanfare is more or less the reoccurring theme of the movie, with reprising its role in one of the best tracks 'Fly Variations' along with the eerie strings of Species.

Sadly most tracks come around as a bit boring, stuff like 'Musca Domestica Metastasis' is mood setting, eerie strings, dissonant growing to a brief climax but mostly covering a moody mystery. This is 7 minutes of which from 5 barely nothing happens. Same for 'More is Coming', dissonant grows but an eerie piece with subdued mystery after that. Young is more capable in setting the gothic allure to a horror picture and so we receive examples of trained expertise in 'The Fly March', beginning with a brass wailing on a rhythmic tone, trumpets furiously growing but sadly this doesn't last long, setting Aliens like eerie strings after that. The rather soft but lovely 'Bay 17 Mysteries' is even a surprise with its mellow mystery. Its in these parts that The Fly II shows promise. Besides the eerie strings and occasional hits from track 8, 9 and 10 we have the better ending namely 'What's the Magic Word?', with a fanfare led momentum and the brass signaling the horror music we got to know from Young. The eerie mystery of Species ends 'Dad'. Altogether, there is way too less horror fare present to put it alongside his classics Hellraiser and Hellbound, but as sidekick to The Fly, it shows the same moody premise and the same gothic allure, only the themes do feature differences and where Shore created a massive gothic burst, Young produced a mysterious fantasy fanfare, together perhaps presenting enough for fans to enjoy. However, anyone expecting the brilliance of either composer is gonna be disappointed. The Fly / The Fly II cover good moments but put together in a mood setting which doesn't attract bugs. However for the price its perhaps an interesting collector's item. For the price of 1, you receive 2 scores, both from craftsman in the horror business, both yet proving their skills to a unknowing audience then and both having the name now to attract the fans that got to know them. With a booklet of information and a flying horror mood surrounding it, perhaps this creature is all you need to be transported. Where? You have to say the magic word for that!

\ľľľ/

Tracks

Double Disc

The Fly

1. Main Title (1.54)

2. Plasma Pool (1.54) Excellent Track

3. The Last Visit (2.24)

4. Stathis Enters (2.19)

5. The Phone Call (2.07)

6. Seth Goes Trough (2.03)

7. Ronnie Comes Back (0.54)

8. The Jump (1.20)

9. Seth And The Fly (2.18)

10. Particle Magazine (1.00)

11. The Armwrestle (0.50)

12. Brundlefly (1.41)

13. Ronnie's Visit (0.35)

14. The Street (0.42)

15. The Stairs (1.25)

16. The Fingernails (2.35)

17. Baboon Teleportation (0.57)

18. The Creature (2.07)

19. Steak Montage (0.57)

20. The Maggot / Fly Graphic (1.36)

21. Success With Baboon (0.58)

22. The Ultimate Family (1.59)

23. The Finale (2.48)

Total Length: 37.42

The Fly II

1. The Fly II (1.52)

2. Come Fly With Me (2.32)

3. Fly Variations (6.23)

4. Musca Domestica Metastasis (7.22)

5. The Spider And The Fly (1.34)

6. More Is Coming (3.33)

7. The Fly March (4.11)

8. Accelerated Brundle Disease (4.16)

9. Bay 17 Mysteries (2.39)

10. Bartok Barbaro (5.17)

11. What's The Magic Word? (4.57)

12. Dad (2.57)

Total Length: 47.41

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Sites: Howard Shore & Christopher Young ===