 |
Title |
| Fiendish Investigation:
The World of Mystery Movies |
| International Title |
| [Compilation]
|
| Music By:
Various |
| Record Label:
Columbia |
| |
|
| Running Time: 71:14 |
Discs: 1 |
| Release: January 1996 |
CD Number: COCA-13095 |
|
| Comments |
 |
Anthony
Romero |
 |
|
|
First
off, huge thanks goes to Robert Storch for sending
this disc in for review!
Released in the mid-1990's, this set from Columbia,
which is a reissue of a 1977 LP (AX-5015) with some
of the later movies added in, focuses on the Kosuke
Kindaichi films based on the work of novelist Seishi
Yokomizo. This "franchise" is rather unique
for being a cross studio affair. Kosuke Kindaichi
is an expansive source, still alive today in remakes
such as The
8-Tomb Village (1996) and Inugamis
(2006) and a variety of TV adaptations. This set focuses
on the 1970's films, excluding Toei's work, which
at this stage already had a diverse pool of firms
behind it. Murder Case in the Mansion was made
by ATG, Village of 8 Gravestones was produced
by Shochiku, and The
Inugamis (1976) was created by Kadokawa,
and would be the first film Toho released in the series.
In total, Toho released five of these movies during
this period, all of which are covered in this release
along with the previously mentioned Murder Case
in the Mansion and Village of 8 Gravestones.
The CD is a compilation disc, covering a variety of
themes from the seven films featured. It starts off
with Shinichi Tanabe's work on Hell's
Gate Island (1977). A wise choice to lead
the CD off with, as this is probably the best soundtrack
in the entire franchise. It is primarily a soothing
body of work, and has enough to make it distinct for
the time period. "Prison Gate Island Theme"
is a little dated for example, and sadly has a slight
hiss to the track here, but none the less makes for
a great listen. Tracks 10 through 20 focus on the
other Toho films in the series. Lullaby
to Kill (1977), while not the strongest entry
in the series from a musical perspective, contains
a few themes that stand out in a real positive light,
two of which are found here with "Ballade of
Pathos" and "Between Love and Hate".
After this comes some more work from Tanabe, who would
become a series regular for Toho's entries. His work
on Queen Bee
(1978) is also stellar, featuring the second best
score in the series. The "Queen Bee Theme"
is always excellent, as is the slightly exotic and
very soothing "Tomoko's Theme: Queen Bee of Love".
The selection for this film, though, isn't the best,
as tracks like "Love and Hate" seem at odds
with some of the others. Finally, the disc closes
with Tanabe's final score in the series. This is probably
the weakest of his three soundtracks, but includes
such wonderful themes as the vocal backed "The
House of Hanging on Hospital Hill Theme" that
it makes for a perfect compilation inclusion. Sadly,
this set does have the very jazz influenced "Angry
Pirates: Theme of the Angry Pirates", which is
not for everyone to say the least. It wisely closes,
though, with the slightly sorrowful theme "Where
to", which makes for a good ending for the disc
as a whole.
Now, in terms of tracks 5 through 9, these are actually
rearranged pieces and probably the stand out inclusions
because of that. Unique to the Fiendish Investigation
release as far as I know, these cues by Masaaki Jinbo
are stellar. These are the three films Toho did not
produce in this set, they only released The
Inugamis (1976), so it's possible they
were re-recorded for copyright or legal reasons as
Toho's logo does appear on the original LP. Regardless
of why, this selection includes some great themes.
In fact, one of the greatest cues off this disc is
the reworked "Ochimusha's Theme". All of
these tracks have a more orchestrated quality, something
that sounds like a concert versus a typical soundtrack,
but they work. If you like the music from this series
enough, it might be worth searching out this release
just for these cues. In particular the track related
to Murder Case in the Mansion, as this movie
has never received a more fleshed out release.
Overall, this is a very solid compilation. It's a
full disc worth of music, with a few unique extras
to make it stand out. It has both content for people
who have the individual scores, and also works as
a nice sampler for the better themes from the series.
If one has been curious about the music contained
in this franchise, this release makes a good springboard,
although sadly is very rare and expensive today.
Rating:  |
|
| Tracks |
Hell's
Gate Island (1977)
Composer: Shinichi Tanabe
- Love Theme
- Prison Gate Island Theme
- Kosuke Kindaichi's Theme
- Pilgrimage
Village of 8 Gravestones (1977)
By: Masaaki Jinbo, Composer:
Yasushi Akutagawa
- Ochimusha's Theme
- Road Traveling Theme
The
Inugamis (1976)
By: Masaaki Jinbo, Composer:
Yuji Ohno
- Ballade of Love
- Theme of Hate
Murder Case in the Mansion (1975)
By: Masaaki Jinbo, Composer:
Nobuhiko Obayashi
- Murder Case in the Mansion Theme
Lullaby
to Kill (1977)
Composer: Kunihiko Murai
- Ballade of Pathos
- Sen-nin Pass
- Between Love and Hate
Queen Bee
(1978)
Composer: Shinichi Tanabe
- Queen Bee Theme
- Hideko's Theme: Closed Thought
- Love and Hate
- Tomoko's Theme: Queen Bee of Love
House
of Hanging (1979)
Composer: Shinichi Tanabe
- The House of Hanging on Hospital Hill Theme
- Angry Pirates: Theme of the Angry Pirates
- Cursed Fate
- Where to
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