Tunesday: The Horrific Sounds of Jerry Goldsmith's POLTERGEIST, ALIEN, GREMLINS, and THE OMEN

Art by Mondo

Back in 1979, director Ridley Scott (The Counselor) tapped artist Jerry Goldsmith to compose and conduct the score for Alien. Already an Academy Award-winning artist with an established body of work (such as Planet of the Apes and Chinatown), Goldsmith created over two hours of material for the horror/sci-fi classic.

Ultimately, a sizable chunk of Goldsmith's efforts never made it into the final version of the film. Unhappy with Goldsmith's work, Ridley Scott and editor Terry Rawlings nixed most of the pieces. Ridley Scott's rationale: Creating the appropriate atmosphere for a film like Alien. Apparently, the director wanted ambient sounds while Jerry Goldsmith went for a sort of deconstructive romanticism. Basically, it just wasn't scary enough.

In 2007, Jerry Goldsmith's original score would see the light of day. Proving neither men right but providing further evidence that Goldsmith had a unique talent for diversifying. As you'll notice in the following clips from The Omen, Poltergeist, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and Gremlins --whether it be supernatural-horror, horror-comedy, thriller, or sci-fi-horror, the late Jerry Goldsmith found something unique to say in every genre. Even genres within genres.

 

Troy-Jeffrey Allen writes about action/adventure for Action A Go Go. He is a comic book writer whose works include Bamn, The Magic Bullet, and the Harvey Award nominated District Comics. His work has been featured in the City Paper, The Baltimore Sun, Bethesda Magazine, The Examiner, and The Washington Post.