- Composed by Trevor Jones
- La-La Land Records / 2011 / 38:17
Euphemistically described as a “cult classic”, The Sender was a 1982 supernatural chiller which marked the first leading role for Zeljko Ivanek, who has gone on to have a recurring guest starring role in every television series which has been made since. Director Roger Christian was still almost two decades away from making his undoubted masterpiece, Battlefield Earth; for the music he turned to then-up-and-coming composer Trevor Jones, for whom the film was sandwiched in between his early breakthrough scores Excalibur and The Dark Crystal. Jones’s score is a strong one, dominated by an excellent main theme which plays as an interesting contrast between sweetness and chills.
It’s a simple melody, but Jones throws it through so many variations, some elegantly classical, others heavily featuring (somewhat primitive-sounding) synths, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Slightly less appealing are the more overt “horror movie” moments, where the cheap synths sound rather like cheap synths and are likely to have somewhat limited appeal. Still, at its best this is very impressive stuff, marred only by the archival mono sound (this is from 1982!) which was apparently the only surviving source. The liner notes from John Takis could only be described as “in-depth” (I’ve seen shorter Yellow Pages). Shame about the sound, but it’s still a nice release for fans of this composer who seems to have completely dropped out of the limelight in recent years. ***
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‘a 1982 supernatural chiller which marked the first leading role for Zeljko Ivanek, who has gone on to have a recurring guest starring role in every television series which has been made since’
HAHA that made me laugh, so true, he was in 24 wasn’t he? (and everything else!)
I bought this soundtrack because of the afore mentioned Mr. Ivanek. He’s awesome. And so are the liner notes. 🙂
I heard TREVOR JONES being interviewed on local radio last night… He left Cape Town “a 17 year old Coloured boy from District Six” (I’m quoting Trevor) to escape the dehumanising apartheid system, to study music in England. 47 years later, he and his family have relocated to Cape Town> and he’s now very involved in bringing music to the informal settlements and ‘previously disadvantaged areas’…to educate the youths there, and suggest a lifestyle that doesn’t focus on drugs & gangs. When asked if film-scoring was no longer a primary part of his life{which you alluded to in this review James}, he emphasized that he still commutes between London & Los Angeles as he loves the adrenalin rush that working for the movies provides. Regarding his music, he added that unlike JOHN WILLIAMS & JOHN BARRY whose musical style is instantly “recognizable(and formidable)”, his scores don’t have a “TREVOR JONES sound” as it’s the “director’s perspective” [of a movie he’s working on] that he focuses on rather than his own interpretation. Trevor’s memories of his boyhood in Cape Town (where he refused to be a victim) to his glittering career as an academic & film composer was a fascinating listening experience. And it was epic hearing disparate examples of scores that he personally selected, such as >ANGEL HEART…LAST OF THE MOHICANS… EXCALIBUR…DOMENICK & EUGENE…AEGIS…and LAST PLACE ON EARTH.
Thanks André, very interesting!