Chainsaw Terror

Jerry Goldsmith was at the peak of his phenomenal powers when he scored Poltergeist, Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film about paranormal activity. With this 2CD set, FSM presents the definitive edition of one of Goldsmith’s finest and most popular works—including the complete film score on Disc 1 and the original LP soundtrack album (along with a few previously unreleased bonus cues and alternates) on Disc 2. Poltergeist was produced by Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Set in a fictional Southern California development, it tells the harrowing tale of a typical suburban family whose home is invaded by demonic spirits. It blends elements from previous Spielberg films in a new mix that is part sci-fi, part horror, and part contemporary thriller—all genres in which Jerry Goldsmith excelled. Goldsmith’s score flows effortlessly between hard-core, dissonant modernism and some of the most lyrical, humanistic music he ever wrote. It is both a marvel of musical construction and a visceral listening experience. Composed over an uncharacteristically long period of fifteen weeks, the music for Poltergeist evokes both child-like simplicity and sheer terror.

It's the fall of 1969 and winds of a change are blowing across America. But on a remote family farm in the hills of Virginia, a storm of evil has been brewing for years. Now for a group of young people hitchhiking to a rally in D.C., a detour to the nightmare homestead of Staunton's will rip apart their young lives forever. A grisly secret is waiting. The raw terror is growing. And the clan's brutal harvest is about to begin. Kathy Lampkin (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Kiko Ellsworth (Dexter), Cooper Huckabee (The Funhouse), Cristen Coppen and David Rountree star in this extreme shocker from Pittsburgh filmmaker Cameron Robero - son of legendary Night of the Living Dead director Geroge A. Romero - that unleashes a new generation of graphic horror.