© 2007 Lawrence Tuczynski
All info about this CD courtesy of Robert Storch (except Track
translations courtesy of John Cassidy)
| Title | FIENDISH INVESTIGATION ~ THE WORLD OF MYSTERY MOVIES (NOTE: FIENDISH could also be translated as DEVILISH) |
| CD Label | Nippon Columbia Co.,LTD |
| CD Number | COCA-13095 |
| Music Composed by: | Tracks 1-4 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) Tracks 5-6 (Yasushi Akutagawa) Tracks 7-8 (Yuji Ono) Track 9 (Nobuhiko Oobayashi) Tracks 10-11 (Kunihiko Murai) Track 12 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) Tracks 13-15 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) Track 16 (Takashi Mizuki) Tracks 17-20 (Shin'ichi Tanabe) |
| Number of tracks | 20 |
| Running time | 70:37 |
| Number of discs | 1 |
| Year of release/manufacture | January 20, 1996 |
| REVIEW |
September 20, 2007 courtesy of Robert Storch
This rare CD features the best tracks from a series of horror/detective films that was released in Japan during the 1970's. I have not seen these movies but they revolve around a central character, private detective Kosuke Kindaichi and the mysteries he solves. The front of the booklet shows five album covers - the larger one is the original 1977 LP this CD is reissued from, and the smaller original soundtrack covers are from the following films: THE DEVIL'S BOUNCING BALL SONG (1977), PRISON GATE ISLAND (1977), THE HOUSE OF HANGING ON HOSPITAL HILL (1979) and QUEEN BEE (1978). This CD also contains music from three additional films, even though their album covers are not featured on the front of the booklet - THE INUGAMI FAMILY (1976), VILLAGE OF 8 GRAVESTONES (1977) and MURDER CASE IN THE MANSION (1975). Except for "Village" and "Murder Case", all of these films were released by Toho Studios, and the first of these Toho films, THE INUGAMI FAMILY, featured an effective score by Yuji Ono. The other Toho sequels were not scored by Ono, but surprisingly they manage to retain the same musical atmosphere and style as the initial film. Three of the sequels were scored by Shinichi Tanabe which helps lend some musical continuity to the series, and as a result, all of the tracks on this CD sound very much at home together. When I initially listened to this CD I was pleasantly surprised - the music on this release is thoroughly enjoyable as a stand alone listen and does not sound like typical horror music. Overall, I would say that most of this music has an almost European feel to it, sounding very contemporary for the mid-to-late 70's, with some tracks even having a late 60's vibe to them. Almost every theme is very catchy - Track 1 kicks off the disc with the main title from PRISON GATE ISLAND and is probably my favorite track…it's very memorable, uplifting, and is really an excellent stand alone listen. Track 2 is another winner from this film as it features a rather soothing and haunting female vocal chorus throughout, and the result is really outstanding. Track 7 is the main title from THE INUGAMI FAMILY and is a fantastic theme, setting the standard musically for the entire series. Track 8 is an interesting one...basically a takeoff on Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", even mimicking David Gilmour's guitar playing throughout the track. Track 9 seems to be the only theme from "Murder Case" on this CD and is very catchy as well. Track 17 is the main title from THE HOUSE OF HANGING ON HOSPITAL HILL and is perhaps my second favorite theme from Shinichi Tanabe. The two tracks from "Village" are also excellent and the full soundtrack is highly recommended (originally released on SLCS-5077 and reviewed elsewhere in this site). From what I can tell, tracks 5-9 are faithful re-recordings and are not taken from the original soundtracks (perhaps due to license issues), but they sound extremely close to the originals and are exclusive to the Fiendish Investigation release, as far as I know. All the other music on this CD seems to be taken from the actual soundtracks. Individual soundtracks for most of these films were initially released on CD in 1993 (on the SLC label), and later reissued on CD in 1998 (two of them with bonus tracks), except for "Village" which was re-released in 2001. However, I cannot confirm if the score from THE MURDER CASE IN THE MANSION (1975) was ever released on LP or CD, as I have never seen that soundtrack anywhere. As mentioned above, this Columbia CD is an expanded reissue of a 1977 LP (catalog number AX-5015, which did not include any music from QUEEN BEE or THE HOUSE OF HANGING ON HOSPITAL HILL since those films were released after the LP), and is probably the rarest CD of them all - it's nearly impossible to find today. When it does show up for sale in Japan, a copy in good condition or better usually sells for between $100 to $300. Interestingly, a fifth Toho sequel titled THE INUGAMIS (a.k.a. MURDER OF THE INUGAMI CLAN) was released in 2006, and the soundtrack for that movie was actually released as a 2-CD set - featuring the score for the 2006 film on Disc 1, and Yuji Ono's original 1976 soundtrack for THE INUGAMI FAMILY (remastered with bonus tracks) on Disc 2. While the original SLC CDs and 1998 reissues remain long out of print and difficult to find, the soundtrack for VILLAGE OF 8 GRAVESTONES (1977) was again re-released in 2007 (along with two other Yasushi Akutagawa scores in a 2-CD set) and throughout 2011, Fuji Cinema stayed busy by reissuing THE DEVIL'S BOUNCING BALL SONG (1977), PRISON GATE ISLAND (1977), QUEEN BEE (1978) and THE HOUSE OF HANGING ON HOSPITAL HILL (1979) on CD - the first reissues in nearly 13 years. All of them are newly remastered and most contain bonus tracks, while they are all packaged in mini replica cardboard sleeves which feature the original SLC artwork (the 1998 reissues had different, unique artwork). As for this Columbia CD, it is doubtful that it will ever be re-released again, making it a rare find and quite collectible. |
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FIENDISH INVESTIGATION ~ THE WORLD OF MYSTERY MOVIES
From THE PRISON GATE ISLAND (1977) From THE VILLAGE OF THE EIGHT GRAVES (1977) From THE FAMILY OF THE INUGAMI HOUSE (1976) From THE MURDER CASE IN THE STRONGHOLD (1975) From THE FIENDISH HANDBALL SONG (1977) From THE QUEEN BEE (1978) From THE HANGING HOUSE ON THE HOSPITAL HILL (1979) |