Deadly Blessing

Intrada announces the premiere release of James Horner's 1981 score to the Universal Pictures film Deadly Blessing. In the early '80s, Horner's career was just starting to take off and he'd scored a series of horror films, including Humanoids from the Deep, The Hand and Wolfen. Even though it was early in his career, Horner had an undeniable gift for human emotion and the mechanics of film drama and it is on full display here. Deadly Blessing presented an evocative, eccentric canvas and partnered him with the hot new master of suspense, Wes Craven. Horner composed a score featuring both orchestra and chorus, featuring a large string section, augmented with solo woodwinds, piano, chimes and percussion. In what generally seems uncommon, almost every cue heard in the film appears where Horner originally intended it to be!

The score is presented from the only surviving complete set of 1/4" stereo elements in largely good sound, although as producer Doug Fake mentions in his liner notes, "These precious 10 rolls of tape were originally dubbed at the slower tape speed of 7 1/2 i.p.s. and had seen better days, but they were complete, including all takes and pickups as well as all chorus overlays." The result is a satisfying listen to one of Horner's most important previously unreleased scores.