Return of the Living Dead 2 - Musical Score

[filmmaker2]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I thought it merited its own..."Return of the Living Dead 2" has gotten its much-anticipated DVD release in the States, and as soon as I was aware it was out, well, I ran out and got it.

By golly, I was looking forward to seeing it. I was totally shocked to discover that someone, and I don't care why, or how, SOMEONE decided it was a good idea to completely rescore the movie and eliminate most of the original music in favor of the new tracks (both the score and source cues).

And in addition to that, some seriously bad and unnecessary narration was recorded so the film could begin in an extra-lame way.

ROTLD2, while it's arguably not a masterpiece, nonetheless is a watchable horror flick with lots of effects and a tight sense of atmosphere. The original music score contributed a lot to it.

If you want to see the film with its original score, I thought it reasonable to mention that there are a number of VHS copies (from 1993) available online, for example on Ebay.

[urgeok]

maybe there were conplications with the release rights ..

i've seen music change from theatrical to home video releases...

some movie still cant be released because of the conflicts with rights ..

i dont think we'll see that touble anymore though - the studios are hyper aware of every business aspect now -

[newb]

The 80's did produce some of the shitties music so its probabaly not a bad thing.

here is the soundtrack listing from IMDB

# "Looking For Clues"
(Japanese Version Only)
by Robert Palmer


# "Spacehopper"
by Julian Cope


# "High Priest of Love"
by Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction


# "I'm The Man (Def/Uncensored Version)"
by Anthrax


# "Big Band B-Boy"
by Mantronix


# "Alone in the Night"
by Leatherwolf


# "A.D.I./The Horror of It All"
by Anthrax


# "Bad Case of Lovin You (Doctor, Doctor)"
(Japanese Version Only)
by Robert Palmer


# "Flesh To Flesh"
by Lamont


# "The Dead Return"
by J. Peter Robinson

[filmmaker2]

Well, it is arguable that a lot of the songs on the soundtrack are crap, but the film is a product of the 80's, now officially a nostalgia thing, and I'm interested in 80's movies because they sort of remind me of that time. (I had one heck of a great time in the 80's and look back rather fondly on that period, warts and all!) Anyway, J. Peter Robinson's score was composed at that time, and has a certain distinctive sound.

The original version of ROTLD2 was also very nicely mixed--lively and crisp and all that good stuff. It's one of the better sounding horror flicks from that time.

[knife_fight]

ROTLD (the first one) has my fave soundtrack for any movie ever (and that's not just horror movies). the 2nd one wasn't anywhere near as good, but it was def. worth keeping, imo.

[Elvis_Christ]

Another case of the definative version being on VHS as apposed to DVD. Maybe people should think twice before getting rid of those old VHS tapes.

[Fate Kills]

ROTLD (the first one) has my fave soundtrack for any movie ever (and that's not just horror movies). the 2nd one wasn't anywhere near as good, but it was def. worth keeping, imo.

I agree, the original had such an awesome soundtrack. Every band on there is great, my favorite being The Cramps. The sequel's definitely doesn't meet up with the original's but it's still good.

[Elvis_Christ]

I really like the Roky Erikson song of the first soundtrack and you totally can't fuck with the Grave .45 song.

[urgeok]

Originally posted by Fate Kills
I agree, the original had such an awesome soundtrack. Every band on there is great, my favorite being The Cramps.

surfin dead ... great song ..

great soundtrack - i've got the vinyl

[filmmaker2]

Here's a geek convention button from the first film. An original...