November 9, 2019
Perry Botkin’s Striking Slasher Score from SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT gets Expanded Soundtrack
Howlin’ Wolf Records presents a two-disc soundtrack set in honor of the 35th Anniversary of SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Disc one is the complete score by Grammy-winning composer Perry Botkin and disc two contains the songs written for the film by renowned songwriter and singer Morgan Ames.
It was on a midnight clear on November 9th of 1984 when a mentally-tortured and deranged Santa was unleashed on an unwitting public, and the result was a mayhem of whimsically evil holiday fun that thrills horror film lovers annually. The concept for a killer Santa was the creative muse of film producers Scott Schneid and Dennis Whitehead and brought to life for celluloid by screenwriter Michael Hickey and director Charles E. Sellier, Jr.
The score by composer Perry Botkin is a classic electronic score from the ‘80s that is one of the celebrated elements of this perennial cult classic. The composer recounts, “I’d never seen a slasher movie in my life until I watched SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, so I had no preconception about what a slasher/horror score should sound like, or what other horror composers had done in the past or were doing at that time. I just sat down with my Mac Plus, banged away, and out came the score.”
For the 35th Anniversary Edition, audio technician Ian Zapczynski sourced Botkin’s score from the 192 kHz direct transfers of the composer’s original analog master tapes, with the tape-to-digital transfers supervised by Howlin’ Wolf Records at Avatar Studios in NYC. Each track for Botkin’s score was fully remastered from the flat tape transfers, and digital restoration techniques were used where needed and with care to remain faithful to the high quality of the master recording. In addition, two short tracks that were not previously released are added to the tracklist, including the film’s opening “Santa’s Watching.”
Howlin’ Wolf Records’ 35th Anniversary Release for SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is a pressing of 300 CDs, featuring the unforgettable original poster art for the film, a 20-page deluxe booklet with liner notes by co-executive producers Scott Schneid & Dennis Whitehead, screenwriter Michael Hickey, and composer Perry Botkin, all balanced against a canvas of beautiful designs and vivid imagery by graphic artist and long-time Howlin’ Wolf Records art director Luis Miguel Rojas.
For full details including sample tracks, see http://howlinwolfrecords.com/storesndn.html
