Why did this movie copy music from Psycho?
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shareHaha I just finished watching it and have to agree... it was almost like an 80's remix of the Pyscho theme.
shareIt IS an 80's remix of the Psycho theme, it's called hommage.
He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!
It's not an homage, it's hackwork.
If it was an homage, Bernard Herrmann would have been credited.
As it is, it's hard to believe Herrmann's estate let them get away with it.
In the featurette on the dvd, Richard Band spends far to much time justifying and defending his 'homage'. He knows he is guilty.
Either way, the borrowing makes no sense, because the stories of Psycho and Re-Animator have absolutely nothing in common.
It's a shame, because the film has so much sharpness and originality, and then there is this score, which it completely unoriginal.
If I was Stuart Gordon, I would have rejected that score in disgust.
"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0
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No way, the score works better in this then in Psycho. It really does a nice job at making the scenes more exciting and foreshadowing of chaos and craziness. The theme works better in this then psycho where it isn't suppose to be really energetic but more creepy and foreboding.
The effectiveness is not the issue. This score simply would not exist without Psycho. I don't disagree that the score as used in Re-Animator doesn't work - it actually works very well - but that does not change the fact that is is basically stolen, and with no credit to its creator.
There is a reason (actually several) why this sort of wholesale copying doesn't happen more often. One reason is that no self-respecting composer wants to just do a cover version of someone else's work. Another is that there are all sort of legal ramifications from it that have to be dealt with.
I doubt that Richard Band would have stolen the work of a composer that was still alive to challenge it.
"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
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Well I think it was a very creative idea to remix a well known score, or understanding that it would be the best score for this particular film. I don't know if it is actually stolen. IT would be very difficult to find someone who doesn't know the psycho score. And anyone who'd watch Re-Animator would be able to tell where it came from. I don't think he was trying to get away with tricking people into thinking he created it from scratch. They could have credited it, but anyone who sees the film would already know the scores from psycho. The movie is all about having fun with horror and glorifying it. Psycho is one of the best known horror films out there so it is clearly more then just stolen, the score is a homage to a great horror movie and attempts to capture the spirit,
I don't really mean to split hairs, but in the credits of Re-Animator, it says 'Music by Richard Band'. That it works well is irrelevant. Many scores would work well in many films. In fact, a common practice in filmaking is that during the editing process, the editor will sub in a 'temp score', using music from other sources - often classic music and other film scores - to assist in establishing a rythym.
I can think of two examples where this practice has led to trouble. On Alien, editor Terry Rawlings knew that Jerry Goldsmith was going to be doing the score, and used some of Goldsmith's music from other films, in particular, the film Freud. Rawlings and Ridley Scott fell in love with this temp score and used it in the final film, much to Goldsmith's disappointment.
Another example is that when cutting Spider-Man 3, Sam Raimi used temporary music from Spider-Man 2, and liked the effect so much that when it came time for Danny Elfman to write the score, Raimi directed Elfman to 'make it similar to that'. Elfman was disgusted at being told what to compose, and quit the project.
I think it is correct that Richard Band was not trying to fool anyone into thinking it was original music, but that is not to say Herrmann should not have recieved credit. Suppose someone is unfamiliar with Psycho and thinks it is Richard Band's original work?
At the end of the day, you just don't lift scores from other films and drop it onto another. Imagine every space adventure using the theme to Star Wars, or every movie about athelites using the scores to Rocky or Chariots of fire.
If you absolutely must pay homage in this manner, do so with a snippet or a phrase of a score or theme, but not the whole damn thing.
"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
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The main melody of the Re-Animator soundtrack is completely different to any of the Psycho music. The rest, yes, i agree is pretty much the same, but the part that sticks in my mind most is original.
Anyway. Who cares. Re-Animator is brilliant. So is the music
I'm sorry. Did you really just say that the score in Re-Animator works better than Hermann's score in Psycho? Did I just read that? To be fair, I am drunk and high on crack cocaine, so it could be mind tricks.
shareI thought the "ripoff" was part of the humor of the movie. I took it as, "Here's our movie, we're going to do whatever we can to shock you, we don't give a damn, you just saw a head explode, now hear this travesty!" *Cue music*
shareYes I did say the score in Re-Animator works better then in Psycho. People seem to think simply because Psycho is a classic horror movie it is beyond criticism or comparison.
I think the way they used Re-Animator's score is amazing. It's having fun with horror. Psycho's theme is too energetic for the actual film. I personally would not have used it, I would have used more somber, random beats to forebode the dread awaiting the characters.
But with re-animator you aren't actually trying to scare the audience in every scene. It is an energetic film, much like Frankenstein. Creating life, doing the unthinkable. The score is great, but I really don't think it works as well as many think in Psycho.
I never said Psycho was beyond criticism, I just find it remarkable that you believe the score works better in Re-Animator than in Psycho. You have your reasons. Lets just agree to disagree. To strongly, wholeheartedly disagree.
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Well now, I don't agree to those terms because to promote hatred in that way is akin to fascism. Feel free though!
Ok, I want to end this conversation but still retain the upper hand. So now do I use a phrase like 'And that's all'? Help me out here.
You just go
I love Re-animator, but I think it's beyond dispute that the Psycho score worked PERFECTLY in Psycho, and if you were to change it you'd be ruining the film - not because it's a classic, but because of its effectiveness at creating the mood and atmosphere throughout. Take the scene with the guilt-ridden Janet Leigh traveling down the highway near the beginning. PERFECT.
Re-animator kicks arse, and the theme works well, but is much better in its original work
I didn't see the DVD featurette, but...
Don't you think it is more than a coincidence that Re-Animator is based on an H.P. Lovecraft story and the movie Psycho was based on a novel by one of Lovecraft's correspondents, Robert Bloch? Considering there is more tying Re-Animator to Psycho than just a song/remix of a song, i think it's quite appropriate.
http://www.sighedeffects.com/serious.jpg
Um.... DUH! Like did you think someone in their right mind actually thought "Gee, maybe I'll ape looong stretches of THE SINGLE MOST FAMOUS FILM SCORE IN HISTORY.... and, you know... HOPE no one notices I am just a lazy plagiarist? OF COURSE HE KNEW EVERYONE WOULD NOTICE, SILLY!!!! You REALLY think he was actually trying to "pull something over" on the director, producers, and, well EVERYONE ELSE involved? You really think they didn't notice?
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