BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

JOHN CARPENTER and ALAN HOWARTH

Big Trouble in Little China Rating:
Backstabbed Rating:

Original Review: John Carpenter, the director such classic seventies science fiction and horror films as Halloween, Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13 and Dark Star, is one of a very small group of film-makers who also write their own scores. While others such as Hal Hartley and Mike Figgis have contributed original music to many of their films, they have never attained the level of musical success and respect as Carpenter, who is as highly regarded in some circles as those who "only" write music. The thing which differentiates Carpenter from some of his contemporaries, however, is the fact that his scores tend to be mainly electronic in nature, with simple melodies and repetitive themes dominating.

After several high-profile flops during the early eighties, Big Trouble in Little China brought Carpenter back to the top of his chosen genre. A tongue-in-cheek action adventure, the film starred Kurt Russell as a jack-the-lad truck driver who finds himself caught up in a mysterious world of Chinese black magic and ancient rituals after his best friend's girlfriend is captured by Lo Pan, an evil wizard who controls a highly dangerous street gang. Plenty of hi-jinks ensue, as they often do in films of this type, as Russell and his cohorts find themselves facing a myriad of foes, from three powerful warriors known as The Storms, to a huge floating eye called The Guardian.

Carpenter co-wrote the score with sound effects wizard and fellow composer Alan Howarth, which is 99% electronic, utilising a whole bank of synthesisers with electric guitars and lots of sampled percussion. This release is an expanded version of the long out of print original, and has been produced by Ford A. Thaxton and Alan Howarth on behalf of the Supertracks Music Group. It is a limited edition promotional release, but a small number of copies have been made available to collectors, which can be purchased on-line from Super Collector. In the opening cue, 'Pork Chop Express', the music pounds along to a driving rock theme with heavy bass and a wailing six-note guitar melody that later acts as a kind of leitmotif for Russell's character. After this testosterone-laden opening, the music descends into textural ambiences and mood music thereafter, underscoring the various encounters with the forces of evil.

Many of the early cues are highlights, especially 'The Alley', which has some clever percussion effects intermingled with the synthesised action; 'The Storms Appear', which builds into a kinetic piece with lots of layered electronic textures playing against one other to create a vibrant atmosphere; and 'Lo Pan's Domain', which is genuinely eerie, with chimes, resounding gongs and a ghostly choir heralding the entrance of the 2,000-year-old magician. The entire ending, from 'Escape from Wing Kong' onwards, is basically just one 30-minute action cue, reverberating to extended synthesised rhythms accompanied by various guitar riffs and percussion effects. To Carpenter and Howarth's credit, though, they keep the music fresh and invigorating by affecting stylised changes in tempo, even going so far as to introduce some interesting pseudo-Oriental melodies during 'Into the Spirit Path' and Gothic church organs in 'The Great Arcade'.

The score is bookended by two performances of the catchy song 'Big Trouble in Little China', performed by Carpenter's eighties rock band The Coupe de Villes, and featuring Carpenter himself on vocals. I'm not sure whether it's Carpenter, Nick Castle or Tommy Lee Wallace who has the deep voice, but none of them can hold a note worth a damn. They're all running through the mystic night but, although the tune is pretty good fun, they'd better not stop until they've had some voice training. Sorry, guys.

Tagged on to the end of the album are three lengthy cues taken from Alan Howarth's score for a 1996 Danish horror movie, Backstabbed (Morkeleg), and a previously unreleased cue from Carpenter's 1981 thriller Escape from New York, which also starred Kurt Russell. Again, the music is of the synthesised variety, but it breaks no new ground. There are a few moments of note in Backstabbed, like the low-end pianos in 'Alexandra' and the pizzicato string effects in 'Blue Planet Interlude', but otherwise it's very much low-grade thriller music of no real musical significance.

In the past, I've always maintained that I don't like synth scores. Scores which combine acoustic and orchestral styles are fine (think of Basic Instinct, Legend and others by Jerry Goldsmith as examples), but I've never heard a totally synthesised score that has appealed to me before. Big Trouble in Little China has changed that. It's probably got something to do with the way John Carpenter and Alan Howarth write their music, in that their themes come across as being clear, simple, easily approachable and, most importantly, tonal in nature. There are constant changes in the actual sound of the synthesiser to keep thing interesting, and there are several identifiable themes. There's nothing fancy or fussy about any of the music, but it's intelligent and, above all else, fun to listen to.

Track Listing:

BACKSTABBED (Alan Howarth)

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (John Carpenter/Alan Howarth)

Running Time: 71 minutes 37 seconds

Supertracks AHCD-01 (1999)

Music composed, arranged and performed by John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth. Recorded and mixed by Alan Howarth. Edited by Scott Grusin. Mastered by James Nelson. Album produced by John Carpenter, Alan Howarth and Ford A. Thaxton.


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