Hammer Legacy Vampire Collection

Now available for digital download from iTunes, Amazon, and Napster among others there will be NO PHYSICAL CD’S.

SILED 4550 includes material from Kiss of the Vampire, The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, Lust For A Vampire, Twins of Evil, Vampire Circus, Captain Kronos-Vampire Hunter, and Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires composed by Bernard, Robinson, Johnson and Whitaker. Track Listing: 1… The Kiss of the Vampire-Opening Titles (1:50) 2… The Kiss of the Vampire-The Vampire Rhapsody (1:30) 3… The Vampire Lovers-Opening Titles (1:43) 4… Countess Dracula-Opening Titles (1:38) 5… Lust for a Vampire -Opening Titles (2:24) 6… Lust for a Vampire-The Dream (1:34) 7… Twins of Evil-Opening Titles (1:53) 8… Vampire Circus-Opening Titles (1:44) 9… Vampire Circus-The Tiger Dance (1:42) 10… The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires-Opening Titles (3:15) 11… The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires-Ambushes (4:08) 12… The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires-The Battle Rages (3:34) 13… The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires-Introducing Vanessa Buren (3:22) 14… Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter-Opening Titles (3:11)

Tracks 1 and 2 are found on GDICDO17. The Vampire Rhapsody found on Silva SSD 1059 is completely different as it is a 7 minute track of the piano concerto. Track 3 can be found on GDICDOO2. Track 4 can also be found on GDICDOO2. Tracks 5 and 6 are on GDICDO17. Track 7 can be found on GDICDOO2 but the entire soundtrack is available on GDICD012. Tracks 8 and 9 are on GDICDO17. There is a 9 minute suite on SILCD 1026. Tracks 10-13 can all be found on BSXCD 8869. It also is the complete soundtrack. The tracks are also available on GDICO17. Track 14 is available on BSXCD 8831.The BSX release is the complete soundtrack. The main title found on the Varese VCD-4727o is completely different. The release seems to offer a fair amount not available from Silva.

Kiss of the Vampire is a James Bernard score that features in addition to his trademark quivering strings, eerie brass, and frantic woodwinds a vampire piano concerto somewhat like Herrmann’s “Concerto Macabre” for his film Hangover Square (1945). It is a haunting melody played with strings in the background giving it a sense of doom and danger.  It is a similar theme to Horror of Dracula with the addition of the piano. The Vampire Lovers is somewhat different in that it could have come from another kind of movie with a more generic theme. A brass opening fanfare with frantic strings leads to the sad yearning theme with a few harpsichord bars at the end. Composed by Harry Robinson he also wrote Countess Dracula with gypsy flair and yearning strings complementing the track. Lust for a Vampire, also by Robinson has a romantic melody from the strings that a vocal called “Strange Love” also came from. Not impressed with the vocal singing or lyrics but it might be right up your alley. Twins of Evil also from Robinson is a theme right out of an Italian spaghetti western. It is very easy for the mind to see Lee Van Cleef riding to an unknown destination. David Whitaker offers a creepy theme and a bongo driven cue with mandolin plucking for his score to the film Vampire Circus. Bernard returns to his Dracula score for The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires giving us that classic melody that invokes terror. “Ambush” with a never ending timpani, and lower strings offering the tension of the scene, “The Battle Rages” continues the great underscore and the final selection is a pretty flute melody with vibes providing the background. The final selection is Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter from veteran composer Laurie Johnson. It offers a brass beginning melody and harmony as is followed by some Herrmann like woodwind statements.