Rage, The: Soundtrack (CD)
Reviewed by The Buz
Performed by Midnight Syndicate
Distributed by Entity Productions
For years every Halloween I’ll end up leaving a CD of scary music on repeat out on my front steps to scare trick or treaters. Usually these tracks consist of the Halloween soundtrack, The Exorcist theme, and anything by Midnight Syndicate. They’ve been producing awesome imaginary film soundtracks for over ten years now, and it is the perfect combination for creating an atmosphere for that faithful day of October 31st. Needless to say, I love the hell out of Midnight Syndicate.
Only with great scores can you let your imagination wonder when only listening to the music. This is what makes Midnight Syndicate so much fun to listen to because you can create your own awesome horror flick in your head. So when I found out that they did the soundtrack to Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage (review here), I was colored excited.
The Rage soundtrack is one of those rare pieces of music where the sound defines the picture. Having seen The Rage, I know what images should go with the tracks, however I found myself thinking of other scenarios where the music would work.
While listening to “Dr. V’s lab” and “In the Forest Deep” I began imagining a classic western with two plains drifters facing off for one last showdown. Except that one of them is a zombie. A zombie western has always had an appeal to me, so I dug having a soundtrack to go along with the idea.
Other tracks such as “The Rage Theme” made me visualize a vast army of zombies attacking a castle like fortress straight out of Lord of the Rings. Just imagine hobbits (or would it be hobi?) running around eating people in a medieval zombie epic. That’s the kind of fucked up movie that needs to be made immediately. None of this fast zombie, rage infested, or slow moving zombie crap. Give me hobbit zombies.
As usual with Midnight Syndicate, they pay some awesome tributes and homages to great soundtracks from the past. “Showdown in the Lab” just screams Terminator. When listening to this track all I could think of was the T-1000 chasing down Eddie Furlong in a big semi down the streets of Los Angeles. With “Birds of Prey” just try not to imagine space marines retreating from an onslaught of xenomorphs.
Coincidently, the scene that accompanies “Birds of Prey” is also my personal favorite from The Rage. And of course, they had to pay some respect to zombie films, so there is many small bits that pay great tribute to Goblin’s score for Dawn of the Dead, and more notably Fabio Frizzi’s score for Zombie in “Feeding Time.”
Some tracks tend to get on the cheesy side and almost sound as if they might be included on the The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra soundtrack, but these are small complaints, and they pale in comparison to other great songs on the album. If you’re a fan of Midnight Syndicate and Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage, then definitely give this soundtrack a listen. Even if you aren’t a big fan of the film itself, the soundtrack is still an awesome listen and is sure to get your blood pumping, and you’re pulse racing.
Track Listing
1. Theme from “The Rage”
2. Injecting the Formula
3. In the Forest Deep
4. Dr. V’s Lab
5. Feeding Time
6. Don’t Go in There
7. Uncle Ben Montage
8. Crash Aftermath
9. Uncle Ben Under the Winnebago
10. The Waterfall
11. Birds of Prey
12. Meet Dr. V
13. Kiss the Monkey
14. Dr. V’s Theme
15. Surrounded
16. Breakthrough
17. Showdown in the Lab
18. Gor
19. Final Confrontation with Dr. V
4 out of 5
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