JUST RELEASED! MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND CD from Elysee Productions
From Elysee Production's website: "Elysee Productions is pleased to present its first original soundtrack release. Now available for the first time in any form is Tito Arevalo's amazing score for the cult horror fave, MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND. Mastered from the original session tapes (recorded in full track mono at 15-ips), CD includes an 8-pg. full color booklet with liner notes and composer bio by Tim Ferrante. It's limited to 1,000 pressings. There are 34 tracks running 50 mins. 41 secs. Price: $19.99
"The music for MAD DOCTOR was composed by Tito Arevalo (whose real name is Eustacio de Leon Ilagan), older brother of co-director Gerardo de Leon. Arevalo was both an actor and composer whose career was as heralded as de Leon's. MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND came during the slowing years of his film music assignments, the last of which was Cirio H. Santiago's A TIME FOR DYING (1983). Tito Arevalo is virtually unknown in America, yet many cult film fans know his Blood Island sound. This composition uses unique orchestration that's influenced by the composer's Filipino culture and remains consistent in its tonal environment. So whether it's the deranged Don Ramon on a rampage or a romantic encounter, Arevalo never lets us forget that we're trapped in the jungle landscape of Blood Island. It is horror film music as never heard before.
"The events that lead to this original soundtrack CD began four decades ago when 23-year-old Samuel M. Sherman met with a gentleman by the name of Irwin Pizor in the latter's Hemisphere Pictures' Manhattan office. Hemisphere Pictures was one of countless independent production and distribution companies feeding ozoners and hardtops (film industry lingo for drive-in and traditional movie theatres) with low-budget exploitation fare.
"As a result of the meeting, a friendly association had begun and Sherman was introduced to Daniel Q. Kennis and Kane W. Lynn, Pizor's business partners. Kennis was one of the original investors in Hemisphere and Lynn was executive vice president. A third partner, Eddie Romero, was based in Manila and served as vice president of that office. Sherman had plenty to offer the cost-conscious group in that he could write copy (he wrote the one sheet hyperbole above), edit film and create marketing strategies better, faster and cheaper than National Screen Service. He was also tapped into the youth market through his work at Warren Publishing Company (Famous Monsters of Filmland, Eerie and Creepy magazines). Sherman's advice to Hemisphere's owners was simple: Start making horror films!
"In March of 1969, Lynn, upon returning from one of his trips to Manila, handed a cardboard box to Sherman. "Don't say I never bring you anything," he joked. Inside were three 1/4-in. audio tape reels; the master recordings of composer Tito Arevalo's scoring session for the company's newest production, MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND. Sherman liked Arevalo's music from the moment he heard it and went to work writing and producing the film's theatrical trailer and radio and TV spots. The MAD DOCTOR campaign, aided by the Arevalo's unique sound, proved to be a winner with '60s filmgoers. Thanks to the film's incredible success a sequel, BEAST OF BLOOD, hit theatres in 1970 grossing even more at the boxoffice than its predecessor. Since that time, MAD DOCTOR has been seen worldwide via TV, videotape and now DVD.
HEAR THE MUSIC! CLICK HERE
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