By Maria Mitchell
Twilight Zone: The Movie. Soundtrack composed by Jerry Goldsmith, 1983.
The 1983 debut of Twilight Zone: The Movie was overshadowed by the infamous accident which caused a helicopter being used for a stunt to crash and crush two child actors and actor Vic Morrow. This infamy, horrible as it is, isn’t the reason why the moody collection of stories didn’t gel with audiences. Twilight Zone had never been adapted to film before. Audiences who grew up with the original Twilight Zone television show were used to a concise story with a bizarre, ironic ending. This formula worked perfectly for a half-hour TV format, but didn’t translate well as a film.
Twilight Zone: The Movie still boasts some attractive qualities. The film includes a solid, scary retelling of Richard Matheson’s terrifying story “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”. This story is notable for its not-so-subtle Lovecraftian tone, as it deals with a frightened airline passenger having to confront a monster sabotaging the engines of the flight. Since the passenger is recovering from a mental breakdown, he doesn’t feel he can trust his own senses. This theme recurred many times in Lovecraft’s stories: the fear of madness and the threat of being institutionalized for speaking a truth that no one will accept or believe.
While the frightened passenger wrestles with whether or not to look out the window, actor John Lithgow’s performance is transposed cleverly and perfectly with the teasing, menacing string cue. Each cutting, biting note is a perfect extension of his tortured, frightened expressions and actions, finally culminating in his surrender to curiosity as he wrenches open the curtains and gets all the confirmation he needs that he has entered The Twilight Zone. This rendition of “Nightmare” is far more dismal than the original TV episode because when Lithgow finally confronts the creature out on the wing of the plane with a gun, he misses. The creature is not killed like in the original episode. The creature grasps his face in preparation to crush his skull in much the same way he’s crushed the poor man’s sanity. But for some inexplicable reason, the creature lets him go and disappears into the storm. For one moment, man and monster met and the monster made his superiority clear and that man only survives as long as monster allows him to survive. Very Old-One-esque which is why I like this version of “Nightmare” more than the original.
The orchestral suite for “Kick the Can” calls for a far gentler, more nostalgic musical accompaniment. Lush and sprightly, it’s a perfect suite for someone craving a relaxing listen. The piano themes are particularly soothing and pull anxious thoughts into a gentle peace.
“Time Out”, a story about dislocation of time and space, features a militant score, shadowing the grim story of an intolerant man learning the darkness of his own hatred when he is transposed into becoming a worker of inequity: but one who works against his own paradigm, not in favour of it. This suite sounds the most like many of the frantic scores from the original Twilight Zone show.
Suitably deranged is the orchestral suite accompanying the retelling of “It’s a Good Life”, though I think this section of the score is less menacing than the “Nightmare” suite. Something about its execution is too brash and awkward to be really scary. The suite does have to evoke a cartoon villainy which is probably the reason for this awkwardness.
For the eighties pop music buffs and Jennifer Warnes fans, the soundtrack to Twilight Zone is notable for featuring a rather rare song, sung by Warnes, entitled “Nights Are Forever”. This song is a prime example of smooth, eighties synth pop and is a song effectively utilized in the film during the story “Time Out”. Goldsmith enlisted the lyrical talents of John Bettis for this song. Twilight Zone: The Movie features an emotional score that is perfect for moments a listener sets aside for meditating on the polarizing moodiness of life.
Twilight Zone: The Movie‘s soundtrack is available through Amazon.com.