Vampires of Dartmoor - Dracula's Music Cabinet

One of the most interesting recent phenomena in the film soundtrack scene is the imaginary score, of music for films that do not exist or as alternative soundtracks for those that do. Much like everything, the results are of variable quality: For every The Giallo’s Flame, that successfully channels the spirit of Fabio Frizzi’s mellotron, there are two or three unimaginative, lazy, fake 70s porn soundtracks that think some fuzzed-out, waka-chuka guitar is all that’s required.

Given this hit and miss aspect, when I heard about the upcoming re-issue of this late 1960s album I was intrigued, but also wanted to know more. A quick search and a rip of the original, long out of print, vinyl was on my mp3 player, via Mutant Sounds.



And what a treat Dracula's Music Cabinet is. It's sufficiently like the work of Peter Thomas. Heinz Funk and Gert Wilden to function as the alternate score to many a krimi or post-Expressionist Mabuse / mad scientist entry, with bizarre studio effects, weird vocals and self-explanatory titles like Der Henker von Blackmoore and Die Folterkammer des Dr. Sex [or Fu Manchu], whilst also being just that bit different.

The re-issue is available from Moviegrooves.