I first saw Ruggero Deodato’s soul-scorching Cannibal Holocaust with my pal Dave, who has logged some serious mileage on the sleaze and gore highways with me since we were tiny tots. And I remember him turning to me as the end titles rolled and saying in all seriousness, “I think I wanna cry.” I’m pretty sure that part of the reason for Dave’s reaction, aside from the endless hell-parade of butchery, animal abuse and real-life massacre footage, was Riz Ortolani’s score. Rather than taking the usual route for Italian jungle-horror pictures – “savage” drums and chanting – Ortolani kept on the orchestral side of things (with some electronic effects) and decided to play up the tragic side of the story instead of the exotic. The result is one of the most emotional and elegant scores ever composed for a wall-to-wall gorefest, though like the movie itself, it’s not the sort of thing you can throw on as background noise – Ortolani’s main and end titles are almost punishingly sad, even without Deodato’s sledgehammer imagery. And his suspense cues, especially “Adulteress’ Punishment” (which plays over the infamous riverside murder-and-abortion scene) and “Massacre of the Troupe,” have a mounting sense of impending doom that isn’t going to let you sit comfortably without raising a bumper crop of gooseflesh first. There are a few moments for catching your breath – the mellow Eurofunk of “Cameraman’s Recreation” and “Relaxing in the Savana,” for example – but it’s right back to Tension Town with the pulsing electronic chirps in “Savage Rite” suggesting the spasms of a frantic heartbeat, and finally, back into the heavy, inescapable main title theme, repeated for the end titles, but now with a light tribal drum beat wavering in and out of the farewell-to-thee melody. Sheesh. No wonder Dave wanted to cry.

Red Stream’s CD is the first official and complete recording of Ortolani’s score since the limited edition release from Germany back in ’95, so if you’ve been waiting all these many years to have your good mood crushed under the fifty-ton weight of this music, you can start rejoicing now. And you’ll be doubly pleased with the extra features you’ll find when you pop the disc into your computer – no only do you get the new trailer from Grindhouse Releasing (the evil souls who are putting out the new Holocaust DVD), but a brief but informative interview with Mr. Riz himself.  I never thought the day would come when I’d use the words “classy” and “impressive” to describe anything related to Cannibal Holocaust, but really, the words are more than right on for this CD.