John Massari | |
|---|---|
 Massari in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Giovanni Massari |
| Also known as | David Inlander Biggy G |
| Born | March 25, 1957 New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Film score |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
| Years active | 1978–present |
John Massari (born March 25, 1957) is an American composer and sound designer. He is perhaps best known for scoring the cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space .
Giovanni Massari was born on March 25, 1957, in New York City. Film music's powerful influence drew him to explore creating original music at age six as he began training on piano, [1] trumpet and contra bass. Massari studied musical composition at Chapman University and later the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied orchestration and composition with David Raksin and Henri Lazarof. He also studied with Albert Harris and earned the Frank Sinatra Music Award for composition. Massari was mentored by David Rose, Jerry Fielding, and Mark Snow. He also studied composition with Leonard Stein at the University of Southern California (USC).
Massari scored the cult film Killer Klowns from Outer Space in 1988. [2] Originally composed entire for synthesizers for budgetary reasons, the composer later recorded and released an orchestral version of the music through Varèse Sarabande in 2018; fellow film composer Bear McCreary made a guest appearance on the album, performing the accordion and hurdy-gurdy. [3] [4] Massari returned to the franchise again to compose the score for Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game in 2024. [5]
Massari also scored and acted in the 1988 film The Wizard of Speed and Time , [1] in addition to composing the theme for The Ray Bradbury Theater in 1985. His other credits include The Cell 2 , Retro Puppet Master , and Prison Break: Proof of Innocence .
The Wizard of Speed and Time is a 1988 low-budget feature film written, directed, and starring animator Mike Jittlov, as well as a 1979 16 mm short film, also by Jittlov.
The evil clown, or creepy clown, also known as the killer clown if their character revolves around murder, is a subversion of the traditional comic clown character, in which the playful trope is instead depicted in a more disturbing nature through the use of horror elements and dark humor. The modern archetype of the evil clown was popularized by the DC Comics supervillain Joker starting in 1940, and again by Pennywise in Stephen King's It. The character can be seen as playing on the sense of unease felt by sufferers of coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.
A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that lampoons other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the subgenre is often overlooked by critics, parody films are commonly profitable at the box office. Parody is related to satire, except that "parody is more often a representation of appreciation, while a satire is more often...pointing ...out the major flaws of an object through ridicule." J.M. Maher notes that the "difference is not always clear" and points out that "some films employ both techniques". Parody is found in a range of art and culture, including literature, music, theater, television, animation, and gaming.
Georges Delerue was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for A Little Romance (1980), three César Awards, two ASCAP Awards, and one Gemini Award for Sword of Gideon (1987). He was also nominated for four additional Academy Awards for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), The Day of the Dolphin (1973), Julia (1977), and Agnes of God (1985), four additional César Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Genie Award for Black Robe (1991).
Cliff Robert Martinez is an American musician and composer. Early in his career, Martinez was known as a drummer notably with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Captain Beefheart. Since the 1990s, he has worked primarily as a film score composer, writing music for Spring Breakers, The Foreigner, and multiple films by Steven Soderbergh and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a 1988 American science fiction horror comedy film written, directed and produced by the Chiodo Brothers, and starring Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson and John Vernon. It is the only film written and directed by the Chiodo Brothers, who also created the practical effects and makeup. It concerns a clan of evil extraterrestrials who resemble clowns. They arrive on Earth and invade a small town in order to capture, kill and harvest the human inhabitants to use as sustenance.
It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush, and features Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, and Russell Johnson. The script is based on Ray Bradbury's original film treatment "The Meteor" and not, as sometimes claimed, a published short story.
David M. Torn is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping.
Many works of fiction have featured UFOs. In most cases, as the fictional story progresses, the Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces from outer space, usually from Mars, as depicted in early science fiction, or the people are being destroyed by alien forces, as depicted in the film Independence Day. Some fictional UFO encounters may be based on real UFO reports, such as Night Skies. Night Skies is based on the 1997 Phoenix UFO Incident.
John Allen Nelson is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles on television as Warren Lockridge on Santa Barbara, John D. Cort on Baywatch, Walt Cummings in 24 and Silas Bunch in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. He is also known for starring in the cult classic science fiction comedy horror film Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
Snake Eater is an action thriller film directed by George Erschbamer, starring Lorenzo Lamas, Josie Bell, Robert Scott and Ronnie Hawkins. Released on March 10, 1989, it was Lamas' first action film, and Cinépix's attempt at the type of action vehicle that was popular at the time. Harkening back to the Canadian company's grindhouse roots, it infused the veteran vigilante storyline found in many contemporary films with "hicksploitation" elements, which many reviewers found distasteful but did not prevent its commercial success. Three more installments followed between 1991 and 1997.
Paul Haslinger is an Austrian musician and composer. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Grant Cramer is an American actor and producer who has starred in films and on television. He is the son of actress Terry Moore and Stuart Warren Cramer III, and a great-grandson of engineer and inventor Stuart W. Cramer.
Suzanne Snyder is an American former actress.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by American author L. Frank Baum. Since its first publication in 1900, it has been adapted many times by L. Frank Baum and others: for film, television, theatre, books, comics, games, and other media.
Mark Morgan is an American musician and score composer for video games, television and films. He is known for his work in Fallout, Fallout 2, and Planescape: Torment, and for being a former member of Starship. He was born in Los Angeles, California, to an architect, Melford Morgan and Betty Morgan, a classically trained pianist. It was while living with his parents that he became interested in music, and started to learn to play the piano.
The following is a list of works by Ray Bradbury.
John Peter Robinson is an English composer, musician, and arranger known for his film and television scores.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is an EP by the American punk rock band The Dickies. It was released in 1988 by Enigma Records. It contains the song "Killer Klowns", the title song of the 1988 film Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
The Hollywood Chamber Orchestra (HCO) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 2015 by musicians Noah Gladstone and Mark Robertson, who are also co-music directors.
