Ki-ki-ki-ki...ma-ma-ma-ma...
Harry Manfredini (born August 25, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American film composer and jazz soloist.
Over the course of his career, Manfredini has scored over 100 films, and is best known for his work on the Friday the 13th saga, scoring all installments except for Jason Takes Manhattan, Freddy vs. Jason, and the 2009 remake.
Some of his film scores include:
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
- Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
- Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
- Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988, with Fred Mollin)
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
- Jason X (2001)
- Swamp Thing (1982)
- The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)
- House (1986)
- House II: The Second Story (1987)
- House III: The Horror Show (1989)
- House IV (1992)
- Slaughter High (1986)
- DeepStar Six (1989)
- Aces: Iron Eagle III (1992)
- Wishmaster (1997)
- The Omega Code (1999, with Alan Howarth)
- A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
This composer provides examples of the following tropes:
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: In nearly all of his appearances, Jason Voorhees' entrance is usually heralded by a distinctive eerie whisper of "ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma". This sound has become so associated with the character, that one of the major criticisms of the 2009 remake was that, for some asinine reason, it was removed.
- Leitmotif: In addition to Jason's trademark whisper, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood has one for scenes where Tina uses her powers.
- "Psycho" Strings: A major contributor to the tense atmosphere of the Friday the 13th films is Manfredini's use of frantic, high-pitched strings in a manner reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann.
- Recycled Soundtrack: About half of the music in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is recycled from Manfredini's work on the previous six films, with the rest consisting of original cues by Fred Mollin.
- Scare Chord: Another major element of Manfredini's Friday the 13th scores is the usage of jarring synthesizer notes to punctuate the manic "Psycho" Strings.
