THE DANIEL LICHT COLLECTION VOLUME 1

Released in 1993, ACTING ON IMPULSE, also known as EYES OF A STRANGER, was written by Solomon Weingarten, Mark Pittman and Alan Moskowitz, directed by Sam Irvin (GUILTY AS CHARGED, ELVIRA’S HAUNTED HILLS), starring C. Thomas Howell, Linda Fiorentino, Nancy Allen, Judith Hoag, Tom Wright, Adam Ant, Paul Bartel, Patrick Bauchau, Isaac Hayes and Don Most. ACTING ON IMPULSE centers around actress Susan Gittes (Fiorentino), who is the star of many soft-core erotic thrillers. Susan believes she’s being stalked by obsessive fans but can’t get anyone to believe her. While on a brief shooting hiatus, she escapes to a local hotel unknown that someone has killed her producer and left him dead in her trailer. While she’s away, she has a fling with Paul (Howell), who is a married man. Without warning, the stalking incidents increase and the dead bodies start piling up around Susan.

The music composed by Daniel Licht is a demonstration of his ability to compose for a variety of different styles, genres, and flavors. The score is an amalgam of rock and jazz fusion idioms backed by sultry soprano sax, electric guitars, electric bass, drums, mallet percussion, and keyboards.

Airing on the USA Network in 2000, CABIN BY THE LAKE was written by David Stephens, directed by Po-Chih Leong (THE JADE PENDANT), starring Judd Nelson, Hedy Burress and Michael Weatherly. CABIN BY THE LAKE tells the story of Stanley Caldwell (Nelson), a reclusive screenwriter who murders women for research on a new screenplay where the villain imitates his real-life actions. Caldwell kidnaps unsuspecting females and chains them to the floor of his cabin outside of LA while he prepares for their ritualistic drowning. He serves them a meal, washes their clothing, and leaves them to bathe. Tethered to a cement block, each victim is cast into the lake and left to drown. The following day Caldwell dons scuba gear, swims to their grave, and “tends to his garden” of corpses. In 2001, a sequel was produced, RETURN TO CABIN BY THE LAKE.

Fans of the composer’s work could interpret his tongue-in-cheek music for CABIN BY THE LAKE as a dry run for the music he would later write for DEXTER. But the film also allows Licht the opportunity to use an elegiac female choir and ethnic flute to accentuate the allure of the underwater scenery.

Daniel Licht grew up in suburban Detroit and started playing clarinet when he was only eight years old. He transitioned to guitar four years later and began his musical career strumming a six-string in small jazz ensembles at nightclubs throughout The Motor City. Upon graduating high school, Licht attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts studying composition, jazz, and world music. He then pulled up stakes and moved to the Lower East Side in New York City to further his career as a musical artist. After a brief stint in northern Europe scribing scores for theatre, dance companies and advertising agencies, Licht relocated to Los Angeles to pursue film scoring.

A jack-of-all-trades composer and multi-instrumentalist, Licht scribed scores for film productions including CHILDREN OF THE CORN II: THE FINAL SACRIFICE, TICKS, HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, THINNER, BAD MOON and for television, JAKE IN PROGRESS, BODY OF PROOF, DEXTER and THE RED ROAD before establishing a name for himself in the videogame industry with scores for SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR, SILENT HILL: BOOK OF MEMORIES, DISHONORED, DISHONORED: DUNWALL CITY TRIALS and DISHONORED 2.

Sadly, Daniel Licht passed away on August 2, 2017 at his home in Topanga, California, at the age of sixty, an incredible talent taken far too soon.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE DANIEL LICHT COLLECTION – VOLUME 1, featuring the premiere releases of music composed by Daniel Licht for ACTING BY IMPULSE and CABIN BY THE LAKE. The liner notes are written by author and composer Brian Satterwhite. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland.